Week 1
Loving It All: Flourishing & Thriving - Being Well Being
Mentally, Emotionally, Physically, Environmentally & Socially.
Healthy brains & bodies. Healthy relationships. Healthy homes & communities.
Introduction to Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is the study of happiness, flourishing, and what makes life worth living. Seligman points to five factors as leading to well-being — positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment.
Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play.
Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman is a pioneer of Positive Psychology (the term itself was coined by Abraham Maslow), not simply because he has a systematic theory about why happy people are happy, but because he uses the scientific method to explore it.
Whereas traditional psychology focuses on mental illness, positive psychology focuses on mental wellness
The new era of positive psychology | Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman talks about psychology -- as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?
Positive Psychology with Martin Seligman
Founder of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman, shares his groundbreaking ideas to help us flourish as individuals and contribute to a happier world. This talk was recorded at an Action for Happiness event at Friends House in London
Practice Gratitude
Researchers have found that the practice of gratitude may be especially effective when expressed directly to another person. Sonja Lyubomirsky’s laboratory found that simply writing the gratitude letter and not sending or reading it to the other person still produced significant boosts in happiness.
Use your strengths
Positive psychology draws on many different tools to help individuals and organizations identify their strengths and use them to increase and maintain their levels of well-being. The development of strengths requires a process of self-examination, self-discovery, and reflection. For someone to really understand what their strengths are, they need to look inward. This tool is a valuable way to enhance self-awareness.
Help others
Positive altruism occurs when altruistic behavior increases the welfare of both the benefactor and beneficiary. By applying positive psychology to experiences in their own life, people not only deepen their understanding of psychology but learn first-hand that helping others tends to increase one’s own level of happiness.
Adam Grant
Adam Grant is known as being the most popular full-time professor at the Wharton School. His popularity has gone far beyond educational institutions, as he managed to win accolades from Business Week and even Malcolm Gladwell. In his groundbreaking book Give and Take, top-rated Wharton professor Adam Grant upended decades of conventional motivational thinking with the thesis that giving unselfishly to colleagues or clients can lead to one’s own long-term success. Grant’s research has led hundreds of advice seekers (and HR departments) to his doorstep, and it’s changing the way leaders view their workforces.
Adam Grant's Ted Talk Videos
The surprising habits of original thinkers | Adam Grant
In this talk, learn three unexpected habits of originals — including embracing failure. "The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they're the ones who try the most," Grant says. "You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones."
Are you a giver or a taker? | Adam Grant
In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.
Adam Grant's Books
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Want to increase your well-being, creativity, and productivity? If so, you might want to cultivate flow, a concept describing those moments when you’re completely absorbed in a challenging but doable task. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discovered that people find genuine satisfaction during a state of consciousness called Flow. In this state they are completely absorbed in an activity, especially an activity which involves their creative abilities. During this “optimal experience” they feel “strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness
Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
TED Talk – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Flow – 2004
Individuals who engage in tasks that have a consistent and high degree of ‘meaning’ (e.g. sporting events, creative activity) commonly report a feeling of high alertness and arousal (but not pleasure) that may be construed to be due to the activation of mid-brain dopamine systems
Carol Dweck
The Woman Behind The Motivational Mindset Breakthrough
What is the determining factor that leads people to become successful? Is it merely hard work or is it being intellectually superior or talented in certain areas? According to the world-renowned author and professor Carol Dweck, it has more to do with an individual’s mindset or beliefs about themselves, rather than about how smart they are or how hard working someone is. As a professor of psychology at Stanford University, Dweck has a Ph.D. from Yale and has taught at some of the most prestigious colleges around the country, including Columbia and Harvard Universities.
Carol Dweck: "The Growth Mindset" | Talks at Google
Meet Stanford University’s Professor Dr. Carol S. Dweck to learn more about her fascinating research into “self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior”, and how you can apply a Growth Mindset at home, at school and in your career.
The power of believing that you can improve | Carol Dweck
Carol Dweck researches “growth mindset” — the idea that we can grow our brain's capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that’s slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet? A great introduction to this influential field.
Carol Dweck’s Books
In her book “Mindset,” she explains that people maintain two different types of views on ability and or intelligence. The first view is the ‘entity view’ that says intelligence is immovable and established. Those who hold this idea have an elevated craving to prove themselves to others; to be seen as intellectual and to avoid at all costs, appearing unintelligent.
This self-theory can actually prevent a person from becoming successful.
The second view is the ‘incremental view.’ This belief treats intelligence as malleable, fluid and constantly changeable. Those who hold this view find fulfillment from the learning/growing process itself and also see the potential for prospects to continually lead to better opportunities. They don’t focus on what the outcome says about them, but what can be achieved from taking part in an endeavor.
More than 100 hours of resources to transform you into MASTERY when it comes to improving your knowledge of Positive Psychology & Neuroscience.
This online retreat will give you sustainable "peace of mind".
The "program" will guide you through what to "do at home & on the road" to create the Spa experience within your own environment...
Dr. Christopher Peterson
Other People Matter: Christopher Peterson’s Work in Positive Psychology
Christopher Peterson combined altruistic motivation with scientific and empirical rigor to contribute immeasurably to our fundamental understanding of positive psychology. His research put in place a foundation which allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants as we continue to strive towards self-betterment and the betterment of those around us.
What makes life worth living? (Part 1)
What are the essentials of a happy, satisfying life? What choices can help you build a life with meaning? University of Michigan psychology professor Christopher Peterson has some deceptively simple — but not necessarily easy — answers.
What makes life worth living? (Part 2)
What are the essentials of a happy, satisfying life? What choices can help you build a life with meaning? University of Michigan psychology professor Christopher Peterson offers more ideas, including tips on how to be more creative.
Alex Linley
Strength Finder and Social Entrepreneur
Alex Linley is the founder of the Center of Applied Positive Psychology, also known as CAPP, which focuses on spreading the word about strengths and their role in the field of positive psychology. As a professor, author, and editor of more than 120 research articles, Linley has extended his influence to many realms of psychology.
Robert Emmons
Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., is the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude. He is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. He is the author of the books Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity, and The Little Book of Gratitude.
Robert Emmons: The Power of Gratitude
Robert Emmons explains how gratitude has the ability to heal, energize, and change our lives.
Gratitude Works!: The Science and Practice of Saying Thanks [Robert Emmons]
Robert Emmons (Professor of Psychology, UC Davis) explains how gratitude can heal, energize, and change human lives, with reference to recent empirical psychological research.
Professor Stephen G. Post
An opinion leader, Dr. Stephen Post is the best-selling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life by the Simple Act of Giving. He has been quoted in more than 3000 national and international newspapers and magazines. Stephen has been interviewed on television and radio news shows, , and has even addressed the U.S. Congress. A transformative speaker, Stephen has inspired thousands with the best of medical knowledge, based on thirty years of research.
Across North America, Australia, Europe, Japan and India his positive psychology message impacts happiness, health, success, creativity and even longevity. A leading expert on giving, happiness, health, and success and medical school professor for nearly three decades, Stephen has authored hundreds of articles in leading journals. He is a frequent speaker on practical approaches for healthcare professionals and students worldwide, looking to remain competitive by improving patient outcomes, diminishing medical errors, and preventing depression and burnout in healthcare providers.
As Seen on:
See what Prof. Stephen G. Post says about Positive Prime
Editor’s Desk: Rx It’s Good To Be Good
With respect to photos that show “helping” – n this research paper by the extraordinary Prof. Stephen G. Post, you will find out why is imperative!
It’s necessary for health reasons; it assists those suffering or battling with addiction, it’s very valuable for enriching our relationships and on & on & on.
What is Positive Affect?
“Positive affect” refers to one’s propensity to experience positive emotions and interact with others and with life’s challenges in a positive way. Conversely, “negative affect” involves experiencing the world in a more negative way, feeling negative emotions and more negativity in relationships and surroundings. These two states are independent of one another, though related; someone can be high in positive and negative affect, high in just one, or low in both. Both states affect our lives in many ways, particularly when it comes to stress and how we handle it.
You can experience greater resilience toward stress simply by cultivating positive affect or taking steps to get into a better mood more often.
How to Increase Your Positive Affect?
Positive affect can be developed and cultivated. While affectivity is somewhat inborn, meaning that some people are simply born with a greater propensity for being in a good mood as part of their personality, there are many things you can do to get into the habit if experiencing positive affect more often in your life, and making your good moods even better.
Research shows that writing about what you are grateful for in your life can bring about greater levels of positive affect, and this benefit lasts for quite a while
If you plan pleasurable experiences into your life, you can be constantly increasing your experience of positive affect and the benefits that come with it. Just remember to add new pleasures on a regular basis so you don’t become bored.
Many of us don’t have as much time for hobbies as we’d like, but it’s important to make time. This can not only increase your positive affect, it can take your mind off of what may be stressing you, and leave you with a sense of accomplishment.
Practice Loving-Kindness Meditation
Indulge in Life’s
Pleasures
Engage in
Hobbies
Research shows that writing about what you are grateful for in your life can bring about greater levels of positive affect, and this benefit lasts for quite a while
Physical activity is a powerful stress reliever as well, and there are so many forms of exercise you can engage in, you can find several activities that are fun as well. Dancing, yoga, cycling, walking with a friend? Think about what might be fun for you, and do it!
Research confirms what you probably instinctively know already: that actively savoring positive experiences can prolong the happiness you experience from them! And this can increase positive affect as well, leading to greater enjoyment of life and more resilience toward stress.
How Does Stress Affect Your Brain
It’s well-known that stress can be a detriment to overall health. But can stress actually change the physiology of the brain? Science says yes.
Stress is a chain reaction. “When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus,” Harvard Health Publications of Harvard Medical School explains. “This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee.”
Positive Priming And Relaxation to the Stress Response
This talk will cover a series of studies that explore the role of mindset in determining the effects of stress. Dr. Crum will present results from a variety of lab experiments that demonstrate the effects of stress mindset —one’s belief that stress is debilitating or enhancing— on emotional, physiological and cognitive correlates of stress. In addition, she will present results from a series of field-based interventions aimed at helping individuals deliberately choose a stress-is-enhancing mindset to effect positive changes in health and performance.
Dr Joe Dispenza - Break the Addiction to Negative Thoughts & Emotions
On this video Dr. Joe Dispenza teaches principles and techniques to Break the Addiction to Negative Thoughts & Emotions and create changes in brainwaves for more abundance.
How to break the addiction to negative thoughts and emotions to create what you want. Our minds and emotional states are designed to stay in repetitive patterns.
How to make stress your friend?
Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.
Who is Kelly McGonigal?
Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who is known for her work in the field of 'science help' which focuses on translating insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support health and well-being.
She is now researching a new book about the "upside of stress," which will look at both why stress is good for us, and what makes us good at stress. In her words: "The old understanding of stress as a unhelpful relic of our animal instincts is being replaced by the understanding that stress actually makes us socially smart -- it's what allows us to be fully human."
Books
Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering
Twenty years ago, Dr. Amit Sood, a Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, came to the U.S. thinking he was coming to the Disneyland of the world. He expected everyone here to be very happy. What he saw surprised and shocked him. In this funny, fast-moving, and deeply insightful talk, Dr. Sood shares his journey over two decades and across two continents, finding a way to help us outsmart our neural predispositions to suffering. In the process, he takes us on a back-stage tour of the human brain and outlines the gist of a structured program he is taking globally to decrease stress and improve focus, resilience, and happiness.
Amit Sood, MD, is Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic and Director of Mayo's Complementary and Integrative Medicine program. He is the author of The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living and The Mayo Clinic Guide to Happiness. He is one of the most sought-after speakers at Mayo. He has received several NIH and foundation awards to test and implement integrative and mind-body approaches within medicine. Dr. Sood received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award, the 2010 Innovator of the Year Award, and the 2013 Outstanding Physician Award from Mayo Clinic.
Mike McCullough
McCullough is an experimental psychologist who is concerned primarily with the evolutionary and cognitive underpinnings of human sociality. He was one of the first scientists to take an interest in interpersonal forgiveness and to develop tools for studying it experimentally. He has also innovated experimental approaches to studying gratitude, revenge, prosocial behavior, religious cognition, and intertemporal choice. Additionally, McCullough has worked hard in recent years to help clear up scientific puzzles about self-control and about the social effects of a mammalian hormone known as oxytocin.
Maintain a Gratitude Journal
Indulge in Life’s
Pleasures
Engage in
Hobbies
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Professor and Vice Chair of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Originally from Russia, she received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from Stanford University. Lyubomirsky currently teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology and serves as the Department of Psychology’s Vice Chair. Her teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with the Faculty of the Year Award (twice) and the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award.
The How of Happiness with Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, at Happiness and Its Causes 2016
Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky is a leading social psychologist and researcher into happiness and author of The Myths of Happiness and The How of Happiness.
Sonja Lyubomirsky: What Determines Happiness?
Sonja Lyubomirsky sheds light on how much of our happiness is determined by our genes, and how much is within our power to control.
Sonja Lyubomirsky Books
The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?
Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. In this Research paper, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King and Ed Diener suggest a conceptual model to
account for these findings, arguing that the happiness–success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success.
What makes people happy?
In her work, Sonja Lyubomirsky has focused on developing a science of human happiness. To this end, her research addresses three critical questions:
1) What makes people happy?
2) Is happiness a good thing?
3) How can we make people happier still?
Shawn Achor
Shawn Achor is the NY Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential. Shawn has worked in 50 countries with nearly half the Fortune 100 and everywhere from Camp David and Harvard to shantytowns in Zimbabwe and children’s cancer wards in Boston. After spending twelve years at Harvard University, Shawn has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between happiness and success. His research on happiness made the cover of Harvard Business Review,
Shawn Achor – The Happiness Advantage
After spending twelve years at Harvard University, Shawn has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between happiness and success. His research on happiness made the cover of Harvard Business Review,
Shawn Achor is the author of BIG POTENTIAL How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises our Achievement, Happiness and Well-Being, THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success & Performance at Work, BEFORE HAPPINESS The 5 Hidden Keys to Achieving Success, Spreading Happiness and Sustaining Positive Change, THE ORANGE FROG A Parable for Culture Change, HOW TO BE A POSITIVE LEADER: SMALL ACTIONS, BIG IMPACT Insights from Leading Thinkers on Positive Organizations and RIPPLE’S EFFECT.
As Seen on:
Shawn Achor's Videos
The happy secret to better work | Shawn Achor
We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk from TEDxBloomington, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.
Shawn Achor - Becoming happier with Positive Prime
Shawn Achor has given some amazing feedback after seeing, using and testing Positive Prime. It truly is the future of positive psychology. Learn more at www.positiveprime.com
EFFICACY RESEARCH
Initial Research on Positive Prime by the Institute for Applied Positive Research led by Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan
Based upon our initial research Positive Prime has the potential to quickly and effectively positively prime an individual user to create a positive mindset that results in potential improvements to health outcomes, educational outcomes, mood, energy, stress response and business outcomes. In partnership with the Institute for Applied Positive Research founded by Michelle Gielan and Shawn Achor, we have begun testing the impact of a single Positive Prime session upon an end user. Our first study was to determine if a single session could have an impact upon mood both immediately and hours later. We were unsurprised, based on previous research, to see that a positive prime of 1.5 seconds per image for 3 minutes resulted in higher positive mood immediately, but we were impressed that there was a statistically significant improvement of mood 6 – 8 hours after initial exposure (11% increased likelihood of reporting a positive day compared to the negative and neutral sessions).
We then tested explicit (consciously aware) and implicit (similar to unconscious) memory. In short, we found that between 27-48% of the content was consciously remembered and that the content was retained even an hour later. This is good for any thought leaders who wanted an effective and efficient vehicle for delivering their content. But more exciting from a research perspective, a single 3 minute Positive Prime session positively impacted the unconscious thinking patterns of the user.
For example, if the user an hour later was provided PRO_______ and then asked to fill in the word, a Positive Prime user was significantly more likely to finish the stem with a positive word like “protect” instead of “problem” (negative) or “program” neutral. This links to an entire body of research showing that when the mind is positive, a whole host of positive impacts can occur.
Our next steps are to 1) determine how multiple sessions for a subscribed user affects their outcomes, 2) expand beyond memory and mood to stress, energy, productivity, sales, customer service at call centers, likelihood of following up with a doctor or therapist, stress before a medical exam, performance on a standardized test, recidivism rates, etc. the list goes on and on, but we are starting with how Positive Prime impacts decision making (discounting) which has broad implications for financial planning and career advancement, and 3) how personalizing the Positive Prime experience impacts the outcomes.
Ingrid Fetell Lee
Ingrid Fetell Lee is a designer and the founder of the blog The Aesthetics of Joy. She has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as the New York Times, Wired, PRI’s Studio 360, CBC’s Spark, and Fast Company, and her 2018 TED talk received a standing ovation. Lee was formerly Design Director at global innovation firm IDEO, and was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University.
Positive Priming and Fun
A key element to positive personal change is fun, in order to encourage daily and consistent use until results are evident.
In this captivating talk, Ingrid Fetell Lee reveals the surprisingly tangible roots of joy and shows how we all can find — and create — more of it in the world around us.
Positive Prime curates images that depict fun such as images of smiling people, rainbows, ice cream, colorful arts, gorgeous nature scenes, positive behaviors, and inspiring environments.
Ed Diener, Ph.D
is an American psychologist, professor, and author. Diener is a professor of psychology at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, as well as a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. He is noted for his research over the past thirty year. Dr. Diener is past president of three scientific societies: the International Society for Quality of Life Studies, the International Positive Psychology Association, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He is a fellow of five professional societies, including the Association for Psychological Science, American Psychological Association, and International Society for Quality of Life Studies, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and Experimental Psychology.
Dr. Ed Diener on Happiness and Character Strengths
Ed Diener, Ph.D., ("Dr. Happy"), speaking to his research on happiness that spans over three decades. He discusses the link of "reverse causality" between positive emotions and positive character.
Prof Ed Diener 'The new science of happiness' at Happiness & Its Causes 2013
Professor Ed Diener, world's foremost expert on the science of happiness and life satisfaction, Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois, USA
The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?
Dr. Pert is an internationally recognized pharmacologist who has published over 250 scientific articles on peptides and their receptors and the role of these neuropeptides in the immune system. She has an international reputation in the field of neuropeptide and receptor pharmacology, and chemical neuroanatomy. She has lectured worldwide on these and other subjects, including her theories on emotions and mind-body communication. Dr. Pert holds a number of patents for modified peptides in the treatment of psoriasis, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, stroke, and head trauma. One of these, Peptide T, is currently in a Phase II trial in San Francisco for the treatment of AIDS and neuroAIDS.
Her best-selling book, Molecules of Emotion is noteworthy both as an insider’s history of the changing scientific paradigm and as one woman’s journey of growth and understanding.
Dr. Pert's Improtant Work
Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel
In MOLECULES OF EMOTION, neuroscientist Candace Pert provides startling and decisive answers to these long-debated questions, establishing the biomolecular basis for our emotions and explaining these new scientific developments in a clear and accessible way. Her pioneering research on how the chemicals inside us form a dynamic information network, linking mind and body, is not only provocative, it is revolutionary. In her groundbreaking book, Candace Pert offers a new scientific understanding of the power of our minds and our feelings to affect our health and well-being.
What the Bleep Do We Know
What the Bleep Do We Know is a Groundbreaking drama-documentary that explores the natural laws of quantum physics and their interconnected relationship to human consciousness in how we perceive and experience our lives. Scientifically, the movie is a dramatic shift in how we understand the unseen sub-atomic world and how thoughts become things.
In the film, during a discussion of the influence of experience on perception, Candace Pert notes a story, which she says she believes is true, of Native Americans being unable to see Columbus’s ships because they were outside their experience.
Barbara Fredrickson – Broaden & Build Theory
When you are watching Sessions you will notice that one of the intentions and desired outcomes is positive emotions for the viewer. There’s a precise reason why. Your minds deserve to benefit from the Broaden & Build Effect. What’s more, you will notice many images that relate and role-model micro-moments of connection for the good of your Vagus Nerve. We would recommend you read Barbara Fredrickson Ph.D.’s “Love 2.0 and investigate her work further. These two videos are essential.
Who is Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson?
Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D. earned her undergraduate degree from Carleton College and her doctorate from Stanford University. Fredrickson is a leading scholar within social psychology, affective science (the study of emotion), and positive psychology. She has received more than 16 consecutive years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health, and her research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honors.
Positive people are able to maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture which helps them identify solutions where as negative people maintain a narrower perspective and tend to focus on problems.
- Dr. Barbara Fredrickson (2009)
What is Broaden and Build Theory?
Fredrickson hypothesized that positive emotions have a “broadening effect” on the momentary thought-action repertoire: They allow us to discard automatic responses and instead look for creative, flexible, and unpredictable new ways of thinking and acting.
By broadening our perspectives and actions, we tend to build important and lasting physical, intellectual, psychological, and social resources that may have contributed to our ancestors’ survival.
Broaden-and-build theory: positive emotions broaden an individuals momentary thought-action repertoire Broaden-and-build theory: positive emotions broaden an individuals momentary thought-action repertoire
Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson Videos
Barbara Fredrickson: Positive Emotions Open Our Mind
Barbara Fredrickson discusses how positive emotions broaden our awareness of the world, allowing us to become more in tune with the needs of others.
Remaking love: Barbara Fredrickson at TEDxLowerEastSide
Dr. Fredrickson is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina.
Barbara Fredrickson: Positive Emotions Transform Us
Barbara Fredrickson suggests that positive emotions make us more resilient to setbacks, improve our relationships, and may even change our biological makeup.
Barbara Fredrickson: The Positivity Ratio
Barbara Fredrickson shares her research on the ideal ratio of positive to negative emotions, and offers suggestions for how to flourish in life.
Books by Barbara Fredrickson
Barbara is the author of Positivity (2009), a general-audience book that draws on her own research and that of other social scientists. She also released a new book in January 2013, Love 2.0, which discusses the supreme emotion of love, micro-moments of connection as well as how love can affect your biological and cellular make-up over time
As Seen On:
Positive Priming And Placebo Effect
What if our mindset determines our health outcomes?
Exploring the Placebo Effect & Stress Interventions & Priming to Change our Lens… this is an EXTRAORDINARY TEDx Talk by Dr Alia Crum: "Change your mindset, change the game"
Please watch this as soon as you can! We believe it’s worth finding the time to extract the value from the message.
Who is Dr. Alia Crum?
Stanford professor, athlete and psychologist Alia Crum investigates the role of mindsets in affecting health behaviors and outcomes. Inspired by research on the placebo effect, Alia’s research was the first to reveal the physiological effects of mindset in core areas of behavioral health, including the benefits of exercise, the metabolic processing of nutrients, and the effects of stress.
Alia’s research moves us beyond the limited notion of the placebo effect as a mysterious response to an inert substance toward recognizing that, ultimately, our mindset is responsible for physiological responses. As the director of the Mind & Body Lab and the health director at Stanford SPARQ, Alia leads researchers in better defining and utilizing the roles social and psychological forces play in overcoming chronic disease.
Invest In Your Family's Wellness Today
Help Your Loved Ones Become More
Empowered
Happier
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Heliotropic Effect
According to this heliotropic phenomenon, living organisms have a tendency to lean towards positive energy and light and away from darkness. As the sun moves from sunrise to sunset, for example, you can observe the plant moving toward the direction of the sun, as you see in this cool video.
Kim Cameron – Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations
Kim Cameron, professor and associate dean at the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship from the University of Michigan, is doing great work. Not only did he develop the famous Competing Values Framework and the associated Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument, he’s also one of the go-to researchers on Positive Organizational Scholarship. Positive leadership and culture are based on the Positive Psychology research and they’re the heart of the Positive Culture Academy.
The universality of the heliotropic effect | Kim Cameron | TEDxUCCS
Positive practices produced significantly improved outcomes. Kim Cameron discusses the heliotropic effect and how it relates to organizations and personal relationships. Kim S. Cameron is William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Michigan.
Kim Cameron: "Positive Leadership: Strategies for Extraordinary Performance" | Talks at Google
Dr. Kim Cameron's research focuses on virtuousness in and of organizations, such as forgiveness, gratitude, kindness, and compassion, and their relationship to performance. Dr. Cameron is William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business.
Kim Cameron's Books
Positive Prime and the Heliotropic Effect
Humans, like most other living organisms, are innately built to search for not only physical light, but also just the very concept of light. Even our language is inundated with “light” metaphors that frame the way we think about concepts like hope, optimism, and overcoming “darkness” or challenges. Just think of it: we frequently mutter phrases like “there’s light at the end of the tunnel” or “you’re the light of my life” or “my mind was illuminated” or “what a bright idea!” or “he’s a shining example” or, even, when we’re about to die, “go towards the light.”
Click on the button below to download Prof Kim Cameron’s further studies on Effect of Positive Practices on Organizational effectiveness.
