哈佛大学公开课—幸福学（积极心理学）01

1、2021/3/231Psychology 1504Positive Psychology2021/3/232House keeping Feedback or questions In case of an emergency well take a PP-break Powerpoints and videotape on website Active note-taking Overlap with 1508?2021/3/233The Road to Positive Psychology Humanistic Psychology (50s) The Third Force React

2、ion to behaviorism Reaction to psychoanalysis Lacked rigorous methodology2021/3/234Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)Karen Horney (1885-1952)Meet the Grandparents2021/3/235Meet the ParentsMartin SeligmanEllen LangerPhilip Stone2021/3/236Meet 15042021/3/237It is not merely about informationIt is also about t

3、ransformation Covering less; uncovering more2021/3/238“In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired; in pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.”Lao Tzu“The soul grows by subtraction, not addition.”Thoreau2021/3/239Information is not enough“What is wrong is not the great discov

4、eries of scienceinformation is always better than ignorance, no matter what information or what ignorance. What is wrong is the belief behind the information, the belief that information will change the world. It wont.”Archibald MaCleish2021/3/2310Information is not enough“Humanistic philosophy offe

5、rs a new conception of learning, of teaching, and of education. Stated simply, such a concept holds that the function of education, the goal of educationthe human goal, the humanistic goal, the goal so far as human beings are concernedis ultimately the self-actualization of a person, the becoming fu

6、lly human, the development of the fullest height that the human species can stand up to or that the particular individual can come to. In a less technical way, it is helping the person to become the best that he is able to become.” Abraham Maslow2021/3/2311It is not about providing definitive answer

7、s concerning the good lifeIt is about identifying the right questions“Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods.”Neil PostmanEducation is the quest for information and transformation, and therefore must begin with a question.2021/3/23122021/3/2313“The one real object of education

8、is to leave a man in the condition of continually asking questions.”Bishop Creighton2021/3/2314The Question of QuestionsHow can we help ourselves and othersindividuals, communities, and societybecome happier? 2021/3/2315It is not a survey of positive psychologyIt is a selective exploration of the qu

9、estion of questions. Cross cultural psychology Eclectic Studying others and ourselves2021/3/2316It is not English 10a or Math 55It is about rigorous fun“I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”

10、Oliver Wendell Holmes A different kind of effort Change is hard Rigorous fun?2021/3/2317Final Project 20-30 minute Presentation Any topic within positive psychology Written text (10-15 pages double spaced) Slides (word or powerpoints) Include: Reference to research Optional: stories, film clips, exe

11、rcises, etc Why a presentation? Teaching as learning Spread goodness2021/3/2318Why Positive Psychology?2021/3/2319 Anger: 5,584 Anxiety: 41,416 Depression: 54,040Psychological Abstracts (1967-2000) Joy: 415 Happiness: 1,710 Life satisfaction: 2,582Ratio: 21/12021/3/2320Focusing on the Negative“The s

12、cience of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side; it has revealed to us much about mans shortcomings, his illnesses, his sins, but little about his potentialities, his virtues, his achievable aspirations, or his psychological height. It is as if psychology

13、had voluntarily restricted itself to only half its rightful jurisdiction, and that the darker, meaner half.” Abraham Maslow2021/3/2321Accentuating the Positive“The aim of Positive Psychology is to catalyze a change in psychology from a preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to al

14、so building the best qualities in life.” Martin Seligman2021/3/2322Psychology Needs Help 21/1 ratio is unhealthy but it reflects reality depression 10 times higher today than 1960 mean age for depression today is 14.5 (compared to 29.5 in 1960)2021/3/23232021/3/2324Does Psychology Need Help? 21/1 ra

15、tio of studies is unhealthy but it reflects realitydepression 10 times higher today than 1960mean age for depression today is 14.5 (compared to 29.5 in 1960)80% of Harvard students depressed at least once last year45% of college students nationwide depressed; 94% overwhelmed (Kadison, 2005)2021/3/23

16、25Why More “Positive” Research? Psychology as creative rather than merely reactive Happiness is not the negation of unhappiness Prevention through cultivating the positive2021/3/2326“Negative” ResearchNegative Experiences2021/3/2327“Positive” ResearchPositive ExperiencesHeisenberg Uncertainty Princi

17、ple2021/3/2328“Human systems grow in the direction of what they persistently ask questions about.”Cooperrider and Whitney2021/3/2329Happiness isnt the Negation of Unhappiness Disease Model Health Model Focus on weaknesses Focus on strengths Overcoming deficiencies Building competencies Avoiding pain

18、 Seeking pleasure Running from unhappiness Pursuing happiness Neutral state (0) as ceiling No ceiling Tensionless as ideal Creative tension as ideal-_ 0 _ +neurosis, anger, anxiety,wellbeing, satisfaction, joydepression, psychosisexcitement, happiness2021/3/2330Prevention through cultivating positiv

19、e Illness as the absence of health (vs. health as the absence of illness)“It neurosis is a falling short of what one could have been, and even, one could say, of what one should have been, biologically speaking, that is, if one had grown and developed in an unimpeded way. Human and personal possibil

20、ities have been lost. The world has been narrowed, and so has consciousness. Capacities have been inhibited.”Abraham Maslow2021/3/2331“We have discovered that there are human strengths that act as buffers against mental illness: courage, future-mindedness, optimism, interpersonal skill, faith, work

21、ethic, hope, honesty, perseverance, the capacity for flow and insight, to name several. We have shown that learning optimism prevents depression and anxiety in children and adults, roughly halving their incidence over the next two years. Similarly, I believe, that if we wish to prevent drug abuse in

22、 teenagers who grow up in a neighborhood that puts them at risk, that the effective prevention is not remedial. Rather it consists of identifying and amplifying the strengths that these teens already have.” Martin Seligman2021/3/2332Prevention through cultivating positive Illness as the absence of h

23、ealth (vs. health as the absence of illness)“It neurosis is a falling short of what one could have been, and even, one could say, of what one should have been, biologically speaking, that is, if one had grown and developed in an unimpeded way. Human and personal possibilities have been lost. The wor

24、ld has been narrowed, and so has consciousness. Capacities have been inhibited.”Abraham Maslow Stronger “psychological immune system” Mental health at Harvard2021/3/2333The Power of Positive Psychology:Studying At-Risk Population Traditional psychology (Post-WWII) “Why do these individuals fail?” Po

25、sitive psychological approach (1980s-) “What makes some individuals succeed despite unfavorable circumstances?”2021/3/2334Resilience“A class of phenomena characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk.”Masten & Reed Superkids? Ordinary characteristic

26、s, extraordinary results Social support2021/3/23352021/3/2336Resilience“A class of phenomena characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk.”Masten & Reed Superkids? Ordinary characteristics, extraordinary results Social support Optimism and self-est

27、eem Faith and a sense of meaning Prosocial behavior Focusing on strengths Set goals A role model2021/3/23372021/3/2338 Role models Optimism and faith Blame to responsibility Deficiencies focus to strengths focus2021/3/2339Passive Victim Vs. Active Agentself pityblamefrustrationanger _confidencerespo

28、nsibilityhope and optimismforgive/forget2021/3/2340“The message of the Positive Psychology movement is to remind our field that it has been deformed. Psychology is not just the study of disease, weakness, and damage; it also is the study of strength and virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is wrong; it also is building what is right. Psychology is not just about illness or health; it is about work, education, insight, love, growth, and play. And in this quest for what is best, Positive Psychology does not rely on wishful thinking, self-deception or hand-waving; instead it trie