Global Policies

The 2nd Applied Positive Psychology Conference recently held at the University of Warwick held three lessons that inspired me from three different perspectives – individual, organizational, and community.

I don’t think emotions, positive or negative, need to be kept in the closet at work. But you need to take the heat out of the discussion, and give business people the opportunity to explore their emotions dispassionately, setting goals which will enhance their performance. Here is one of many ways to do this. Providing you show real benefits, emotions can be transformed into serious business.

Day 3 of the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Conference included discussions of the business value and success factors for both inclusive diversity and wellness programs. […]

Following is Part Two of an interview I conducted last month with Tom Rath on Strengths-based Leadership. Talking about people he studied, Tom said, “They’re people that I have admired for a long time and they were just night and day different in the way they interacted with people and built their organizations.”

This is the second article about the conference at Claremont Graduate University on January 24, 2009 around the two questions, What works in positive social sciences? How can we influence social change for the betterment of society? This article covers the afternoon sessions on physical health, education, and mentoring, along with a review of Mind and Evolution by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. […]

Last Saturday, 24 January 2009, Claremont Graduate University hosted a conference titled Applying the Science of Positive Psychology to Improve Society. The moderator, Stewart Donaldson, posed two questions: What works in positive social sciences? How can we influence social change for the betterment of society? This article covers the morning sessions on the foundations of positive psychology.

For researchers who want to collaborate on a broad study of wellbeing over time: the Wellbeing Study team is seeking collaborators who are willing to promote the study in their own countries or with specific populations in return for access to interesting data. Read further for the information about the study duration, planned measures, and how you can contribute.

As the United States ushers in a new political leader, many people across the world have high hopes for change, whether that be in an improved state of the world economy, substantial progress towards global peace, or a greater sense of purpose to get them out of bed tomorrow morning. Whatever the desired change may be, many people are wondering whether their high expectations can possibly be met.

There’s less than six weeks to go before the 1^st Cohort finishes the first-ever European Masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of East London, UK, under the inspirational leadership of Dr Ilona Boniwell. It’s been an interesting journey. … At the start, in February 07, I expected that the “destination” would reveal itself at some point along the way. Here we are, with the final dissertation deadline in sight, and I’m still questioning: What did I do all this for?

On the night of the presidential election, I lounged and chatted on a cozy couch with friends in a Philadelphia apartment…. … Within moments… there were hundreds of people joyfully and peacefully making their way down the middle of the road. Just watching them, hugging as they went, and listening to the buzz of energy audible through the closed window sent chills down my spine. There was a profound sense of human connection.

I’ve seen a vast increase in the breadth and complexity of social integration in my lifetime. In his book, Nonzero, Robert Wright traces this integration to ongoing evolution of non-zero-sumness leading to greater interdependence and greater social complexity. He discusses technologies that pull us together and common threats that push us together.

As I am sure you have, I recently witnessed a heated argument between two neighbors who disagree over the Presidential campaign. If your relations with people supporting the opposing view have been more difficult as of late, please pay attention! … Studies of everyday reasoning show that people tend to make their decisions instinctively and then try to find evidence to support their point of view.

The 2nd Conference on Happiness & Its Causes was held in London in October 2008. The conference aimed to probe into the underlying causes of happiness and well-being for individuals, workplaces, and communities as a whole. The conference motto was Tools & Techniques for a Happier Life.

The good news is that according to a new study by Inglehart, Foa, Peterson and Welzel, happiness is actually increasing: in this longitudinal study between 1981 and 2007, happiness levels went up in 45 out of 52 countries. Happiness has risen, they suggest, due to increasing democratization over the past 25 years, which means that people increasingly feel they have free choice (e.g. freedom of speech, to travel and in politics) and control over their lives.

A couple of weeks ago, at the 4th European Conference of Positive Psychology conference in Croatia, I presented a study on the impact of Job Design and Team Structure on…

(Special thanks to Elaine O’Brien for her contribution to this article) The city of Opatija, Croatia is a seaside gem with beautiful landscapes, architecture, and design. The breathtaking sceneries are…

“…but it can get you a better class of enemy” (Spike Milligan, 1918-2002). On Monday, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that Professor Richard Layard, Labour peer and eminent economist turned Happiness Tsar, got his wake-up call when he realized that over a certain point (quoted as being $20,000 per year), money does not make you very much happier. Of course we now know that the argument is a bit more complicated than that.

I urge all positive psychologists – especially the younger generation – to investigate this and to build greater communion and understanding between the traditions of thought in the East and the West. ~ Alex Linley. In Part 2 of the interview, we try to learn more from the experience of Alex Linley on how to promote, apply, and amplify positive psychology in a widened sense.

“Realizing strengths, in my view, is the smallest thing that you can do to make the biggest difference.”
~ Alex Linley
I first met Alex when he gave a speech in my positive psychology class in Aston Business School. Since he is the one who led me to the world of Positive Psychology, this interview has special meaning.