Wednesday, November 17th, 9.00 AM – 1.00 PM, we do organize in Howest, Sint Jorisstraat 71, 8000 Brugge, a symposium on positive psychology. This symposium is open to the participants (students) of the whole conference, ánd professionals related to the field (max. 50 seats).
Prof. Dr. M. Vansteenkiste, Prof. Dr. L. Verhofstadt, and Ma H. Zeegers will each describe their connection and notion about positive psychology in the 21th century. Official language is English.
Professionals can register here (link), cost-price is Eur 40- (lunch included).
In 2000 the first section of the American Psychologist was entirely dedicated to this topic. In their editorial Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) introduce Positive Psychology as a major shift in the approach of human life, and therefore, as a mission for the new millennium. They describe Positive Psychology as “the science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless”. In other words, what individual trait or cognitions, what aspects of the environment help a person to truly flourish and grow? (Sinott, 2010).
The last ten years research has focused on topics such as happiness (what is the good life, what makes people happy?) leadership (what makes a good leader?), creativity and excellence, strength and resilience, and virtue such as wisdom (Simonton & Baumeister, 2005). The assumption is that more insight into the factors that enhance the quality of life of humans may enable to teach people how to become and remain happier. Since 2000 articles and books have begun to appear that summarize the empirical findings and methods used in the science. Measures of happiness and interventions that foster well-being and happiness are now available and empirically tested. Positive Psychology has strong connections with personality psychology. A large body of research exists on positive personal traits and virtues that help people to overcome adversities (for an overview, see Seligman, Steen, Park & Peeterson, 2005).
However, subjective wellbeing is not solely an individualistic issue. A good life only gets its full meaning in the presence of others. Being part of supportive interpersonal networks and feeling connected to meaningful others helps individuals to feel satisfied and happy. Therefore, Positive psychology also invests in research that supports and fosters healthy, enriching and productive relationships in partners, families, workplaces and communities (IPPA, 2010). Examples are studies on martial happiness, social support, effective parenting etc…
Before World War II the original mission of psychology was already: curing mental illness, making the life of people productive and fulfilling, and identifying and nurturing high talent. Due to the war, the economic crisis and the numerous victims, assessment and treatment of individual suffering became more important. Practitioners focused mainly on repairing damage instead of identifying and nurturing their clients’ strengths. Exceptions were, in the sixties, the Humanistic tradition (Maslow, Rogers) with concepts as personal growth, self-actualization, and in the nineties Solution Focused Therapy (De Shazer & Berg) which uses solutions and strengths of clients as a mean to resolve their problems and deficiencies.
What is new is that Positive Psychology stimulates researchers and practitioners who devote their time to the darker side of human life, to reflect on how their work may help to explore or enrich the positive side of human life (Simonton and Baumeister, 2005). This enlargement of the field is a major gain for psychology as a science and we see that this movement toward the ‘good’ instead of the ‘bad’ is becoming more visible in rehabilitation, revalidation, organizational psychology, and prevention…
In a Knack article (2010) Van Bendegem, professor in Philosophy (VUBrussels) points at the danger of a new ‘positive thinking’ law. “If you are not positive, it is your fault that things are going wrong” or “you can overcome everything (illness, divorce, financial problems) if you continue to see the positive”.
However, real life is not always full of harmony and beauty and the danger is that adversities become more and more individualized instead of the result of failing communities and societies. It is well known that our western societies are not the beacons of solidarity, and that we are challenged by mundial problems such as climate changes, overpopulation, poverty, migration… In sum, it is a good thing that psychologists go for the positive, but without becoming naïve and individualistic.
Enjoy the conference
Enjoy your stay in Bruges
Catherine Barbez, Arne Van den Berghe, Hannes Verdru