Couverture / Jaquette

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what goes right in life, from birth to death and at all stops in between. It is a newly-christened approach within psychology that takes seriously as a subject matter those things that make life most worth living. Everyone's life has peaks and valleys, and positive psychology does not deny the valleys. Its signature premise is more nuanced but nonetheless important: What is good about life is as genuine as what is badand therefore deserves equal attention from psychologists. Positive psychology as an explicit perspective has existed only since 1998, but enough relevant theory and research now exist concerning what makes life most worth living to fill a book suitable for a semester-long college course. This is thatbook, and it covers the topics of concern to this new field.

Note biographique

Christopher Peterson has been at the University of Michigan since 1986. He is Professor of Psychology, the former director of clinical training, and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, awarded in recognition of his accomplishments as an undergraduate instructor. Peterson is a member of the Positive Psychology Steering Committee, a consulting editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology, and a Templeton Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center. He took the lead in creating the Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths, the most ambitious research project to date explicitly undertaken from a positive psychology perspective. Co-author of Character Strengths and Virtues (OUP 2004), Peterson is among the world's 100 most-frequently cited psychologists during the past 20 years and has long-standing research interests in optimism, health, character, and well-being.

Table des matières

• Preface


• 1: What is Positive Psychology?


• 2: Learning about Positive Psychology: Not a Spectator Sport


• 3: Pleasure and Positive Experience


• 4: Happiness


• 5: Positive Thinking


• 6: Character Strengths


• 7: Values


• 8: Interests, Abilities, and Accomplishments


• 9: Wellness


• 10: Positive Interpersonal Relationships


• 11: Enabling Institutions


• 12: The Future of Positive Psychology


• References


• Index of Names


• Subject Index

Détails