Successful Ageing

UNIT 15 PROMOTING GROWTH AND

WELLNESS: POSITIVE
INTERVENTIONS*
Structure

15.1 Learning Objectives

15.2 Introduction
15.3 Emerging Trend: Positive Psychology
15.4 Theoretical Perspectives
15.4.1 PERMA Model: A Well-being Theory by Martin Seligman
15.4.2 Flow Theory of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
15.4.3 Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory of Positive Emotions
15.4.4 Carol Ryff’s Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being
15.4.5 Diener’s Tripartite Model of Subjective Well-being
15.5 Positive Interventions: Concept and Mechanism
15.6 Types of Positive Interventions
15.6.1 Gratitude
15.6.2 Savouring
15.6.3 Meaning
15.6.4 Empathy
15.6.5 Kindness
15.6.6 Optimism
15.6.7 Strengths
15.7 Importance of Positive Interventions
15.8 Criticism of Positive Interventions and Future Direction
15.9 Let Us Sum Up
15.10 Key Words
15.11 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
15.12 Unit End Questions
15.13 References
15.14 Further Learning Resources

15.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this Unit, you would be able to:
 explain the basic concepts of positive psychology and positive interventions;
 discuss the theoretical perspectives on positive psychology;
 describe various types of positive interventionsforpromoting growth and
wellness; and
 explain the significance, scope and criticism of positive interventions.
*
Sunita Devi, Senior Consultant (Manodarpan), Department of Educational Psychology &
Foundations of Education (DEPFE), NCERT, New Delhi 275
Role of Psychology in Positive
Growth Across Life Span 15.2 INTRODUCTION
“We have discovered that there are human strengths that act as buffers against
mental illness …. Much of the task of prevention in this century will be to create
a science of human strengths whose mission will be to understand and learn how
to foster these virtues in young people.”
- Martin E.P. Seligman (2002)
Since beginning ofthe discipline of psychology as a science, researchers and
clinicians have been trying to foster growth and positive well-being, greater
adaptability, and nurture emotional strengths. Over the years, success of using
the positive interventions shows that by focusing on positive emotions and
behaviour, it is possible to improve the quality of life and help people move
beyond into a flourishing lifestyle. One of the more interesting findings is that a
focus on positive emotions, virtues and strengths may even be helpful in fighting
more devastating emotional problems, such as depression. Recent contributions
to assessment in psychotherapy continue to focus on positive emotions and
behaviours, and to expand the possibility of positive interventions. There is a
need to focus on joy, hope, and optimism as much as on anxiety and helplessness.
In this Unit, we will be discussing about the concept and meaning of positive
psychology and positive interventions, the scope and importance of these and
variety of positive interventions. We will also discuss about the limitations of
these interventions and the scope for the future researches in detail.

15.3 EMERGING TREND: POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Although the field of positive psychology is new, however, the search for the
optimal human functioning and study of human character and virtue exists since
the beginning of human life. All the religious texts, saints and philosophers talk
about happiness and how human beings should be optimally utilising their
potential. In the field of psychology, we can seethe base of the concept of positive
psychology in the humanistic theories. In their holistic concern for achieving
optimal mental health, these humanistic theorists such as William James, Alfred
Adler, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow moved away from the disease
or deficiency model of health and built up the foundations for the positive
psychology.
Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi (2000) define positive psychology as the scientific
study of realising optimal human functioning with the objectives to identify and
use those factors that help people and communities thrive and flourish. In the
year 1998, Martin Seligman, in his famous presidential speech of the American
Psychological Association, addressed and challenged the members of the
association to make people’s lives more fruitful and satisfying by helping them
to identify and nurture their talent rather than just focusing on treating mental
illness. This speech became the call to action, strengthened, as well as widened,
the idea of many counselling psychologists who had long been motivated by
Humanistic Psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers’ perspective
to focus upon self-actualisation. In short, positive psychology is defined as a
“science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive
institutions” that pursues to “understand and build the factors that allow
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individuals, communities, and societies to flourish” (Seligman & Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, p. 5). Interventions

Positive psychology is mainly focusing on developing human strengths, character,

virtues, and the good things in life while dealing along with challenges and
shortcomings of life. Hence Positive psychology is all about making a balance in
both taking care of pathology as well as building on the fulfilling lives as much
as possible. It works on finding out the factors leading to pathology and what
protects them.

15.4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Various perspectives of positive psychology that have informed and influenced
the designing and development of positive interventions are described below.

15.4.1 PERMA Model: A Well-being Theory by Martin Seligman

Positive psychology takes you through the countryside of pleasure and
gratification, up into the high country of strength and virtue, and finally to the
peaks of lasting fulfilment, meaning and purpose.
- Seligman, 2002

In his book, Authentic Happiness (2002), Martin Seligman suggested three types
of a happy life which can be studied:

• The Pleasant life:It refers to the “life of enjoyment,” where people enjoy
and savour the various positive feelings and emotions in their daily life
such as pursuing interests, having entertainment and relationships.

• The Good Life:It refers to the “life of engagement” where people engage
themselves deeply in various activities and experience a flow in their
life. For instance, losing sense of time when you are engaged in reading
a story by your favourite author.

• The Meaningful Life: It refers to the “life of affiliation,” where people

try to derive meaning and purpose in life by extending themselves and
contributing to the society. When you go beyond the limited individual
goals to larger goals at the community and global level, it helps develop
a meaning to one’s life and leads to a positive sense of well-being.

Seligman has given his PERMA model of well-being which consists of five
elements as explained below.

P- Positive Emotion

E- Engagement

R- Relationships

M- Meaning

A- Accomplishments
Fig. 15.1: Five Aspects of PERMA Model 277
Role of Psychology in Positive P- Positive Emotion
Growth Across Life Span
Positive emotion is not just about ‘happiness’, it is also about joy, affection,
love, hope, gratitude, kindness, care, dignity, delight, interest, etc. It means the
individual’s experience of positive mood and feelings which are comforting and
uplifting. Cultivating positive emotions helps in individuals’ wellbeing and
flourishing as these helps to build different resources such as physical,
psychological, emotional, and social which in turn makes individuals resilient
and improves their overall wellbeing. Working on building up positive emotions
intentionally helps individuals to improve their automatic thinking pattern and
behaviour which helps them to discover, appreciate and assimilate these positive
emotions in their day-to-day life.

There are number of strategies which can be applied to build positive emotion
such as devoting time with people you love, pursuing your favourite activities or
hobbies, playing musical instrument, listening to joyful and inspirational music,
reflecting and being grateful for your life, helping others selflessly, etc.

E- Engagement

Seligman (2012) defines engagement as “being one with the music” which is
quite close to one of the co-founders of positive psychology, Csikszentmihalyi’s
(1989) concept of “Flow”. Flow means you are completely absorbed and enjoys
the activity in which you are presently engaged in. In other words, it is being
fully present in the ‘now’ moment and completely absorbed or engaged in the
activity at hand.

This ‘flow’ or ‘engagement’ occurs when an individual’s level of skill or strength

matches with the difficulty level of the task or the challenge. So, to attain the
flow or engagement, it is important that individuals make use of their best character
strengths which makes the idea of engagement much more compelling than merely
“being happy.” Research evidence suggests that individuals who practice their
strengths in different ways every day for a week found to be happier and less
depressed in the follow up sessions. Thus, happiness is one of the by-products of
engagement.

There are a number of ways to enhance engagement, e.g., observing and living
the present moment, taking part in hobbies you truly love which makes you lose
track of time when you do them as you completely get absorbed in them, spending
time in nature or your balcony plants, with your pets, enjoying your daily activities
or routine tasks, being mindful of happenings around you, discovering and
practicing your character strengths, and doing things which you are good at.

Check out the book ‘Flow: The Psychology of Happiness’ by Mihaly

Csikszentmihalyi for more understanding of the concept of flow.

R- Relationships
Relationships are very important for human beings as problems in relationships
and social interactions affect the well-being of people to a great extent. People
establish relationships for the need of love, affection, and for a sense of belonging.
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Interactions with spouse, family members, friends, colleagues, superiors, Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
subordinates, and community at large - all are crucial for individual’s happiness Interventions
and overall wellbeing. In the PERMA model, Relationships refer to feeling of
being supported, loved, and appreciated or respected by significant others.
Improving the relationships with significant others makes the personal,
professional, and social life much happier and easier. Thus, most of the individuals
have a goal of enhancing relationships with important near and dear ones. Research
evidence suggests that we need human relationships not only for sharing our
grief and sadness but also for sharing happiness and success.

Some of the things which can be done to build relationships are building
friendships with people you are familiar with or in your surroundings, being in
touch with people, joining a club or group of activities you enjoy, reaching out to
people, knowing about them, sharing about self, helping people in need, etc.

M- Meaning

There is an innate human tendency to search for meaning in our life and a
fundamental need of importance of our being and/or self-worth. According to
Seligman (2012), meaning means a sense of belonging and/or doing something
for others which is greater than serving only ourselves. When a person is going
through any significant challenge or hardship in life, having a purpose helps
them sail through and give them a path.

Our personal values and/or beliefs play an important role in finding a sense of
meaning. Research evidence support that people who are having a purpose in
life have higher life satisfaction, better wellbeing, and longer life. Every individual
may have their own different purpose in life which may be followed through in
different ways like having a great profession, doing a creative job, working for a
social or political cause, or a religious/spiritual belief or participating in additional,
volunteer, or community services.

There are various ways to find meaning in life like working for a cause or
organization that is close to your heart, trying different and innovative endeavours
to create or find things you relate with, helping others, following your passions,
spending quality time with people who are important to you, etc.

Check out a life changing book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
(1946), an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist and founder of
logotherapy.

A- Accomplishments

The fifth element of PERMA Model is accomplishment which is also called as

achievement, mastery, or competence. We all feel proud if we have achieved or
done something good. This sense of accomplishment or achievement requires
that an individual should have goals, work toward attainment of these goals,
achieve mastery in the task, and have self-motivation and determination to achieve
their goas. These achievements help an individual to have high self-worth,
strengthens self-esteem and build confidence. This leads the individual to achieve
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Role of Psychology in Positive more and more and gain mastery over a task, which in turn results in a sense of
Growth Across Life Span
well-being in the individual. For instance, have you ever noticed when a child is
able to do something on his own without help, how proud the parents feel and
seeing them the child feels good and tries to do that again and again? The
child also feels motivated to try out new things which are more challenging.
Thus achievements make people feel happy and in turn they achieve more and
more.
Accomplishment requires persistence and passion to achieve our goals. One can
set the SMART goals to achieve things. That is, the goals need to beSpecific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. Further, it is important to
reflect and learn from the previous achievements or successes,and find innovative
ways to celebrate achievements or reward yourself to set the pace for future
accomplishments.
Self Assessment Questions 1
1. PERMA Model of well-being is given by___________________.
2. Which of the following is NOT the component of PERMA model?
a) Positive Emotion
b) Engagement
c) Enjoyment
d) Accomplishments
3. Who gave the concept of “Flow”?
4. To accomplish, we do require ________________to achieve our goals.
a) persistence and passion
b) permanence and prayers
c) intermittence and indifference
d) appearance and affluence
5. What does “SMART” stands for?

15.4.2 Flow Theory of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the Flow Model which represents the
emotional state of an individual while doing an activity. The notion behind Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi’s theory is that individuals are much happier when they enter
into a state of “flow”.Flow can bedefined as havinghigh level of focus and
concentration in any task where you get the sense that ‘time is flying’. The activity
provides you just the right level of challenge so that you get neither bored nor
overwhelmed, and are able to focus on it. The challenge of the situation is as per
one’s personal abilities. Flow helps the individual to feel intrinsically rewarding;
it can also support the goal achievement (e.g., winning a match) or improve
individual’s skills (e.g., becoming a better public speaker).
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 Promoting Growth and
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Interventions

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/828873506392245599/

15.4.3 Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build theory of

Positive Emotions
Developed by Barbara Fredrickson (1998), this theory proposes that positive
emotions (such as happiness, interest and anticipation) broaden one’s
consciousness and enhances original, exploratory thoughts and actions.
Fredrickson argues that while negative emotions narrow thought-action
repertoires, positive emotions broaden these repertoires, enabling us to draw on
a wide array of possible cognitions and behaviors in response to emotional stimuli.
Positive emotions do nothave any immediate survival value but these help to
ward off one’s mind from immediate needs and stressors. Positive emotions
broaden one’s attention.Through this perspective, positive emotions permit us to
be free to be creative, playful, curious, and experimental, and from these behaviors
flow opportunities to gain new physical, social, and intellectual resources.

15.4.4 Carol Ryff’s Six-factor Model of Psychological

Well-being
Ryff’s model is based on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, “where the goal of life
isn’t feeling good, but is instead about living virtuously” and not only about 281
Role of Psychology in Positive happy feelings. Carol Ryff has proposed six factors important for an individual’s
Growth Across Life Span
psychological well-being, satisfaction, and happiness. Psychological well-being
includes positive relationships with significant others, personal mastery,
autonomy, a feeling of purpose and meaning in life, and personal growth and
development.
According to Ryff, the following six factors are considered key elements of
psychological well-being:
 Self-acceptance: It refers to having a positive attitude toward self;
acknowledging and accepting multiple aspects of self comprising both
good and bad qualities; and feeling positive about the past life.
 Personal growth:It is working for one’s self-development and realizing
one’s potential; gain in self awareness; is open to novel experiences; and
reflect on oneself to grow and expand.
 Purpose in life:Here the person focuses on having goals in life and a
sense of meaning and purpose.
 Environmental mastery: One hasa sense of mastery and competency in
managing the environment; control multifacetedrange of external
activities; use surrounding opportunities effectively; and is able to
select or create situationsappropriate to his or her personal needs and
values.
 Autonomy:It refers to being independent and self-determinant; able to
deal with social pressures; regulate and evaluate himself or herself by
personal ethics.
 Positive relations with others:It is having trusting, warm, and satisfying
relationships with others in his or her life; think of other’s welfare; having
empathy, affection, and intimacy; and appreciate the reciprocity in human
relationships.

15.4.5 Diener’s Tripartite Model of Subjective Well-Being

(SWB)
Diener (1984) advocates “three distinct but often related components of wellbeing:
frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and cognitive evaluations
such as life satisfaction” in his Tripartite model of subjective well-being. This
model considers well-being as a general evaluation of an individual’s quality of
life in terms of three important components:
 Life satisfaction, which is composed of overall judgments of one’s life
and satisfaction with specific life domains (such as work satisfaction)
are considered cognitive components of subjective well-being. In simple
terms, how well one’s life measures up to aspirations and goals;
 Positive affect (pleasurable feelings); and
 Negative affect (painful feelings). Affective Balancerefers to the
emotions, moods, and feelings an individual has. These can be all positive,
all negative, or a combination of both positive and negative.
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 Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
Interventions

Fig. 15.2: Tripartite Model of Subjective Well-being

(Adapted from Galiha, I.C. & Pais-Riberiro, J.L. (2011). Cognitive, affective
and contextual predictors of subjective wellbeing. International Journal of
Wellbeing, 2(1), 34-53, p.38)

15.5 POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS: CONCEPT AND

MECHANISM
“A positive intervention is an evidence-based, intentional act /or series of
actions (behavioural strategy) meant to increase (away from zero) that
which causes or constitutes well-being and flourishing in non-clinical
populations.” (Rose, N. 2018).
Positive interventions are based on the principles of positive psychology and
derive from the theroetical perspectives of positive psychology described in the
earlier sections. Hence they are also termed as positive psychology interventions
(PPIs). Analyzing the above definition we can see the following key aspects in it:
Positive intervention: These interventions are called ‘positive’ as they focus on
enhancing pne’s well-being, positive emotions, healthy relationships, personal
growth and fulfillment, thus highlighting the positive aspects of life. These
interventions try to focus on pleasant feelings and savouring memories, being
mindful, or practice and encourage the deliberate use of character strengths and
virtues by individuals to develop these traits.
Evidence-based: The various positive interventions are based on robust research
findings. For example, positive emotions are not just about feeling good for some
time, but it is much more than that focusing on building character strengths and
harnessing individual potential.
Intentional Activity: Positive interventions work on the premise that all the
potential lies within self and with deliberate efforts individuals can be helped to
achieve their fullest potential through autonomy, and self-efficacy. Hence, it is
important for a person to have some amount of motivation, determination, and
self-discipline, to perform the positive intervention.
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Role of Psychology in Positive Increase the Wellness/Away from Zero: Positive psychology interventions (PPIs)
Growth Across Life Span
aim at not only reducing the distress, but the major focus is to increase the overall
well-being and flourishing in the positive direction, i.e., away from zero. If we
take a continuum, one end will be the presence of disease and distress – the
negative, the mid point is zero, i.e., the absence of distress, and the other end will
be positive - well-being and flourishing. However, it may be noted that the absence
of disease/distress does not automatically mean health and happiness. Hence it is
possible that a person who do not have any kind of mental illness or suffering
may not be experiencing well-being or flourishing whereas a person may
experience flourishing even with suffering and illness.
Elements of Well-being and Flourishing: The PPIs are derived from the theories
of well-being. They focus on increasing the positive cognitions and emotions
like happiness, having positive relationships and experiences, life satisfaction,
engagement, autonomy, finding meaning and purpose of life, realising their fullest
potential, etc., thus creating positive psychological well-being.
Non-clinical Populations: Although research studies examine the effectiveness
of positive interventions for clinical populations, yet mostly these interventions
are used for the ‘normal population’ which means people who are not having any
clinical symptoms.
Basic Mechanisms of Positive Interventions
What are the basic mechanisms underlying the positive interventions? Positive
interventions use different cognitive, emotional, and behavioural strategies to
bring in positive changes in one’s life, improve one’s happiness and well-being.
Positive intervention activities help them to have more positive thoughts, positive
emotions, and positive behaviours.
Mostof human beings try to find happiness in different ways such as getting
higher salary, better job, having a big house, a big car, destination holidays, and
the list seems to be endless. However, rather than changing one’s life events (like
career, income, location, marital status, etc.) as these require more efforts, time
and sometimes out of one’s control, one can use simple cognitive, emotional and
behavioural approaches to significantly improve one’s happiness. It also leads to
increased health and well-being, better work life and relationships.
All positive interventions are intentional in nature (can be created by self or
others) which are used to increase the well-being of people. Positive interventions
can be used intentionally to increase the well-being in others such as character
development and strength enhancing programs. Positive interventions can be
used as a habit formation strategy as we all learn different habits in our childhood.
The purpose of all the positive interventions is to nurture the optimum health and
achieve the maximal functioning of human beings.
Positive interventions require one to do mainly two things:
 Focusing on one particular positive attribute, and
 Working towards building it by putting in the necessary energy and effort.
The first element of focusing/concentrating or paying attention on good things in
life is of utmost importance which was also stated by William James, the Father
284 of American Psychology that voluntarily controlling our attention is essential for
building up the reasoning, character and will in human beings. Hence, intentionally Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
paying attention on good things in life will enhance positive emotions.Various Interventions
meditational practices are adopted such as loving-kindness meditation,body scan
meditation, mindfulness-based meditation, transcendental meditation, vedic
meditation, yoga meditation, etc. for building on intentional paying attention, to
deepen and enhance our lives.
The second element of functioning of positive interventions is to take a purposeful
and powerful action to bring the change in our behaviour. The sense of being in
control gives the feeling of independence and well-being. Without having a goal,
the individual does not feel motivated to act or change the behaviour. Having a
realistic and achievable goal helps a person to stay focused and develops high
sense of self-efficacy. When an individual achieves his/her personal goal/s, the
sense of achievement prevails leading to a purposeful or meaningful life.
Thus, it can be stated that undertaking positive interventions can help individuals
to have more positive thinking,increased levels of positive emotions, and exhibit
positive behaviours i.e., achieving meaningful life goals, developing feeling of
autonomy and self-efficacy.
Self Assessment Questions 2
1. Positive interventions are not intentional act or series of actions to promote
well-being.
True/False
2. What is NOT important for a person to have some amount of to perform
the positive intervention.
a) motivation
b) determination
c) egoism
d) self-discipline
3. To increase the wellness, we must move away from zero on a continuum of
a) Left side
b) Right side
c) No need to move
d) None of the above
4. ‘Normal population’ means people who are not having any clinical symptoms.
True/False
5. Positive interventions do NOT help individuals to have more
a) Positive Thinking
b) Positive emotions
c) Positive behaviours
d) Positive circumstances
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Role of Psychology in Positive
Growth Across Life Span 15.6 TYPES OF POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS
There are many interventions included under positive interventions which can
be divided into seven main categories: gratitude, savouring, meaning, empathy,
kindness,optimism, and strengths. Let us discuss each of these below.

15.6.1 Gratitude
Gratitude: Gratitude refers to be thankful for all the good things we have in our
life. It involves expressing our appreciation and gratefulness towards people or
things; this in turn creates positive feelings in us. Various activities have been
designed based on research for enhancing one’s sense of gratitude.

Some of the gratitude exercises and activities are given below.

1. Gratitude Journaling: Writing down a few things you are grateful for is
one of the easiest and most popular exercises available. In this, people
practice gratitude for self-reflection and not to be shared with others.
2. Gratitude Letter where the person writes his feelings of gratefulness
and expressed or shared in the form of writing and give it to the concerned
person (Gratitude Visit).
3. Gratitude Jar
The gratitude jar is a stunningly simple exercise that can have profound
effects on your wellbeing and outlook. It only requires a few ingredients:
a jar (a box can also work); a ribbon, stickers, glitter, or whatever else you
like to decorate the jar; paper and a pen or pencil for writing your gratitude
notes; and gratitude!
Step 1: Find a jar or box.
Step 2: Decorate the jar however you wish. You can tie a ribbon around
the jar’s neck, put stickers on the sides, use clear glue and glitter to make
it sparkle, paint it, keep it simple, or do whatever else you can think of to
make it a pleasing sight.
Step 3: This is the most important step, which will be repeated every day.
Think of at least three things throughout your day that you are grateful
for. It can be something as benign as a coffee at your favorite place, or as
grand as the love of your significant other or dear friend. Do this every
day, write down what you are grateful for on little slips of paper and fill
the jar.
Over time, you will find that you have a jar full of a myriad of reasons to
be thankful for what you have and enjoy the life you are living. It also will
cultivate a practice of expressing thanks.
If you are ever feeling especially down and need a quick pick-me-up, take
a few notes out of the jar to remind yourself of who, and what, is good in
your life.

Source: https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-exercises/
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Researchers emphasize that the gratitude letter must be given to person, it is Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
written about, preferably in person and should be read aloud. Researchers suggest Interventions
that simply writing a full account of one’s gratitude towards other is helpful but
giving the letter to the person has even stronger positive effects.
Overall, all the gratitude activities found to enhance health and well-being by
increasing positive emotions and decreasing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Research evidence suggest that people practicing gratitude tend to be more
attentive, energetic, determined, enthusiastic, helpful, joyful, optimistic and have
more meaningful life than the non-practitioners. Research also indicates that
grateful people get less anxious, depressed, lonely, and materialistic. However, it
is important to understand that doing such activities once in while or standalone
activity may not be very helpful, and effects will be short-lived. So, it is crucial
to note that for more sustainable long-term effects, these activities should be
practised or used in everyday life.
To develop an ‘attitude of gratitude’ you can do some of the activities like keeping
a gratitude journal, writing a gratitude or thank you letter, jotting down what
went well, penning down three good things, etc.

15.6.2 Savouring
Bryant and Veroff (2007) describes it as observing, appreciating, and enhancing
the positive experiences of your life. Savouring helps you slow down and
deliberately pay attention to all your senses i.e.,sight, sound, smell, taste, and
touch and thought and or emotions.The main aim of savouring is to focus attention
and being aware about your experiences and lengthening its pleasurable effects.
The fundamental principle of savouring is tohelp individuals to pay attention
deliberately on each part of an experience. Savouring positive interventions can
have several goals varying from sensory experiences such as related to food or
smell to other mental and cognitively oriented stimuli such as memories and
other emotional experiences. Researchers suggest that individuals practicing
savouring regularly are happier and have higher level of satisfaction with life as
well as less depressive symptoms than those who do not. Effectiveness of
savouring interventions depend on several factors like whether the experience
which we are concentrating on is meaningful or not, doing it in the presence of
other people,writing about it, employing humour etc.
Schueller and Parks (2014) suggested two subcategories of savouring
interventions. In the first one, individuals are taught and asked to concentrate on
general principles of savouring and then they are encouraged to practice these
and make them general skills. For example,reflecting on two pleasurable
experiences for 2-3 minutes every day, make them last longer like eating your
favourite chocolate. You can concentrate on different parts which chocolate is
made of, paying attention to the wrapping, texture, taste, and smell. Look at all
these parts and prolong the experience and see how these are all linked together.
Despite being very simple, practicing such savouring techniques show
improvements in the level of individual’s well-being. You can practice this type
of savouring in varied situations and use it as a general skill.
In the second type of savouring activities, individuals are taught to concentrate
and encouraged to practice these as a specific skill or activity. For example, in a
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Role of Psychology in Positive “mindful photography” intervention (Kuntz, 2012). The individuals were directed
Growth Across Life Span
to take pictures, which they find meaningful, creative, and beautiful,daily for at
least 15 minutes. Performing this for only two weeks, showed more positive
emotions in the individuals than those who did not do such activities. An active-
constructive responding is another example of a specific savouring skill where a
person helps a friend or loved ones to prolong and savour the good experience or
news. is– a series of behaviours that help a friend or loved one prolong and
savour a piece of good news (Gable et al., 2004).
Savouring activities can also be classified based on the time. In this, there are 3
types of savouring:
1. Savouring the past, which is also known as reminiscence or nostalgia. For
instance, recollecting happy memories of school or college with a childhood
friend.
2. Savouring the present or savouring the ‘now’ moment. For example, enjoying
the ice-cream by completing being absorbed in its flavour, smell, and taste.
3. Savouring the future, also described as anticipation. For instance, visualizing
the examination hall for your upcomingexam and doing well and after that
going for a vacation with your friends or family to your favourite destination.

Savouring interventions grouped according to their temporal orientation

reviewed by Smith, Harrison, Kurtz, and Bryant (2014).
Past-focused savoring interventions
 Thinking about positive events (Lyubomirsky, Sousa, & Dickerhoof, 2006)
Spending 15 minutes throughout three days savoring a positive experience
by actively reflecting on thoughts and emotions related to it was found
effective in enhancing wellbeing and happiness.
 Positive reminiscence (Bryant, Smart, & King, 2005). Spending two
sessions of 10 minutes each day over one week using memorabilia or
positive imagery to reminiscence about positive events demonstrated
increased positive affect.
 Three good things (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005)
Noticing and writing down three events and reflecting on the reasons why
they happened can boost happiness levels for up to six months.
Present-focused savoring interventions
 Adopting a positive focus (Bryant & Veroff, 2007)
Taking a daily 20-minute walk while trying to notice as many positive
elements as possible can increase happiness levels after one week.
 Mindful photography (Kurtz, 2012)
Taking meaningful and awe-inspiring photographs for at least 15 minutes
twice a week can enhance mood in the short term.
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 Promoting Growth and
 Daily savoring exercises (Schueller, 2010) Wellness: Positive
Interventions
Using different present moment savoring exercises daily, one week for
each exercise, and taking a few minutes to engage in the experience can
boost happiness after one week of finalizing the intervention.
Future-oriented savoring interventions
 Positive imagination (Quoidbach, Wood, & Hansenne, 2009)
Visualizing four positive events that are likely to happen tomorrow each
day for two weeks can increase positive affect.
 Benefiting from scarcity (O’Brien & Ellsworth, 2012)
Thinking about the impermanence of a positive event can enhance the
savoring experience and bring about higher levels of positive emotions.

Source:https://positivepsychology.com/savoring/

15.6.3 Meaning
Meaning is very important in our life as it performs two vital functions in our
life. One that it provides necessary foundation for us to be more resilient and
bounce back from adversity and second it gives us a sense of direction which
help us to set our goals and targets and achieve them. Meaning based positive
interventions basically focus on building the individual’s understanding about
what brings meaning to their life and what they can do to achieve this meaning.
Since research suggests that having a meaningful or purposeful life is essential
to happiness and ability to live a good life and feel satisfied. Research also suggest
that finding life purpose or meaning is not one day task it is often a slower process,
a gradual realization which takes place overtime.
The positive interventions which can facilitate individuals to find the meaning or
purpose of one’s life through different activities such as reflecting on the kind of
work or job a person does, meaning of one’s profession or re-crafting your work.
Find out how can you make your work more meaningful, think about what small
changes you can make to bring more meaning to your work. Set a meaningful
goal and plan, or just simply write and reflect on one’s life.

Do You Know Your Why: 4 Questions to Find Your Purpose”:

1. How does your life align with…
I. What makes you come alive? (These are things bigger than you that
put “a fire in your belly.” These are things that you really care about
that you are willing to put yourself )
II. What are your innate strengths? (What things naturally come easy to
you?)
III. Where do you add the greatest value? (In other words, what are you
well placed and equipped to help solve in your workplace, career,
organization, or industry? Focus on the opportunities, roles and career
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Role of Psychology in Positive
Growth Across Life Span paths where you are most likely to succeed and therefore find the
greatest sense of accomplishment and contribution)
IV. How will you measure your life?( What are your core values and how
are you aligning with them?)
2. In what areas are you doing well?
3. What would you like to continue doing?
4. Choose one specific area that you would like to improve upon. What is
one small thing you can do today to improve this area?
Source:Do You Know Your “Why”: 4 Questions to Find Your Purpose. Margie
Warrell. October 30, 2013. https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/
10/30/know-your-why-4-questions-to-tap-the-power-of-purpose/
#40868cc973ad

15.6.4 Empathy
Empathy is seeing and feeling like what other person is going through, being in
another person’s shoes helps you to look at and understand from other person’s
perspective. Empathy strengthens the social relationships by promoting an
understanding within the relationship. Several research propose that meaningful
social connections can be built by nurturing empathy in people which is essential
for happiness. Several activities can be used to develop empathy such as loving
kindness meditation where an individual uses meditation technique to create
positive feelings and emotions towards self and/or others. Research

Activities that build empathy

1. Inside the story
We all have our favourite book, movie or t.v. show. This activity make you
relate to the character(s) inside the story!
Next time you are reading your favorite book or watching a movie, pause and
ask yourself the following questions:
 What do you think character ‘a’ is feeling right now?
 Why do you think character a feels that way?
 What about character ‘b’, can you imagine what they are going through?
 If you were character ‘a/b’, what would you do differently?
By putting yourself inside the story, you will practice empathy for others.
2) The blindfold challenge
This activity help creates understanding for people who have little to no eye
sight. You will need some old glasses from the dollar tree or old sunglasses,
and some duct tape. Create the blackout glasses by putting tape over the
lenses. If you don’t have any glasses, make a blindfold out of a scarf or old
t-shirt.
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 Promoting Growth and
When you introduce the game, do NOT mention it’s an activity about eye Wellness: Positive
Interventions
sight. Simply ask your child to do the tasks below with the blind fold on. Make
sure you supervise your children so they stay safe and don’t peak!
 Brush your teeth
 Find and put on a sweatshirt
 Get a glass of water
 Go outside and find something in the back yard
The game is over when your child at least attempts all the challenges.Make
sure to encourage them throughout. (It’s OK if they don’t complete them all,
this activity can be very hard).
The second part of this activity is to REFLECT with your child.
Here are some questions you ask your child following the activity:
 Was that challenge easy or hard?
 Why was it hard?
 Was it scary sometimes not being able to see?
 Did you know that many kids and adults don’t have any eye sight?
 Could you imagine not having any eyesight?
 How would your life be different?
 How would you like your friends to treat you if you were blind?
Source: https://www.downtoearthvitality.com/activities-that-build-empathy-in-kids

discovered that doing this activity lessens the depressive symptoms in people
and improve their life satisfaction andincreases positive emotions and behaviours
in general.
Some other empathy based positive interventions concentrates on building
perspective taking, which reduces the misunderstanding between two people and
thus promotes stronger social bonds. Some research literature also suggests that
promoting empathy can also promote, forgiveness and thus increasing happiness
and greater overall wellbeing of people.

15.6.5 Kindness
Being kind and thoughtful not only toothers but to self as well can be a great way
to wellbeing. In kindness activities, individuals are asked to perform intentional
acts of kindness towards self (such as forgiving self for mistakes, taking good
care of health, gifting self some ‘me’ time) and other people (such as giving
small gifts, donating things to the needy one, giving free services like teaching
someone, visiting and spending time with orphan children or old people in old
age home). It is not necessary that you help people by spending money only. The
act of kindness could be as small as opening the door for someone who is loaded
with bags in hand, offering water to thirsty, or offering your seat in metro or bus. 291
Role of Psychology in Positive It has been noted irrespective of the act of kindness, big or small, it gives an
Growth Across Life Span
immense pleasure and happiness. Research also noted that kindness is a common
attribute of happy people, and happy people found to help others more. Thus, it
is a circular cycle where one strengthens the other.
Another example of a kindness positive intervention is “prosocial spending”, or
spending money for some cause or on others. Such as simply buying onetime
meal for a homeless person or a child, sponsoring for the education of a girl child
or any child, donating books, uniform, cloths, etc. for an orphan age home, getting
a movie ticket for a colleague, or donating to charity like doing something for
family of soldiers who lost their life in saving us. Research has strong evidence
that spending money on others, rather than on oneself leads to promote well-
being and happiness. All these examples go against the popular belief that “money
cannot buy happiness”, but it emphasizes that if it is spent on welfare of others
or kindness, it actually doesand that is why you will see that many philanthropists
donate money for the social uplifting or cause close to their heart. Some of
them are Azim Premji, Ratan Tata, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and the list is

Activities to Teach Kindness

1. Spreading the Love
Have each student write his or her name at the top of a blank piece of paper.
Then, tape each student’s piece of paper to their back. Have students walk
around the room and write one positive thing about each person on their piece
of paper. At the end, have students partner up and read each other’s papers out
loud to each other. They will love hearing all of the nice things others have
said about them!
2. Don’t Forget Yourself!
Ask students to notice any negative self-talk they might do that makes them
feel not so good about themselves. Give them sticky notes and markers, and
have them write a positive affirmation to combat each negative thought. For
example, “I’m not smart enough” can become “I am always learning new
things!” Then, instruct them to post the sticky notes in places where they are
likely to see them every day, such as the bathroom mirror — and whenever the
negative thought creeps in, replace it with the positive one!
3. Get in the Kindness Zone
Set up a Kindness Zone in the library. Create a bulletin board with the heading
“Kindness Counts!” Post some of Upstart’s Kindness Cards around the
board.
Then, place a decorated box near the bulletin board. Write a variety of random
acts of kindness on slips of paper and put them in the box (ideas include holding
the door for someone, saying hello to a student you don’t know, letting someone
go in front of you in line, etc.). Have kids draw one slip from the box each
week and then sign it and turn it in when it is completed. Post the completed
kind acts on the bulletin board. When all of the kind acts have been posted,
reward the class with a special treat.
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 Promoting Growth and
4. Kindness Superstars! Wellness: Positive
Interventions
Tell students to be on the lookout for random acts of kindness. When they see
another student doing something nice for someone else, have them write the
student’s name on a slip of paper along with the kind deed. Tell students to put
the papers in a designated spot, such as an envelope or a box. Once a day, take
the names out and post them on a bulletin board along with a star sticker. Title
the board “Kindness Superstars!”
Source:https://ideas.demco.com/blog/8-simple-activities-to-teach-kindness/

endless if you search the google. These are some of the famous one but if you see
around, you will find so many people helping others in whatever way they can
small or big does not matter, what matter most is as a social being, how kind you
are to others.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening
ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the
potential to turn a life around.”
— Leo Buscaglia

15.6.6 Optimism
According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, optimism is “the
tendency to be hopeful and to emphasize or think of the good part in a situation
rather than the bad part, or the feeling that in the future good things are more
likely to happen than bad things”. In other words, optimism is an attitude of an
individual which echoes his/her belief or hope about the result of an activity or
task, or overall ending, will be positive and favourable.

Here are some easy techniques you can use to boost your optimism:
1. Use The Mirror Technique
You may have never heard of the secret mirror technique, but if you have, you
will probably understand how easy and helpful this technique can be.
In the morning and in the evening, stand in front of a mirror, look at yourself
and start saying what you like about yourself.
Give yourself confidence, praise yourself and tell yourself how great you are.
Doing this can really start to change your mindset and help you with your
confidence. You can start to feel much more positive and optimistic about
yourself and your life.
2. Only Use Positive Words When Talking
When you are talking to others and even yourself, try and stick to using positive
words only, and refrain from any negative words.
You should try and stop using words such as ‘no’, ‘can’t’, ‘won’t’, and ‘don’t’,
and replace them with more positive words. This way you are changing your
physical words and your brain can start getting used to a more positive language.
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Role of Psychology in Positive
Growth Across Life Span 3. Read An Inspiring Book
Sometimes it can be quite hard to get inspired, especially if you are not able to
find anything that inspires you right now.
It’s always a good idea to read an inspiring book and you can start to feel much
more optimistic and motivated after reading about someone else’s successes.
It can also help you to see how far someone else has come, even when faced
with challenges like you may be.
Source: https://www.thelawofattraction.com/positive-thinking-exercises/

In activities of optimism, individuals are asked to have positive expectations and

think about the future in a positive way. For example, in the activity ‘best possible
self in future’ people write about how they see their best possible self in future
for about 10-15 minutes.Another similar activity where participants must assume
that they lived a happy, long and a fruitful life and have to write their ‘life summary’
kind of their own biography. The purpose of this activity is to make them examine
and reflect on their daily life routine if they want to live or do something
differently to create their ideal life. Practicing these simple activities also show
the substantial improvements in people’s subjective well-being anddecrease in
the illnesses.

15.6.7 Strengths
Strength are the personal qualities of the people which rejuvenates them and
enable them to achieve their optimal performance and the most important is it
feel like ‘the real you’. It is very likely that your strengths are the things that you
are good at. People often get confused about strength with competencies, talent,
or skill but in positive psychology they are not the same thing. They are morally
valued and cannot be wasted. Also, you do not have to force yourself to use your
strengths, you will be naturally motivated to do so. Empirical research evidence
suggests that using your “strengths” every day is beneficial to your psychological
wellbeing in a several ways such as increased resilience, enhanced vitality, better
confidence and self-esteem, improved happiness, and decreased stress. Not only
it increases your happiness, but research suggests that it also improves your work
performance, make you more engaged and more likely to achieve your goals.

Activities to Develop Strengths

1. Positive Strength-Based Introductions
In this activity, you will write about an occasion when you were at your best
and then reflect on the personal strengths you displayed at the time.
Instructions:
 Write a 300-word introduction describing yourself at your very best.
 The introduction should have a beginning, middle, and end.
 It should be about one concrete moment in time, not a collection of multiple
occasions.
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 Promoting Growth and
 It must be written in a positive tone. Wellness: Positive
Interventions
On completion of the activity, consider the following questions:
a. What strength(s) does this story illustrate?
b. Do you use this strength often?
c. Do the strengths and values present in the story you told show up in
different areas of your life?
d. How can you make these strengths more prominent in your everyday
life?
2. Looking for Strengths in Others
It can be difficult for you to recognize yourstrengths; however, learning how
to spot strengths in others can help you identify and acknowledge your own
personal strengths.
List three strengths for each of the following people and think about the ways
these individuals successfully utilize their strengths.
 A close friend
 Someone they admire
 An acquaintance
Source:https://positivepsychology.com/strength-based-skills-activities

The activitieswhich are included under “strengths”, make people realize, utilize
and/or build one’s strengths. Researchers show some apprehension in using
strength-based activity such as the “identify and use” strategy might lead to
dependability and rigidness of strengths. They suggest that while using strengths-
based positive interventions, it is important to be cautious and use your‘practical
wisdom’ to make sure that their application is appropriate. For example, honesty
is considered a strength, but in some situation being honest can hurt someone’s
feelings or leads to a conflict. So, in applying these, it is vital to also develop
what Schwartz and Sharpe (2005) call “practical wisdom” – the ability to use
one’s strengths when appropriate and beneficial.
3. Self-Assessment Questions 3
1. Gratitude means to be thankful of all the good things you have in your
life. True/False
2. Which one is Not the main aim of savouring _______________?
a) focus attention
b) being aware about your experiences
c) shortening its pleasurable effects
d) lengthening its pleasurable effects.
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Role of Psychology in Positive
Growth Across Life Span 3. Meaning is very important in our life as
a) it provides necessary foundation for us to be more resilient
b) it gives us a sense of direction which help us to set our goals and
achieve them
c) Both of the above
d) None of the above
4. Being empathetic does not help you to understand from other person’s
perspective. True/False
5. “prosocial spending” is an example of ___________.
a) Spendthrift
b) Kindness
c) Forgiveness
d) None of the above
6. optimism is “the tendency to be ________.
a) Helpful
b) Hopeful
c) Mindful
d) Careful
7. The ability to use one’s strengths when appropriate and beneficial is
known as_______.
a) Practical wisdom
b) Traditional Wisdom
c) Intelligence
d) Knowledge

15.7 IMPORTANCE OF POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS

Although psychologists have given attention to the positive side of the human
behaviours before, yet the focus has increased more in 1990s and continuing in
the present time due to several reasons. One of the main reasons is the stark
economic gap in our society and the higher level of subjective distress felt by
people. Csikszentmihalyi (1999) highlighted people’s pathetic condition in his
article, “if we are so rich, why aren’t we happy? The materialistic value has gone
up over the past few decades yet the happiness and well-being index is going
down which isillustrated beautifully in the “paradox of affluence,” by Myers
(2000b).
Modern times with loss of joint family system and change in the structure of
296 family such as single parents, high rates of divorce, both parents working, families
leaving their native place in search of “better lifestyle”, high rates of child abuse, Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
poverty, suicides, increased number of lifestyle diseases, invasion of new viruses Interventions
like covid-19, all have contributed to decreased well-being and happiness index
of people. According to Seligman (1998), despite being twice as rich as we were
four decade ago, we are ten times more likely to be depressed. All this has led to
the dire need of adopting and practicing positive interventions to move away
from the zero to positive side of health and well-being continuum.
Positive Psychology aims at happiness. Martin Seligman, one of the propounder
of Positive Psychology, writes, “Positive psychology is about ‘happiness’….”
Acknowledging that ‘happiness’ is a “promiscuously overused word,” he explains
more clearly what he means by it: “I use ‘happiness’ and ‘well-being’ as soft,
overarching terms to describe the goals of the whole positive psychology
enterprise” (p. 127). He opted “Authentic Happiness” as the title of his book on
positive psychology. There are different ways to achieve happiness such as
promoting positive emotions for the pleasant life, developing strengths and virtues
for good life, and applying one’s strengths and virtues for the betterment of others
than oneself for the meaningful life.
The holistic optimum health can be achieved with the help of psychological
nutrients which are important for the higher well-being. These nutrients include
a sense of belongingness, sense of independence or autonomy, sense of
competence or mastery, self-efficacy and self-regulation which are considered
essential to improve the individual’s resilience and functioning during difficult
time. These ‘nutrients’ can be cultivated with the regular exercises, our minds
can be trained as we train our body muscles.

15.8 CRITICISM OF POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS

AND FUTURE DIRECTION
 Positive interventions are derived from the field of positive psychology.
Positive psychology itself is criticized that it is “old wine in new bottles”
because it heavily borrows from humanistic psychology and is quite identical
to counselling psychology.
 There is a common misunderstanding about positive psychology that it is
not a matured science and those who study, or practice positive psychology
engage in Pollyanna thinking which refers to positivity bias, i.e., the tendency
to focus overly on positive only and ignoring the other side of things.
 Research on positive intervention has also been criticized on the ground that
what exactly is a “positive intervention”. Without clear set of standards for
categorizing interventions as “positive”, it is difficult to understand which
one we should count in positive interventions and which one not.
 Further, positive interventions are looked upon as nothing more than self-
help strategies. Therefore it is very crucial for positive psychologists to be
aware of overstretching and must maintain the field as a true scientific
discipline.
 Positive psychologists must develop universally accepted classification of
positive interventions which are evidence based and empirically proven to
be effective. 297
Role of Psychology in Positive  Most of the research carried out and concepts established till now have centered
Growth Across Life Span
aroundindividual’s flourishing and not at collective level. The complex systems
and networks of social relations and structures greatly influence the individual’s
well-being. Research needs to focus on a systemic approach and come out
with evidence informed system based positive interventions.
 Positive psychology focuses on our attitude towards life as responsible for
our health and happiness, ignoring the importance of the environment and
circumstances which are also equally important in individual’s health and
wellbeing.
Hence, it is important that the future research focus on these pertinent questions
and criticism in order to establish itself as a evidence based field of study.

15.9 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit you learned about the concept and meaning of positive intervention
and how these can be used to promote growth and well-being of individuals. The
theoretical frameworks related to positive psychology were described, based on
which the various positive interventions such as gratitude, kindness, optimism,
strength, savouring, etc. are developed. The elements of positive interventions like
evidence-based, deliberate act or series of actions which are used to increase the
positive well-being (away from zero) and flourishing in normal population were
explained. You also learned about different activities for positive interventions
in each of the positive psychological constructs. Finally, the criticism regarding
positive interventions with some suggestions for future research were described.

15.10 KEYWORDS
Empathy : is the ability to understand and share the other
persons’ feelings or perspective.
Flourishing : is a process of growing healthy or being well,
developing or growing successfully.
Gratitude : is an attitude of being thankful or grateful of all the
good things we have in our life.
Optimism : is the tendency to be hopeful about the result of an
activity or task, or overall ending to be positive and
favourable.
Positive interventions : are evidence-based, intentional activities meant to
increase positive emotions, well-being, individual’s
growth, better creativity, healthy relationships,
personal fulfilment, and other desired results.
Positive psychology : is the scientific study of realising optimal human
functioning.
Savouring : refers to focusing attention and being aware about
our experiences and lengthening its pleasurable
298 effects.
Strengths : refer to personal qualities of people which Promoting Growth and
Wellness: Positive
rejuvenates them, makes them feel like ‘the real you’ Interventions
and enables them to achieve their optimal
performance.

15.11 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS
Answers to Self Assessment Questions 1
1. Martin Seligman, 2. C-Enjoyment, 3. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 4. A-persistence
and passion, 5. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound.
Answers to Self Assessment Questions 2
1. False, 2. C-egoism, 3.B-Right side, 4. True, 5. D-Positive circumstances
Answers to Self Assessment Questionsans 3
1. True, 2. C-shortening its pleasurable effects, 3. C-Both of the above, 4. False,
5. B-Kindness, 6. B-Hopeful, 7. A- Practical wisdom

15.12 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1. Define ‘positive interventions.’ Elucidate the features of positive interventions
in detail.

2. Explain the mechanism of functioning of positive interventions.

3. What are different types of positive interventions? Describe in detail some
suggested activities to carry out these interventions.
4. What is PERMA Model of well-being given by Martin Seligman?Explain
the different componentsand some strategies to achieve for each component
of the PERMA Model.

15.13 REFERENCES
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Brunstein, J. C. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal
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Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and
longitudinal well-being: the self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 76(3), 482-497.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating
depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly
meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467-487.
Westerhof, G. J., & Keyes, C. L. (2010). Mental illness and mental health: The
two continua model across the lifespan. Journal of Adult Development, 17(2),
110-119.

15.14 FURTHER LEARNING RESOURCES

 Baumgardner, S. & Crothers, M. (2015). Positive Psychology. Pearsons
 Bridget Grenville-Cleave. (2012).Introducing Positive Psychology:
A Practical Guide. Icon Books.
 Compton, W. C. (2005). Introduction to Positive Psychology. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
 Hodges, S. D., Clark, B., & Myers, M. W. (2011). Better living through
perspective taking. In R. Biswas-Diener (Ed.), Positive psychology as a
mechanism for social change. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Press.
 Kumar, U, Archana & Prakash, V. (2015). Positive Psychology: Applications
in work, Health and Well-being.Pearsons India.
 Seligman, M. E. P. (2002): Authentic happiness – Using the new positive
psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment.Atria Paperback.
 Snyder, C. R., Lopez, S. J. & Pedrotti, J.T. (2011). Positive Psychology: The
Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths. Sage Publications.

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