DaveShearon

Happier.com (Positive Psychology Web Resource #4)

 Assessments, exercises, and tools drawn from the best positive psychology research. Free and paid versions.  I know the folks that developed this, I like 'em, and I think they've done a great job.  They're adding new feature consistently and have some great folks involved.  Check out Acacia Parks-Sheiner's 5-part series on "In Hard Times, What Can Positive Psychology Do for Us?"

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.

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.")

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!