How do we transcend self-interest and contribute to the greater good of our own communities? I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind and newly appointed professor of ethical leadership at the NYU Stern School of Business. I asked him for practical ways I could apply his Moral Foundations Theory with my family, my business clients, my community efforts, and as a practicing member of the positive psychology community,
Category:
Home and Family
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If you’re like most people you probably assume that movies are simply a fun way of spending a few hours and nothing more. However, many psychologists are exploring the idea…
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AllHealthHome and FamilyPositive agingPositive EmotionPositive FeelingsRelationships
Life Stories of the Oldest Old
What happens when the oldest old look back over the course of their lives and share their stories with younger generations? Can helping older people retell their stories can be an effective way to support and prolong their well-being?
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We are members of the Sandwich Generation, providing advice and support to both our children and our parents. For our children, we can draw on memory to understand what they’re going through. But for our parents, memory doesn’t serve. We’ve never experienced what they’re experiencing. Informed imagination has to take over.
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In Malaysia, we are celebrating 15 days of the lunar new year beginning January 23, with much ado. The expressway has been packed with tens of thousands of vehicles moving North and South depending on where Home is. I thought about the reasons for going home in that crazy traffic. Most return home for filial reasons, some with great joy and expectation, while others go home obligatorily. From these thoughts and from reading Hollis’s book about the second half of life, I came up with 5 lessons about life in families.
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AllGratitudeHappiness ExercisesHome and FamilyHumorPathway 1 "Pleasure"Positive EmotionPositive FeelingsRelationshipsSavoring / In-the-MomentStressTaking Action_1 Positive Experiences
Savoring the Festive Spirit
The holiday season and the New Year can be pretty stressful, but this time of year provides us with some ideal opportunities for savoring – noticing, appreciating, and enhancing the things which are already positive in our lives – and there is nothing easier to do. The rules of savoring are simple to follow, and you don’t need any special skills or equipment. In fact anyone, young or old, rich or poor, can learn how to savor and reap the benefits.
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AllAweGratitudeHome and FamilyHopeIn-the-NewsLoveOptimismPositive EmotionRelationshipsSpirituality
Oprah’s Last Class
For twenty years my dear friend Ann and I have been watching the Oprah Winfrey show, so it seemed appropriate that we watch Oprah’s last show together. Through the power of storytelling and television, Oprah brought to life many lessons taught by positive psychologists around the world. She used her final show to share her greatest lessons from 25 years of the Oprah show. Here they are…
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What should we expect when we lose someone who is important to us? Is there an evolutionary purpose for sadness? What does it mean that people also laugh at funerals? What distinguishes resilient mourning?
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AllGratitudeHome and FamilyParenting & SchoolsRelationships
PERMA Parent Part 3: Building Positive Relationships
In the parenting section of any bookstore, you will find a vast array of survival guides with proven tools and strategies for getting through life with kids. But in survival mode, the level of happiness and well-being of parents is endangered. So, how do we as parents move our partnerships from endangered happiness to flourishing?
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The three blessings nomenclature has not always served Positive Psychology well. To some people, it can seem silly. Others are put off by the religious implications. Yet this exercise has lasting benefits, more reliably attached to reducing depression than stopping smoking is attached to reducing cancer.
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What does interpersonal touch contribute to human life? Researchers such as Alberto Gallace, Charles Spence, and Robin Dunbar believe that interpersonal touch plays an important role in our emotional well-being, conveys emotion more powerfully than language, helps us calm down from stress arousal, and enhances trust between individuals.
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A very close family member had hurt me very badly many years ago. For my own health and happiness, I decided to completely forgive her by finding compassion for her. I forgave her – not because I felt what she did was right, I did it for me to let it go. But over the years, forgiveness offered me no relief and I began to question if forgiveness was the right thing to do in this case? This is when I started to dig deeper on the downside of forgiveness. I mean, is there any time when it does not make sense?
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AllBusinessHome and FamilySelf regulationTaking Action
Why You Need to Switch Off over the Holiday Period. But Not Too Much!
A recent piece of research from Charlotte Fritz at Portland State University and her colleagues has explored the relationship between switching off from work during non-work time (a.k.a. ‘psychological detachment’), well-being, and productivity.
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AllAweGratitudeHome and FamilyParenting & SchoolsPathway 3 "Meaning"Positive FeelingsResilienceSavoring / In-the-Moment_1 Positive Experiences
Believing in Santa Claus
When the women of my book club heard the plight of the families of the Red Door, they enthusiastically embraced the task of sponsoring a family. It was wonderful to know this family was going to have a good Christmas…but what touched my heart was how the women of the book club were transformed. They felt it made a difference in their lives and here’s how…
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AllHome and FamilyParenting & SchoolsPositive FeelingsRelationshipsStrengths
PERMA Parent: Building Positive Emotions into Parenting
Parenting is a life domain which can dramatically effect well-being. Men and women grapple with a new identity realizing that they are fathers and mothers, with all of the negative and positive connotations. They have a new role, one that can be heavily influenced by societal norms and pressures. However, the five pillars of well being, when applied to the parenting domain, can lead to flourishing families.
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In part I, I described research that shows a decline in female happiness since 1972. I asked you to share what you thought the reasons were for this decline. The article sparked a flurry of discussion. I will explore four of the reasons put forth and then offer some strategies for improving female happiness.
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AllHome and FamilyRelationshipsSelf regulation
Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: The Health Benefits of Social Connections
Would you knowingly engage in behaviors that you know would lead to a cascade of negative health events? After her husband died, Shirley regularly declined invitations to go places with…
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Kiselica and Englar-Carlson look at how Positive Psychology can be used to support troubled men and boys. They discuss a strengths-based approach known as Positive Masculinity. As the mother of a rapidly-growing boy (aged 8, going on 18), I was very interested to come across the Positive Masculinity Model, and wondered what I could learn from it that would be useful to me as a parent.
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AllCommunicationHappiness ExercisesHome and FamilyParenting & SchoolsPositive FeelingsRelationships
How to Win Friends and Influence People the Positive Psychology Way
In the Positive Psychology Masterclasses that my colleague Miriam Akhtar and I co-facilitate, one of the important topics we cover is how to develop positive relationships. Many people who attend…
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We often think of forgiveness as something that we do on behalf of others. That’s called interpersonal forgiveness. Unlike gratitude, however, which makes the giver and receiver feel good, forgiveness…