Department of Social Sciences
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Browsing Department of Social Sciences by Subject "Character strengths"
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Item Foundational frameworks of positive psychology : mapping well-being orientations(Canadian Psychological Association, 2015) Lambert, Louise; Passmore, Holli-Anne; Holder, Mark D.The scientific study of well-being has been strongly influenced by ideas from a number of related fields, including different areas of psychology. Two major philosophical traditions-hedonia and eudaimonia-underscore much of our current understanding of well-being, and are reflected across early and contemporary psychological theories of well-being. These traditions help delineate the various conceptualisations of well-being and its components; moreover, these traditions influence which research questions are asked, and where and how answers are sought. This has resulted in a plethora of categories and terms referring to similar, yet distinct, concepts such as: well-being, happiness, optimal or positive experiences, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Given the difficulties of distinguishing these concepts, this article aims to provide clarity by delineating the major orientations in positive psychology. We provide a "road-map" to theories and models of well-being found within positive psychology, thereby providing a starting a point from which an integrative framework of theories and models of well-being can be developed. To that end, also included in this review is a selection of well-being models that lie beyond the traditional frameworks. We conclude with a consideration of several criticisms that have been directed at positive psychology, and provide recommendations for future directions. © 2015 Canadian Psychological Association.Item Made in the UAE : an indigenous positive psychology for the United Arab Emirates(Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) Lambert, Louise; Pasha-Zaidi, NausheenPositive psychology focuses on the creation of positive emotions and positive experiences in the lives of individuals, groups, and societies. It examines the positive aspects of people’s lives and its research aims are to study the reasons for individuals and groups to excel. The founders, Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (2000), argue that traditional psychologists ignore people who want to be happy if they don’t have a mental disorder. As such, although the psychologist’s goal is to help, they often just help individuals to better cope with misery. In other words, they argue that mainstream psychologists have been so programmed to see only what is wrong with a person that when someone doesn’t necessarily have any sort of pathology but wants to simply improve his or her life, psychologists have nothing to say. Clients such as these end up feeling disappointed in therapy—and often grow worse—as they are not given the skills to move forward.