Happiness/Signature strengths
Jul/Wednesday/2008 08:10 AM Filed in: Happiness
and positive emotion
The new
field of Positive Psychology led by Martin Seligman,
PhD, former president of the American Psychological
Association, has taught us a lot about what makes
humans flourish. Instead of the historic focus of
psychology which concerned itself with pathology and
mental illness, this new science focuses on what
makes humans feel fulfilled, engaged and meaningfully
happy.
He says there are three components of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. Interestingly, pleasure is the least important component to happiness. The most satisfied people are those that orient their pursuits towards all three. Increasing positive emotions (happiness) leads to positive actions. Happy people are more likely to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Makes sense.
So in the future, I will be writing about how we can improve our happiness by sharing some of the researched activities/exercises that build positive emotion! To start, I've categorized my blog with my top signature strengths (and a couple other categories thrown in). I look forward to writing under each of those topics. A recent study showed that when people used their top strengths in a new way every day, even for a week, their happiness improved up to 6 months over a control group. To find yours, go to www.authentichappiness.org and take the VIA Signature Strengths test.
He says there are three components of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. Interestingly, pleasure is the least important component to happiness. The most satisfied people are those that orient their pursuits towards all three. Increasing positive emotions (happiness) leads to positive actions. Happy people are more likely to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Makes sense.
So in the future, I will be writing about how we can improve our happiness by sharing some of the researched activities/exercises that build positive emotion! To start, I've categorized my blog with my top signature strengths (and a couple other categories thrown in). I look forward to writing under each of those topics. A recent study showed that when people used their top strengths in a new way every day, even for a week, their happiness improved up to 6 months over a control group. To find yours, go to www.authentichappiness.org and take the VIA Signature Strengths test.