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Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

by Kennon Sheldon, Todd Kashdan and Michael Steger (Eds.)

Positive psychology exploded into public consciousness 10 years ago and has continued to capture attention around the world ever since. The movement promised to study positive human nature, using only the most rigorous scientific tools and theories. How well has this promise been fulfilled? This book evaluates the first decade of this fledgling field of study from the perspective of nearly every leading researcher in the field.

Scholars in the areas of social, personality, clinical, biological, emotional, and applied psychology take stock of their fields, while bearing in mind the original manifesto and goals of the postive psychology movement. They provide honest, critical evaluations of the flaws and untapped potential of their fields of study. The contributors design the optimal future of positive psychology by addressing gaps, biases, and methodological limitations, and exploring exciting new questions.

A Psychology of Human Strengths

by Lisa G. Aspinwall and Ursula M. Staudinger (Editors)

In an era of vaccinations, angioplasty, and gene therapy, is there any need for behavioral change in improving health? Is the role of the clinical, counseling, and health psychologist becoming obsolete? Quite the contrary. As Margaret A. Chesney and Michael H. Antoni demonstrate in Innovative Approaches to Health Psychology, the opportunity for clinical, counseling, and health psychologists to increase the scope of their practice and their contribution to research is more vital than ever. As medicine advances, risky behaviors rise, as does noncompliance with medical regimens and the incidence of more drug-resistant strains of viruses. This fascinating book demonstrates how health psychology has risen to the challenge to find new ways to reach and treat at-risk populations. Using their experiences in responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis over nearly two decades, leading experts in health psychology and clinical psychology illustrate how they identified avenues for intervention and new targets for behavior change and designed new methods to address critical problems. Each chapter presents the theoretical rationale for a host of strategies, empirical validation for the effectiveness with a specific population or presenting problem, and step-by-step procedures for implementation. Experts demonstrate how basic behavioral science principles were used to develop interventions to assist individuals, families, small groups, and communities. They also share valuable lessons in treating chronic pain, sleep disturbance, noncompliance with complex medical regimens, and the miracle cure/quick fix mentality. They describe their successes in tailoring interventions to specific risk populations, such as adolescents, pregnant women, African American women, gay men, and IV drug users. These findings are invaluable in addressing a range of public health concerns, from sexually transmitted diseases to coping with chronic disease.

Positive Psychology in Practice

by P. Alex Linley and Stephen Joseph (Editors)

Positive Psychology in Practice fills the need for a broad, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art reference for this burgeoning new perspective. Cutting across traditional lines of thinking in psychology, this resource bridges theory, research, and applications to offer valuable information to a wide range of professionals and students in the social and behavioral sciences.

Positive Psychology in a Nutshell: The Science of Happiness

by Ilona Boniwell

Discover the latest research findings and thinking on the topics of happiness, flow, optimism, motivation, character strengths, love and more.

Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology (Series in Positive Psychology)

by Anthony Ong & Manfred Van Dulmen (Editors)

In the short time since the publication of the Handbook of Positive Psychology esearch results on the psychology of human strengths have proliferated. However, no major volume has documented the methods and theory used to achieve these results. Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology fills this need, providing a broad overview of diverse contemporary methods in positive psychology.

Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths

by C.R. Snyder and Shane J. Lopez

Written by two leaders of the positive psychology initiative, this groundbreaking new text brings positive social science to life through a comprehensive review of literature and well-crafted exercises that encourage readers to put positive psychology principles to the test. Positive Psychology: Scientific and Practical Applications of Human Strengths covers western and eastern approaches to understanding human strengths, along with the cultural and developmental influences on positive functioning. Key approaches for measuring and enhancing strengths and capitalizing on positive experiences are described.
Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology (Series in Positive Psychology)

by Anthony Ong & Manfred Van Dulmen (Editors)

In the short time since the publication of the Handbook of Positive Psychology esearch results on the psychology of human strengths have proliferated. However, no major volume has documented the methods and theory used to achieve these results. Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology fills this need, providing a broad overview of diverse contemporary methods in positive psychology. 
 
With contributions from both leading scholars and promising young investigators, the handbook serves to illuminate and, at times, challenge traditional approaches. Incorporating multiple levels of analysis, from biology to culture, the contributors present state-of-the art techniques, including those for estimating variability and change at the level of the individual, identifying reliability of measurements within and across individuals, and separating individual differences in growth from aspects of phenomena that exhibit shorter-term variability over time. The volume covers such topics as wisdom, health, hope, resilience, religion, relationships, emotions, well-being, character strengths, and laughter. It enhances our understanding of the balance between human deficits and strengths and demonstrates their connections to other problems. 
 
Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology will be the essential reference for methods in positive psychology.
The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)

by Shane J. Lopez and C. R. Snyder (Editors)

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology is the seminal reference in the field of positive psychology, which in recent years has transcended academia to capture the imagination of the general public. The handbook provides a roadmap for the psychology needed by the majority of the population - those who don't need treatment but want to achieve the lives to which they aspire. 
 
These 65 chapters summarize all of the relevant literature in the field. The content's breadth and depth provide an unparalleled cross-disciplinary look at positive psychology from diverse fields and all branches of psychology, including social, clinical, personality, counseling, school, and developmental psychology. 
 
Topics include not only happiness but also hope, strengths, positive emotions, life longings, creativity, emotional creativity, courage, and more, plus guidelines for applying what has worked for people across time and cultures.
Handbook of Multimethod Measurement in Psychology

by Ed Diener and Michael Eid (Editors)

Second author, E. Diener, is with Univ. of Illinois, Champaign. Guide to theoretical, methodological, and applied aspects of multi-method measurement in psychological research. Topics include theoretical concepts, assessment methods, methods of data analysis, applied multimethod research, and more. For researchers and practitioners.

Introduction to Positive Psychology

by William Compton

This brief paperback presents in-depth coverage of the relatively new area of positive psychology. Topically organized, it looks at how positive psychology relates to stresses and health within such traditional research areas as developmental, clinical, personality, motivational, social, and behavioral psychology. The text is a perfect supplement for Introductory Psychology, Psychology of Adjustment, Health Psychology, or Social Psychology courses. It can also be used as a primary text in upper level courses, such as the Psychology of Happiness.

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