Psicología Positiva,Felicidad y Bienestar. Positive Psychology,Happiness & Well-being

Gratitude has been described as an adaptive evolutionary mechanism that is relevant to healthy psychological and interpersonal outcomes. Questions remain as to whether the presence and benefits of gratitude are consistent from young adulthood to old age; prior research has yielded mixed evidence. We examined the magnitude and direction of age differences in gratitude in three samples (combined N = 31,206). We also examined whether gratitude was associated with greater/lesser well-being at different periods in the life course. We found that the experience of gratitude was greatest in older adults and least in middle aged and younger adults. Further, we found that the associations between gratitude and subjective well-being remained relatively constant across the lifespan. Findings are discussed from a developmental perspective.

(Available in free full text) Previous research has shown a positive relation between character strengths, well-being and health. The aim of this analysis was to identify relations between the application of signature character strengths (ASCS) at work, and well-being and health, among medical students (study 1) and resident physicians (study 2). We expected positive direct links between the constructs and indirect effects through emotional exhaustion. To test these hypotheses, 387 medical students in their first year and 136 resident physicians completed five scales measuring well-being, mental/ physical health, character strengths, the application of their five individual signature strengths, and emotional exhaustion as an indicator of burnout. Partial correlations were examined, and mediation analyses performed. ASCS at work was positively linked with well-being and mental health but not with physical health. All links were mediated by emotional exhaustion in study 1 and (except for mental health) also in study 2. Future studies would therefore do well to investigate the promotion of ASCS at work of people operating in medical education and its potential in fostering well-being and preventing burnout from the outset.  Previous research has shown a positive relation between character strengths, well-being and health. The aim of this analysis was to identify relations between the application of signature character strengths (ASCS) at work, and well-being and health, among medical students (study 1) and resident physicians (study 2). We expected positive direct links between the constructs and indirect effects through emotional exhaustion. To test these hypotheses, 387 medical students in their first year and 136 resident physicians completed five scales measuring well-being, mental/ physical health, character strengths, the application of their five individual signature strengths, and emotional exhaustion as an indicator of burnout. Partial correlations were examined, and mediation analyses performed. ASCS at work was positively linked with well-being and mental health but not with physical health. All links were mediated by emotional exhaustion in study 1 and (except for mental health) also in study 2. Future studies would therefore do well to investigate the promotion of ASCS at work of people operating in medical education and its potential in fostering well-being and preventing burnout from the outset.

28 recent research papers on Positive Psychology, including Haridas on the importance of zest, hope & kindness for mental health, Kardos on empathic people's increased number of close friends, and Warner on the happiness boost associated with eating more fruit & vegetables.

What if there was a study dedicated to unearthing the secrets to a happy and purposeful life? It would have to be conducted over the course of many decades, following the lives of real people fro

While correlational evidence exists that humor is positively associated with well-being, only few studies addressed causality. We tested the effects of five humor-based activities on happiness and depression in a placebo-controlled, self-administered online positive psychology intervention study (N = 632 adults). All of the five one-week interventions enhanced happiness, three for up to six months (i.e. three funny things, applying humor, and counting funny things), whereas there were only short-term effects on depression (all were effective directly after the intervention). Additionally, we tested the moderating role of indicators of a person ? intervention-fit and identified early changes in well-being and preference (liking of the intervention) as the most potent indicators for changes six months after the intervention. Overall, we were able to replicate existing work, but also extend knowledge in the field by testing newly developed interventions for the first time. Findings are discussed with respect to the current literature.

Married individuals are healthier and live longer than those who are never married, divorced, or widowed. But not all marriages are equal: unhappy marriages provide fewer benefits than happy ones. This study examined health and longevity across a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, combining measures of marital status and marital happiness to compare those who were “very happy” in marriage to those who were “pretty happy” in marriage, “not too happy” in marriage, never married, divorced or separated, or widowed. We employed the General Social Survey–National Death Index to illuminate the associations among marital status, marital happiness, general happiness, and self-rated health and mortality risk. Compared to individuals who were “very happily” married, those who were “not too happy” in marriage were over twice as likely to report worse health and almost 40% more likely to die over the follow-up period, net of socioeconomic, geographic, and religiosity factors. Those not too happy in marriage also had equal or worse health and mortality risk compared to those who were never married, divorced or separated, or widowed. Results further indicate that general happiness underlies much of the relationship between marital happiness and better health and longevity. The literature on the health and longevity benefits of marriage is well established, but our results suggest that individuals in unhappy marriages may be a vulnerable population. We conclude that subjective well-being and relationship quality contribute to the health benefits of marriage.

(Available in free full text) Abstract. Human beings have an inherent drive for self-improvement and growth (Maslow, 1965; Ryan & Deci, 2002). In a quest to understand how human beings achieve fulfillment, researchers have sought to explain why some individuals thrive in certain situations, whereas others merely survive or succumb. The topic of thriving has become popular with scholars, resulting in a divergent body of literature and a lack of consensus on the key processes that underpin the construct. In view of such differences, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (i) to review a number of existing theoretical and conceptual debates, and to propose a conceptualization of thriving applicable across different populations and domains; (ii) to consolidate pertinent bodies of extant thriving research and identify key personal and contextual enablers to inform applied practice; and (iii) to identify noteworthy gaps within existing literature so as to make recommendations for future research and, ultimately, support the development of effective psychosocial interventions for thriving.

(Available in free full text) Research has shown that character strengths are positively linked with well-being in general. However, there has not been a fine-grained analysis up to date. This study examines the individual relational aspects between the 24 character strengths, subjective well-being (SWB), and different aspects of psychological well-being (PWB) at two times of measurement (N=117). Results showed that overall the “good character” was significantly stronger related with PWB than with SWB. The character strength “hope” was at least moderately correlated with the PWB aspects meaning, optimism and autonomy, and “zest” with the PWB aspects relationships and engagement. “Persistence” showed the highest correlation with the PWB aspect mastery. Out of the 24 character strengths, the happiness-related strengths (hope, zest, gratitude, curiosity, and love) were more likely to correlate with PWB and SWB than any other character strength. This study offers a more fine-grained and thorough understanding of specific relational aspects between the 24 character strengths and a broad range of well-being aspects. Future studies should take up a detailed strategy when exploring relationships between character strengths and well-being.

Feelings of positive or negative affect are not restricted to temporary states. They can also determine future affective experiences, by influencing the building of an individual’s personal resources. The present study was designed to understand the daily fluctuations in positive and negative affect more fully. To this end, we examined the involvement of a variety of affect regulation strategies in these fluctuations. The affect regulation strategies we explored included positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping, appreciation and rumination. We adopted an experience sampling method, consisting of five daily assessments over a 2-week period. As expected, within a few hours of experiencing more positive affect, participants engaged in greater positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping and appreciation. In turn, greater use of each of these three strategies was followed by more intense experiences of positive affect. We observed analogous reciprocal influences between rumination and the experience of negative affect, within the same time interval. Changes in affective experience over several hours were also directly influenced by concurrent use of these strategies. More specifically, greater positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping and appreciation accelerated the rise in positive affect that follows low feelings of positive affect, and slowed the decline in positive affect that follows high feelings. Rumination had an analogous influence on change in negative affect. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Cross-sectional research indicated that the application of signature strengths at work seemed to be crucial for perceiving a job as a calling. The present study aimed at testing this assumed causality in a random-assignment, placebo-controlled web-based intervention study. The intervention group (n = 83) was instructed to use their four highest character strengths more often at work for 4 weeks. Meanwhile the control group (n = 69) reflected about four situations (independent from the current workplace) where they excelled. For the evaluation of the effects of the two conditions, participants completed measures on calling and global life satisfaction before (Pretest), directly after the four-week training period (Posttest 1), and 3 (Posttest 2) and 6 months (Posttest 3) later. Calling significantly increased in the intervention group but not in the control group from Pretest to Posttest 1, and remained constant until Posttest 3. Global life satisfaction significantly increased in the intervention group but not in the control group from Pretest to Posttest 2 and from Posttest 1 to Posttest 3. That indicated that the changes on global life satisfaction were less steep than the changes in calling and lagged, but significant long lasting changes were observed likewise. Results supported the assumption that the application of strengths at work impacts calling and life satisfaction. Limitations as well as implications for research and practice are discussed.

(Available in free full text) The claim that most people are happy and satisfied, assuming that high self-ratings on numerical scales indicate good lives, is cross-checked against extensive verbal reports in a large-scale mixed-methods validation study. For a sample of 500 qualitative interviews conducted in Austria, the usual 10-point-scale self-ratings of life satisfaction and happiness were linked to the content of respondents’ actual narrations. Additionally, the narrated well-being was classified according to an alternative evaluation scheme by external raters. The results show that many persons report substantial restrictions to their hedonic experience in spite of high or even very high ratings, and that the narrated well-being evaluation is much more critical than the self-rating. Therefore it is argued that a naïve interpretation of high self-rating values as top life experience systematically ignores negative aspects of life. The claimed predominance of happiness should be substantially reformulated. In particular, more attention should be drawn to resilient satisfaction in the presence of substantial psychological burden, and to the non-negligible group of highly positive life satisfaction ratings which lack evidence of corresponding hedonic experience in the life narratives.