Was Pollyanna Right?

The Emerging Science of Positive Psychology

by Peter Mark Adams

www.petermarkadams.com petermarkadams@gmail.com

What is Positive Psychology?

In 1987, a New York Times article proclaimed Research Affirms Power of Positive Thinking1. The articles byline made the point more directly - Pollyanna was right. For most people this was the first indication that Psychology, normally associated with the study of troubled mental states (such as depression, neurosis and anxiety), was also actively engaged in studying mental health & well-being. Since 1987, scientific interest in the study of happiness and life satisfaction has grown enormously. The issue might, at first sight, appear to be fanciful or even unimportant. After all, do we really need science to tell us about happiness? It appears that we do. Over the last 40 years economic growth and steadily increasing levels of personal wealth have characterized most developed 1
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countries. And yet there is little evidence of any corresponding increase in overall levels of happiness. This is strange because research also shows that rich people are on average happier than poorer ones a contradiction called the Easterlin Paradox 2. A recent survey even went so far as to claim that people in the UK are less happy now than 50 years ago! The proportion of people saying they are "very happy" has fallen from 52% in 1957 to just 36% today3. The seriousness of these findings is underlined when we consider the corresponding increases in depression4 and suicide5 over the same period. With these considerations in mind, perhaps the study of happiness is, if anything, overdue. On a national level these issues have major implications for social policy. Is there anything that governments can do in order to increase the overall levels of happiness in society? Perhaps they should be managing Gross National Happiness as carefully as they manage Gross National Product? Strange as this might seem, when asked, 81% of people felt that the governments main objective should be greater happiness rather than the greater wealth!6 Can science add anything of value to our quest for personal well-being, our search for happiness and satisfaction with life? As it turns out, the answer is a qualified yes. Scientific research can provide important and possibly vital understanding and insight. As we will see, it can also help us to improve the quality of our lives and allow us to live healthier and longer lives. But our acceptance of the research needs to be qualified. Research is an ongoing process and even the firmest conclusions may come to be challenged and replaced over time. In fact, since that is how science evolves, at some time they most probably will be. If we are inspired to hold on to any of the conclusions of Positive Psychology, we would be wisest not to hold on to them too tightly. Research on positive mental states & their effects on health, success & personal fulfillment has been ongoing for the last 50 years or so. When Martin Seligman, a leading researcher & clinician 2
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in Positive Psychology, became President of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1996, interest in Positive Psychology received a big boost. Seligman defines Positive Psychology as the study of positive emotion, positive character, and positive institutions7 undertaken in order to answer the question what are the enabling conditions that make human beings flourish? 8. Most conventional psychology is concerned with healing, with helping people move away from negative states of mind. Conversely, Positive Psychology is concerned with researching the optimal conditions for happiness and life satisfaction. Most of us associate happiness with our external circumstances with becoming better off. And yet such happiness like a mirage always seems to recede in front of us. Studies have demonstrated that external circumstances play a very small part, around 10%-15% , in our overall levels of happiness. Recent research10 provides the following breakdown of the major factors influencing our overall levels of happiness:
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Circumstances 10%

Intentional Activity 40%

Primary Factors Influencing Happiness

Set Point 50%

Clearly our set point or baseline level of happiness accounts for the majority of our reactions to lifes ups and downs and hence a large part of the level of happiness that we experience. Our circumstances factors such as age, gender, education and income appear to have

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only a marginal impact.. Can our intentional activity overcome the inertia of our set-point or norm of happiness? Is it possible to increase our overall levels of happiness? Positive psychology has gone a long way towards answering some of the questions related to these issues. The answers that we have are based on research into the effects of positive thoughts and emotions on human life. Put together they point towards a number of things that we can do for ourselves to enhance the quality of our lives. This essay is written in 2 parts. Each part reports some of the answers that the research has uncovered to the following questions:

How do positive thoughts & emotions affect us? What do I need to do in order to enjoy a happier life?

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Part 1 How do positive thoughts & emotions affect us?

1)

Happiness, Health & Well-Being

Recent research on the effects of positive emotions has been summarized by Barbara Fredrickson, a leading researcher in Positive Psychology, and the developer of the Broaden & Build Theory of Positive Emotions11. She organizes the research findings under four main headings 12:

Firstly, positive emotions alter peoples mindsets:

widen the scope of attention broaden behavioral repertoires increase intuition increase creativity

Secondly, positive emotions alter peoples bodily systems:

speed recovery from the cardio-vascular after effects of negative affect alter frontal brain asymmetry increase immune function

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Thirdly, positive emotions predict positive outcomes in both mental & physical health:

resilience to adversity increased happiness psychological growth lower levels of cortisol (a hormone released under stress that impairs immune system functioning)

reduced inflammatory responses to stress reductions in subsequent-day physical pain resistance to rhinoviruses reductions in stroke

And fourthly, positive emotions predict how long people live. In a famous study13 handwritten autobiographies from 180 Catholic nuns, composed when they were just entering their Order in 1930, were scored for emotional content and related to their survival 60 years later when the nuns were aged between 75 to 95. A strong association was found between positive emotional content in these writings and risk of mortality in late life. Those scoring highest for the positive emotional content of their writing lived on average 10 years longer than the low scoring nuns. The available research demonstrates that the benefits associated with positive emotions touch upon every aspect of our lives mental functioning, emotional & physical resilience and even longevity. Fredrickson claims that the findings carry an important prescriptive message: People should cultivate positive emotions in themselves and in those around them, not just as end-states in themselves, but also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved psychological and physical well-being over time.14 6
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2)

Happiness as a Cause of Success

We normally think of happiness as an outcome or result the feeling that we have after something has gone well. But it has also been found that positive emotions are a contributing factor to success in both social and work life 15. For example, it has been found that a positive emotional attitude at the end of adolescence predicted financial independence, occupational attainment, and work autonomy in young adulthood. Researchers have demonstrated16 the positive impact of happiness on a whole range of crucial social and professional issues:

Social Life

Greater popularity Greater resilience of personal relationships & marriage Improved ability to get married Improved ability to remarry

Employment and Quality of Work

Higher likelihood of receiving a callback for a second interview. Lower likelihood of losing their job. Higher likelihood of being re-employed. Receive more favorable evaluations / higher ratings from supervisors.

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Work Life

Higher income More work autonomy & variety Lower absenteeism

The effects of happiness on success are overwhelmingly positive in every area of life that has been studied. This being so, what can we do to improve our own levels of happiness? Perhaps a first step might be increasing our levels of self-awareness. How often do we find ourselves lost in negative thoughts and feelings? We need to become more mindful of our inner dialogue as well as paying more attention to how we actually interact with other people as a first step towards raising our general awareness. As we will see, the ratio of our positive to negative thoughts and feelings is a powerful predictor of both success and failure. ..

The Happiness Ratio

Happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) as it is called in the research literature 17, refers to what people think and how they feel about their lives. The ratio of our positive to negative thoughts and feelings is a crucial predictor of success or failure on many different levels. It has been calculated that a ratio of 3 positive to each negative thought/feeling is the minimum condition for happiness. And a ratio of 5 positive to each negative thought/feeling is an optimal condition for happiness.

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These ratios have been verified by John Gottman, a renowned researcher and marriage councillor. Analyzing the exchanges between newly married couples Gottman has been able to predict their chances of remaining married for the next 4-6 years with 90%+ levels of accuracy. This amazing predictive capability is based on the ratio of positive to negative thoughts and feelings expressed in the couples exchanges with each other. Gottman concluded that unless a couple is able to maintain a high ratio of positivity to negativity (5:1), it is highly likely that their relationship will end18. These findings have been replicated in other areas. High performing teams exhibit a high ratio of positive to negative affect as well as a range of other concrete behaviors that allow us to accurately predict their subsequent success or failure19. Conversely teams and couples exhibiting extremely high ratios of positive to negative affect in the region of 12:1 and above are increasingly ineffective. Such ratios suggest patterns of behavior and interpersonal exchange that are far too rigid to support the richness and complexity of experience.20 Honest communication and the ability to explore tough issues suffer as a result.. Extremely high ratios appear to reflect a tendency towards unrealistic happy talk the real Pollyanna Effect. Realism and appropriate negativity clearly play an important role in life. For whilst some forms of conflict, such as a genuine disagreement and debate, can be extremely generative other forms are not. Expressions of disgust or contempt are extremely damaging and can quickly lead to a complete breakdown in a relationship. Such ratios may serve to make us more mindful of both our inner dialogue, our reactions to others and the situations that we find ourselves in. But is there anything that we can actually do to improve the ratio of our own positive to negative thoughts and feelings?

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. Part 2 What can we do in order to enjoy a happier life?

The research to-date demonstrates that positive states are good for us but they must be balanced by a healthy sense of realism and an ability to express appropriate negativity. Is there anything that we can do in order to experience greater happiness and satisfaction in life? Martin Seligman has suggested21 that we first need to understand the strategies that we habitually adopt. He describes the three most common life strategies as:

The Pleasant Life or life of enjoyment The Good Life or life of engagement The Meaningful Life or life of affiliation

.. The Pleasant Life

This strategy consists of simply having as many pleasurable experiences as possible. Unsurprisingly, this approach doesnt lead to a stable sense of personal fulfillment or enduring happiness. It has been found that after some months even lottery winners revert to much the same (and sometimes an even worse) emotional state than before they won the lottery! 22 From an early age most of us are, to some degree, addicted to the Pleasant Life. It is, after all, the force that drives consumerism. Inevitably its satisfactions are transitory. The evaporation of the emotional high 10
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leaves us once more face to face with ourselves our raw state of being or Set Point to which we seem to return again and again. Over time the satisfaction that we derive from something may begin to diminish. In this sense, when pursued to the exclusion of all else, the Pleasant Life is also the Dissatisfied Life. Boredom driving an endless search for new sources stimulation. Fortunately, this is not the only strategy open to us. If we enjoy our pleasures and yet remain unfulfilled, then we need to look to the next level to the good life.

.. The Good Life

The good life strategy involves deep engagement in work, family life or other activities that give rise to a profound sense of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. All of the available research agrees that our relationships with our family and friends are one of the most important contributors to our overall levels of happiness. Parallel with these relationships are all of the other areas of life with which we are involved. In particular our work lives absorb a large amount of our waking hours. It is unfortunate, therefore, that national estimates of peoples sense of engagement with their work are typically very low. In the USA Gallup estimates that only 29% of workers are positively engaged in their work23. Their estimates for other countries are even lower. An estimated 15% in Germany and 10% in Singapore.

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16% Disengaged

29% Engaged

55% Not Engaged Levels of Workforce Engagement - USA

Clearly these figures have serious implications for productivity, quality and customer service. But aside from the business issues the figures depict a serious absence of personal fulfillment and meaning in a key area of life. To engage deeply with something you need to be able to apply your deepest strengths & capabilities sometimes known as signature strengths24 to it. And to be able do that, you must first know what those strengths and capabilities are. This logic characterizes the strengths-based revolution in personal, group and organizational improvement. It was first articulated by Donald O. Clifton, commended in 2002 by the American Psychological Association as the Father of Strengths-Based Psychology. Clifton established the tradition of strengths-based research from the 1950s onwards. He developed a widely used questionnaires for uncovering strengths, the Clifton StrengthsFinder 25. The use of this questionnaire has featured prominently in a series of strengths-based personal development products popularized by Marcus Buckingham26. Alternatively Martin Seligman has recently made a parallel strengths questionnaire available online27. Seligman defines signature strengths as the top 5 of a group of 24 widely recognized positive characteristics. The characteristics are deeply rooted in all human societies & express six universally recognized human "virtues": wisdom, courage, justice, humanity, temperance, & 12
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spirituality. The 24 signature strengths are: Creativity, Curiosity, Open-mindedness, Love of learning, Perspective, Bravery, Persistence, Integrity, Vitality, Love, Kindness, Social intelligence, Citizenship, Fairness, Leadership, Humor, Humility / Modesty, Prudence, Self-regulation, Gratitude, Hope, Forgiveness, Spirituality and Appreciation of beauty In order to enjoy the high levels of satisfaction associated with the Good Life it is suggested that you need to:

identify your main signature strengths assess which ones you are actually using on a regular basis & which ones are neglected re-craft your work, friendships, leisure and parenting to more fully use your main strengths

Utilizing your most defining strengths & capabilities gives rise to a profound sense of well-being that is anchored in the deepest levels of our being. Applying yourself completely to something that fully engages your signature strengths can lead to a state of complete absorption in what you are doing. This state has been called flow.

Flow

Flow is a concept developed by Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi, a leading researcher in Positive Psychology28. It is a subjective state that people experience when they are completely absorbed in what they are doing to the point of forgetting time, fatigue, and everything else but the activity itself. Csikszenmihalyi has described the experience of flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows 13
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inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."29 The components of flow are30:

The task is challenging & requires skill We concentrate There are clear goals We get immediate feedback We have deep effortless involvement There is a sense of control Our sense of self vanishes Time stops

If you have never or only infrequently experience flow, then you probably need to check what your signature strengths are 31, look at how you are using them on a day to day basis and begin to re-sculpt your life to engage more of your strengths more fully more of the time. But even attaining the Good or Engaged Life may still not provide the sense of purpose & fulfillment that we seek. Seligman states, just as well-being needs to be anchored in strengths & virtues, these in turn must be anchored in something larger. Just as the good life is something beyond the pleasant life, the meaningful life is beyond the good life. 32

The Meaningful Life

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This strategy consists of using your signature strengths in the service of something that you believe is larger than you are. You will derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing to something larger and more permanent than yourself (e.g. nature, charity/community groups, organizations, movements, and belief systems). One area in which these higher levels of engagement have been studied is that of authentic leadership. This concept, associated with Bill George of Harvard Business School, by-passes 30 years of competency based leadership studies. Instead it posits that leadership results from a development of character consequent upon confronting and overcoming a major life challenge receiving negative feedback, losing a job or the death of a loved one. Major life challenges have the potential to generate an inner transformation characterized as moving from I to We33, from looking after oneself and ones own private goals and targets to taking responsibility for a collective and for serving its goals and objectives even at the risk of personal cost. Robert Quinn, a leading organizational theorist, has called this shift entering the fundamental state of leadership 34. He characterizes the shift as:

Moving from
Remaining in the comfort zone Conforming to expectations Pursuing self-interest Relying on routines

To
Exploring new possibilities Acting from core values Acting for the collective good Embracing change

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Conclusions

As we have seen, the research carried out over the last 40 years or so has come to the unanimous conclusion: positivity, tempered with realism and an appropriate negativity, is life enhancing in every possible sense. In order to live a happier & more fulfilled life a number of elements are essential:

Firstly, family and friends are crucial - the wider and deeper the relationships with those around us the better. We need to invest time, care, love and attention in our closest relationships.

Secondly, knowing and using our deepest strengths and capabilities most of the time makes a major contribution to our sense of fulfillment. We need to understand what those strengths are and re-sculpt our lives to engage them more of the time.

Thirdly, creating meaning in life by acting on our commitment to something bigger than ourselves can expand our horizons beyond the limits of self and connect us to a deeper sense of purpose. The shift from I to We entails entering a more fundamental state of being.

It needs to be emphasized that these recommendations require commitment and followthrough for them to be of any real benefit. Happiness is not going to just fall out of the sky. It needs to be worked for35. Positive Psychology has outlined many ways that this can be done. Although not explicitly mentioned within the context of Positive Psychology, the release of past 16
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negativity is a major contributor to our capacity for happiness. As long as we hold on to and dwell upon past wrongs, we are anchoring ourselves into an unending source of unhappiness. Reframing events to find something positive in past adversity or forgiving ourselves or those we hold responsible for our pain and disappointments in life are also essential components in moving out from persistent unhappiness. Equally, acknowledging our advantages in life, the support and care that we have encountered and the gifts and capabilities that we have are all important components in breaking the deadlock of unhappiness and moving into a more positive way of living. Clearly major life challenges cannot be avoided by anyone. But how we confront and deal with our adversity can be either life-denying or life-enhancing.

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Notes
1

Goleman, D Research Affirms Power of Positive Thinking, New York Times, February 3rd 1987

Easterlin, R. (1974): Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence, in P. David andM. Reder (eds.) Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramowitz
2 3

Opinion poll by GfK NOP for the BBCs The Happiness Formula, 2007 Lane, R.E. (2000), The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies

Lester, D. and B. Yang (1997), The Economy and Suicide: Economic Perspectives on Suicide, Commack, N.Y.: Nova Science
6

Opinion poll by GfK NOP for the BBCs The Happiness Formula, 2007

Seligman, M & Csikszentmihalyi, M Positive Psychology: An Introduction, American Psychologist January 2000
7 8

Seligman, M quoted in The New Science of Happiness, Time, January 17, 2005

Argyle, M. (1999). Causes and Correlates of happiness. In D. Kahneman, E, Diener, & N Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & SchankePusuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change Review of general Psychology, 2005, Vol. 9, No. 2, 111131
10

Fredrickson, B The Broaden & Build Theory of Positive Emotions Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society August 2004
11

Fredrickson, B & Losada, MF Positive Affect & the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing American Psychologist October 2005
12

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Danner, D, Snowdon, DA, & Friesen, WV (2001) Positive Emotions in Early Life and Longevity: Findings from the Nun Study, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2001, Vol. 80, No. 5, 804-813 Fredrickson, B The Broaden & Build Theory of Positive Emotions Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society August 2004
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Diener, King & Lyubomirsky The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Psychological Bulletin, 2005 Vol 131 No 6
15

Diener, King & Lyubomirsky The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Psychological Bulletin, 2005 Vol 131 No 6
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Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575

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Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes.
19

Losada, M. 1999 The complex dynamics of high performance teams. Mathematics &. Computer Modeling. 30, 179192. Fredrickson, B & Losada, MF Positive Affect & the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing American Psychologist October 2005
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Seligman, M Authentic Happiness, 2005

Brickman, P., Coates, D. and Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978) Lottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative?, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 8: 917-927.
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23

Crabtree, Steve Getting Personal in the Workplace Are negative relationships squelching productivity in your company? Gallup Management Journal, June 10th 2004
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Seligman, M & Peterson, C Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification At www.strengthsfinder.com Buckingham, M & Clifton, DO Now Discover Your Strengths The Gallup Organization, 2001 VIA Signature Strengths Survey is available online at www.authentichappiness.com Csikszentmihalyi, M Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990 Go With the Flow Wired Magazine Seligman, M Authentic Happiness, 2005 p.116 VIA Signature Strengths Survey is available online at www.authentichappiness.com Seligman, M Authentic Happiness, 2005 p.14 George, W & McLean, A The Transformation From I to We

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Quinn, Robert E Moments of Greatness: Entering the Fundamental State of Leadership Harvard Business Review, July-August 2005
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Sheldon, Kennon M. & Lyubomrsky, Sonja Achevng Sustanable Gans n Happness: Change your actons, not your Crcumstances Journal of Happiness Studies (2006) . . . . . .

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