DaveShearon

Positive Psychology News Daily (Positive Psychology Resource #3)

Here is the fourth in my weekly posts about web-based resources for learning and applying positive psychology: Positive Psychology News Daily!  One of my MAPP classmates, Senia Maymin (pictured) , started and runs this site with the assistance of some other MAPP graduates. The site has 3-5 articles per week written by MAPP graduates, and sometimes by guest authors.  They can be practical, personal, poetic, or philosophical.  Usually the mention books, articles, or other research.  And the comment strings can get interesting.  Recently, for example, there have been a number of articles on mindfulness, meditation, and similar topics, with a good bit of discussion by other authors and a community of commenters.  Good site for an (almost) daily dose of science-based positivity.

Compassionate Spenders

Continuing the thinking in my PPND post as to how the economic downturn might bring out positives, there is "The Guilted Age: Spending to Keep Others Afloat" from the Wall Street Journal.  Although registration may be required, these paragraphs give the sense of the article:

Donations to many charitable institutions are down, but that may not be the correct measure of the nation's philanthropic impulses. Writing a check to an institution is impersonal, abstract and easy to quit. Far more difficult is canceling the kids' weekly music lessons when you know the piano teacher's husband just lost his job. Or firing the house cleaner who greets you every week with a new photo of her baby.

There's more than a touch of self-interest mixed in with the altruism, of course. Those who can afford luxuries like private piano lessons and weekly house cleaning aren't keen on forfeiting such luxuries -- something families freely acknowledge. But they also say their decisions are shaped in part by the pain that cutbacks may cause others.

"What we buy or stop buying, when we buy, for whom, and how much we spend are never simply decisions to maximize our own interests," said Viviana Zelizer, a Princeton professor who studies the intersection of sociology and economics. "The monies we spend signal which relationships matter to us."

Of course, nothing about us as human beings is simple.  There's the aspect of wanting to maintain our lifestyle as long as possible, even in the face of reversals.  And there is the "rational" analysis that, from a charitable standpoint, the money spent in this fashion might do more good for more people if given to a charity, but we don't know the people the charity helps; we know those whom we see every day.  And, of course, some sellers work to maximize the connection, knowing that it helps.  Is this a problem?  Or are they, by cultivating relationships, adding value?

I generally stay away from pulling examples from relgious texts when I am talking about positive psychology.  I don't want to confuse the two.  Further, since I am familiar almost exclusively with Christian texts, using those stories tends to trigger reactions based on feelings toward organized Christian religion, not the points of the story.   I'm going to make an exception in this case because "Christian charity" is so often invoked for the poor, sick or disabled who happen to be far away.  I think it is those in front of us to whom we should be most attuned, and I think the Bible supports this view.

In the parable of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man that is found in the 16th Chapter of Luke, the rich man steps over Lazarus every day of his life as he leaves his house.  Both die, and Lazarus goes to heaven, the rich man to hell.  The point I draw is that it wasn't ignoring the needs of the faceless "many" that sent the rich man to hell; it was stepping over the beggar at his doorstep.  Likewise, in the 25th Chapter of Matthew, in the story of the last judgment, the judgment is not based not on what those judged did for the "poor" -- it is personalized because what they did or did not do "to one of the least of these" was done or not done for Jesus.

How much evil would there be in the world if we each simply refused to step over those in need?  And, what unforseen, amazing benefits might we gain in the process?

Authentic Happiness.org (Positive Psychology Resource #2)

Continuing my weekly series of web resources for well-being, here's one that's the grandaddy in many ways.  Authentichappiness.org has been up and running for years.  Hundreds of thousands have taken the instruments that are available there, including the VIA Inventory of Character Strengths, which was the original reason for the site.  You can go back months or even years later and re-take the tests to assess your progress.  It was interesting when I was in the MAPP program to see the results from tests I had taken years before.

The use of "happiness" in the title cause some folks trouble because of the "Fluffy Fallacy" -- the belief that happiness and positive emotions are "fluffy" and don't really matter for serious stuff.  If, however, you understand happiness as a broad assessment of how your life is going across domains, including positive feelings, relationships, engagement, and meaning, then the site's name makes perfect sense.

I suggest these instruments:

CES-D if you have any concern you might be depressed.

Authentic Happiness Inventory as a baseline for well-being.

Optimism Test for explanatory style.

 VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire to find the character strengths you endorse in yourself, i.e., your "signature" strengths.  (But click on the button to see all 24 and picke the 3-5 out of the top 8-10 that seem most "you.")

Good things from down economic times?

We are in the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, but it is a time that may offer real opportunities for gains in well-being for both lawyers and teachers. First, let’s consider the effect of money on happiness based on the excellent chapter in Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth by Ed Diener and Robert Biswas Diener. Then let’s think about how this downturn can be an opportunity to reconsider the priority of goals for financial gain. 

Read the rest of my monthly post over at Positive Psychology News Daily.

Art Linkletter is (still!) a positive person!

The Wall Street Journal has this great interview with Art Linkletter.  He's 96, has been married for 73 years, and is starting Team Grandparent to try and fix Social Security. The article describes him as "fun-filled" with "charm, warmth, dancing eyes, upbeat outlook and joke-telling."  Worth a read.

PositivityRatio.com (Positive Psychology Resource #1)

Positive emotions are foundational to living an engaged, connected, caring, meaningful, purposeful life.  What's more, we now have evidence of how positive inidivuals, couples and teams need to be -- 3:1 or greater.  Positivity is a non-linear system -- a small increase in positivity from 2.8:1 to 3:1 can result in the emergence of significant new patterns of well-being in an individual, couple, or team.  Only about 20% of adults naturally achieve this level.  That's the message of Barbara Fredrickson in Positivity.  Dr. Fredrickson is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Dr. Fredrickson explains the extensive research that has established this understanding and what that research shows about (a) how to increase your ratio of positive to negative emotions and (b) the effects of achieving such an increase.

To find out more:

Buy and read Positivity

PositivityRatio.com offers tools developed by Dr. Fredrickson to help you assess your positivity ratio, a place to track key milestones in your efforts to achieve a 3:1 or greater positivity ratio, and an opportunity to read stories from others working on their positivity ratios and to share your own.  No charge for the website.  Registration required.

Check back here each Friday for new Web Resources for Living the Good Life.

Web-Based Tools for the Good Life

I am starting a new series of posts on web resources for living the good life.  Each Friday, I will post information on an online class, measurement tool, or other web-based resource that can help you live the good life as it best fits you.  Check back this Friday for the first in this series of posts!