Exploring Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Well-Being

Looking for an introduction to positive psychology that offers real-life examples? This overview of the science of happiness supplies case studies from some of the world's most successful organizations and describes ways to experience the personal impact of this exciting scientific field.

Rather than focusing on treating what is “wrong” with a person, positive psychology seeks to understand and foster the things that drive happiness, creativity, and emotional fulfillment. This is a relatively new area of psychological study, and this reference book presents the research and practice of positive psychology in an informative and accessible format. Readers are given a history of the field, its current applications, and the future implications of this psychological discipline.

Case studies from companies such as The Body Shop, Volvo, Zappos, and Google highlight the impact of positive psychology when it’s applied in a modern business setting. These case studies, along with biographies of leaders in the field, highlight each chapter and connect the dots between the empirical theory of positive psychology and its practice. Readers also receive tools to apply the practices to their own lives.

Features

Grounded in academics but accessible to a wide range of readers
Challenges the reader to engage in the material and examine the application of positive psychology across multiple domains
Provides an extensive bibliography with references to books, journal articles, popular press articles, and websites
Includes examples of how media and technology can promote happiness and well-being
Provides practical and applied knowledge in the field that can be used in one's daily life

Erik M. Gregory, PhD, is executive director of the Media Psychology Research Center in Boston and a consultant with Attuning.org. He also serves as the resident psychotherapist for the Humanist Hub in Cambridge, MA. Gregory received degrees from Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago. His published works include Children's Media Use: A Positive Psychology Approach, and he is a blogger for Psychology Today. Gregory serves on multiple nonprofit boards of directors and established one of the world's first doctoral programs in media and leadership psychology.

Pamela B. Rutledge, PhD, is director of the Media Psychology Center in Boston and a faculty member at Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA. Rutledge has published both academic and popular work and consults on a number of projects that integrate positive psychology tenets into media and technology applications. She authors "Positively Media" for Psychology Today and sits on the advisory board of the Legends of Orkney Transmedia Literacy Project and the Social Media Marketing Certificate program at the University of California, Irvine Extension.

Reviews

"There is a lot to like about this textbook. The authors’ prose is engaging and at a level that most undergraduates will be comfortable with. Thus, this book will be especially appealing to those who are teaching positive psychology at an institution in which the course is categorized as a lower-level course."—PsycCRITIQUES, August 21, 2017

Features

Reviews

You may also like…

Redistributing Happiness: How Social Policies Shape Life Satisfaction

Evolutionary Psychology: How Our Biology Affects What We Think and Do

Global Happiness: A Guide to the Most Contented (and Discontented) Places around the Globe

MORE ABOUT ABC-CLIO

SUPPORT