Positive psychology

Positive psychology studies well-being, strengths, positive emotions, and the conditions that help individuals and communities flourish. It complements the study of psychological distress by examining what enables people to live well.

PERMA: A model of well-being comprising positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Martin Seligman's framework organizes several outcomes positive psychology investigates.
Broaden-and-build theory: Barbara Fredrickson's theory that positive emotions broaden momentary thought and action, helping build lasting resources. It proposes a pathway from positive emotion to durable personal and social resources.
Martin Seligman: An American psychologist whose research includes learned helplessness and who helped establish positive psychology as a movement. His presidency of the American Psychological Association helped give the movement visibility in the late 1990s.
Positive psychology interventions: Structured activities designed to increase positive feelings, behaviors, or thoughts and support well-being. They are the field's direct attempts to translate research into practice.
Clinical psychology: The field concerned with assessing and treating mental disorders and psychological distress. Positive psychology broadens the focus beyond problems, while clinical psychology directly addresses distress.
Subjective well-being: A person's self-reported evaluation of life satisfaction and the balance of positive and negative emotions. It provides a prominent measure of how people experience their lives.
Gratitude: An appreciation of benefits received, often accompanied by recognition of their sources. Gratitude practices are studied as possible ways to alter attention and emotional experience.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: A Hungarian-American psychologist known for research on flow and creativity. His earlier work on flow became a major foundation for the emerging field.
Positive psychotherapy: A therapeutic approach that uses positive psychology exercises to build strengths and well-being alongside addressing problems. It applies the field's methods within a clinical treatment framework.
Hedonic treadmill: The tendency for people to adapt to changes in circumstances and return toward a relatively stable level of happiness. It challenges expectations that favorable events or interventions produce lasting gains in happiness.

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