The introductory lecture was not only
informative but truly challenged my preconceived ideas of positive psychology.
My understanding of this field is now grounded in the fact that it does not aim
to replace psychopathology but promote and surface the positive attributes of
individuals (e.g character strengths) by attempting to improve one’s overall
well-being.
The overview of religious and philosophical
interpretations of happiness proved to be a very interesting section of the
lecture. The ‘compare and contrast’ layout made it easier for me to validate my
existing perceptions of these perspectives and created a revised understanding
of unknown ideas such as Aristotle’s virtue based eudaimonia, the
self-discipline of Stoics, and the ‘simple pleasure’ approach of Epicureans. I
realised that I personally relate to Divine Command Theory seeing as it is
specific to my Christian roots in the morality that is guided by the obedience
towards God and the well-being that is constructed on a life of purpose. The
three theological virtues are essentially the foundation of my value system as
I aim to express and attain happiness through faith, hope and charity (by
displaying unconditional love). Therefore,
my sense of authentic happiness is built on the meaningful life (purpose and
goal-driven factors) that is suggested by Seligman (2002) as opposed to the
pleasant and/or good engaged life.
The self-fulfilment tendencies achieved by
the concept of flow are practically emphasised when I’m absorbed in musical
tasks (e.g singing, playing my violin) and other creative effortless
activities. I have come to understand that it is the participation in these
activities that contributes to aspects of my subjective well-being (SWB). Furthermore,
seeing as SWB refers to the level of affect (everyday positive attributions) and
life satisfaction (correlation between expectations and present conditions); I
can easily say that it is my optimistic, extroverted, religious and
relationship-dependent influences (also indicated by current research) that
impede or encourage these two outcomes. I have understood that even though
there are overlaps; there is a clear distinction between happiness, SWB and Quality
of life (QOL); with the latter more focussed one’s perception of life in
relation to the physical, psychological and socio-cultural features that
influence one’s standards, concerns and expectations of themselves and the
environment. QOL is also very broad and
holistic whereas; the former two concepts can be more specific.
Seligman,
M. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your
Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Free Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment