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.

This book is the definitive text in the field of positive psychology, the scientific study of what makes people happy. The handbook's international slate of renowned authors summarizes and synthesizes lifetimes of research, together illustrating what has worked for people across time and cultures. Now in paperback, this second edition provides both the current literature in the field and an outlook on its future.

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.

This volume examines what positive psychology offers to our understanding of key issues in working life today. The chapters focus on such topics as strengths, leadership, human resource management, employee engagement, communications, well-being, and work-life balance.

Collating for the first time a range of techniques in positive psychology, this handbook introduces topics such as courage, empathy and humor, and spans areas as diverse as gratitude, forgiveness and strengths. It also explores special considerations such as ethics and motivation, and offers informed conjecture on future directions in research and practice. Comprehensive content summarizes theory and research on many areas of positive psychology intervention for the first time and provides essential updates on established interventions Features contributions from an array of leading researchers, including Bob Emmons, Sonja Lyubomirsky and Shane Lopez Covers established interventions – for instance, coaching and family therapy – as well as newly developed interventions – such as schizophrenia or stopping smoking

National surveys consistently reveal that an inordinate number of students report high levels of boredom, anger, and stress in school, which often leads to their disengagement from critical learning and social development. If the ultimate goal of schools is to educate young people to become responsible and critically thinking citizens who can succeed in life, understanding factors that stimulate them to become active agents in their own leaning is critical. A new field labeled "positive psychology" is one lens that can be used to investigate factors that facilitate a student’s sense of agency and active school engagement. The purposes of this groundbreaking Handbook are to 1) describe ways that positive emotions, traits, and institutions promote school achievement and healthy social/emotional development 2) describe how specific positive-psychological constructs relate to students and schools and support the delivery of school-based services and 3) describe the application of positive psychology to educational policy making. By doing so, the book provides a long-needed centerpiece around which the field can continue to grow in an organized and interdisciplinary manner. Key features include: Comprehensive – this book is the first to provide a comprehensive review of what is known about positive psychological constructs and the school experiences of children and youth. Topical coverage ranges from conceptual foundations to assessment and intervention issues to service delivery models. Intrapersonal factors (e.g., hope, life satisfaction) and interpersonal factors (e.g., positive peer and family relationships) are examined as is classroom-and-school-level influences (e.g., student-teacher and school-community relations). Interdisciplinary Focus – this volume brings together the divergent perspectives, methods, and findings of a broad, interdisciplinary community of scholars whose work often fails to reach those working in contiguous fields. Chapter Structure – to insure continuity, flow, and readability chapters are organized as follows: overview, research summary, relationship to student development, examples of real-world applications, and a summarizing table showing implications for future research and practice. Methodologies – chapters feature longitudinal studies, person-centered approaches, experimental and quasi-experimental designs and mixed methods.

In the short time since the publication of the Handbook of Positive Psychology esearch results on the psychology of human strengths have proliferated. However, no major volume has documented the methods and theory used to achieve these results. Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology fills this need, providing a broad overview of diverse contemporary methods in positive psychology. With contributions from both leading scholars and promising young investigators, the handbook serves to illuminate and, at times, challenge traditional approaches. Incorporating multiple levels of analysis, from biology to culture, the contributors present state-of-the art techniques, including those for estimating variability and change at the level of the individual, identifying reliability of measurements within and across individuals, and separating individual differences in growth from aspects of phenomena that exhibit shorter-term variability over time. The volume covers such topics as wisdom, health, hope, resilience, religion, relationships, emotions, well-being, character strengths, and laughter. It enhances our understanding of the balance between human deficits and strengths and demonstrates their connections to other problems. Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology will be the essential reference for methods in positive psychology.