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Psychology has long been enamored of the dark side of human existence, rarely exploring a more positive view of the mind. What has psychology contributed, for example, to our understanding of the various human virtues? Regrettably, not much. The last decade, however, has witnessed a growing movement to abandon the exclusive focus on the negative. Psychologists from several subdisciplines are now asking an intriguing question: "What strengths does a person employ to deal effectively with life?" The Handbook of Positive Psychology provides a forum for a more positive view of the human condition. In its pages, readers are treated to an analysis of what the foremost experts believe to be the fundamental strengths of humankind. Both seasoned professionals and students just entering the field are eager to grasp the power and vitality of the human spirit as it faces a multitude of life challenges. The Handbook is the first systematic attempt to bring together leading scholars to give voice to the emerging field of positive psychology.
"We pass on our traits through our genes but our cherished values, beliefs, and practices are transmitted through those units of meaning called memes. This remarkable book provides an authoritative account of how 'good work' endures in the sciences and has profound implications for the quality of work across the professional landscape." Howard Gardner, editor, Responsibility at Work, and Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard University "This book should sow the seeds of greatness for protégés and mentors alike, and well beyond the discipline of science. Mentoring lineages are the hallmark of disciplines that endure and have impact, a reality that the authors powerfully communicate." Carol A. Mullen, editor, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, and professor and chair, Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, University of North Carolina at Greensboro "Good Mentoring is a landmark study with implications for the continued vibrancy of any discipline. This is a fresh, eye-opening perspective on the social transmission of professional lineages." Daniel Goleman, author, Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence
Positive Psychology has experienced extraordinary growth over the past decade. Emerging research in this area is suggesting new strategies for improving everyday life, healthcare, education systems, organizations and work life, and societies across the globe. This book will be of interest to all applied psychologists, applied researchers, social and organizational psychologists, and anyone interested in applying the science of positive psychology to improvement of the human condition.
A fresh reflection on what makes life meaningful Most people, including philosophers, tend to classify human motives as falling into one of two categories: the egoistic or the altruistic, the self-interested or the moral. According to Susan Wolf, however, much of what motivates us does not comfortably fit into this scheme. Often we act neither for our own sake nor out of duty or an impersonal concern for the world. Rather, we act out of love for objects that we rightly perceive as worthy of love—and it is these actions that give meaning to our lives. Wolf makes a compelling case that, along with happiness and morality, this kind of meaningfulness constitutes a distinctive dimension of a good life. Written in a lively and engaging style, and full of provocative examples, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters is a profound and original reflection on a subject of permanent human concern.
This book presents a series of studies that conceptualize, test, and monitor team flow experiences in professional organizations to perform autonomously and successfully. It analyses the processes by which team flow emerges by exemplifying case studies, and introduces a protocol to spark team flow in professional organizations.
Certain religious behaviours clearly reduce biological fitness. These behaviours include celibacy along with various forms of asceticism, and rituals that harm the performer. Such behaviours are found in widely different cultures. How is this possible? This book shows that these behaviours (as is religion in general) are by-products of features of the human mind whose evolutionary fitness is beyond doubt and explores those features. Which are those features? This book proposes a twofold answer. It draws attention to the layered nature of human consciousness, in which different manners of experience are superimposed on each other. This goes a long way toward accounting for the universal relig...
This book offers an original phenomenological description of mindfulness and related phenomena, such as concentration (samādhi) and the practice of insight (vipassanā). It demonstrates that phenomenological method has the power to reanimate ancient Buddhist texts, giving new life to the phenomena at which those texts point. Beginning with descriptions of how mindfulness is encountered in everyday, pre-philosophical life, the book moves on to an analysis of how the Pali Nikāyas of Theravada Buddhism define mindfulness and the practice of cultivating it. It then offers a critique of the contemporary attempts to explain mindfulness as a kind of attention. The author argues that mindfulness i...
The feedback model of self-regulation developed by the authors of the lead article in this volume has been one of the most successful theoretical formulations of regulatory processes to date. The range of phenomena to which this framework potentially applies is evident from its ability to incorporate implications of other conceptualizations as diverse as catastrophe theory and dynamic systems theory. The diversity of issues and approaches dealt with by Carver and Scheier is matched by the companion articles, which are written from perspectives ranging across developmental psychology, cognitive science, clinical psychology, and organizational decision making, as well as mainstream social cognition.
The second volume in the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers about thirty years of Csikszentmihalyi‘s work on three main and interconnected areas of study: attention, flow and positive psychology. Describing attention as psychic energy and in the footsteps of William James, Csikszentmihalyi explores the allocation of attention, the when and where and the amount of attention humans pay to tasks and the role of attention in creating ‘experiences’, or ordered patterns of information. Taking into account information processing theories and attempts at quantifying people’s investment, the chapters deal with such topics as time budgets and the development and use of the Exper...
"This chapter introduces the main features of the transformative self-what it is and is not. For instance, the transformative self is not a person but rather a self-identity that a person uses to facilitate personal growth. The person creates a transformative self primarily in their evolving life story. This growth-oriented narrative identity helps the person to cultivate growth toward a good life for the self and others. The chapter provides an overview of the book's theoretical approach and topics. The book's first section examines the components of personal growth, narrative identity, and a good life that culturally characterize the transformative self. The second section explores he personality and social ecology of the person who has a transformative self. The third section shows how the transformative self itself develops over time. The final section explores the hazards and heights of having a transformative self"--