Bi-directional influences between positive psychology and primary prevention.

The constructs associated with primary prevention are used to consider the tenets of positive psychology. At the same time, issues from the literature on positive psychology can help to expand and strengthen research on primary prevention. Conclusions are reached - about the potential bi-directional influences that these fields can have on each other that may serve to augment theory, research, and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating psychopathology, positive psychology, and psychotherapy.

Comments on M. E. P. Seligman and M. Csikszentmihalyi's (see record 2000-13324-001) introduction to the special issue on positive psychology (American Psychologist, 2000[Jan], Vol 55[1]). The commenting author suggests that to achieve a major scientific shift to positive psychology (which could complement the dominant disease-oriented focus in mental health), psychologists should reconcile and merge the two foci; this could be best done by gradually infusing positive psychology into current models of psychopathology and treatment. To ease the integration and transition from a psychopathology-focused to a strength-focused approach in therapeutic psychology, programmatic research might be necessary; three possible areas of attention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subject's attitudes toward psychology as a determinant of experimental results.

Proposed attitudes toward psychology and psychological research as the basis of ss' differential willingness to cooperate with the demands of the experiment. To test this proposition, demand characteristics for positive opinion-change were communicated in a pretest-posttest design with 144 undergraduates as ss. The psychology research survey (prs) was developed to measure ss' attitudes toward psychology. Although all ss showed significant opinion-change, it was found, as predicted, that ss with more positive attitudes toward psychology showed significantly greater opinion change than ss with less positive attitudes. In addition, prs scores were significantly positively correlated with posttest and opinion-change scores and nonsignificantly correlated with pretest scores. The potential role of attitudes towards psychology as a determinant of ss' experimental performance is discussed. (french summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a focus on positive psychology in school psychology.

Introduces this special issue of School Psychology Quarterly and summarizes the articles contained in this issue. The major purposes of this special issue are twofold. One purpose is to illustrate that some of the various threads of positive psychology research related to children and youth, particularly focusing on the area of positive subjective experience (or subjective well-being: SWB). The second purpose is to underscore the importance of understanding the interrelationships of SWB of children and youth, and their various environmental contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humanistic psychology and positive psychology.

Comments on M. E. P. Seligman and M. Csikszentmihalyi's (see record 2000-13324-001) introduction to the special issue on positive psychology (American Psychologist, 2000[Jan], Vol 55[1]). The commenting authors wish that Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi had done a more scholarly job of investigating humanistic psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology, experimental psychology and the social psychology of the experiment.

Discusses the recent growth of experimental social psychology which has involved wholesale adoption of classical methodology as conceived by experimental psychology. Paradoxically, research and writings on the "social psychology of the experiment" raise serious questions about certain assumptions implicit in classical methodology, i.e., those concerning the nature of the subject matter and the relationship between E and S. The views of R. Rosenthal, M. T. Orne, and others are discussed in this context and general implications considered in the light of the humanistic movement in American psychology. The general conclusion is that the values and criteria for all experimentation in psychology may be destined to undergo a radical reorientation. (French summary) (32 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military psychology and general psychology.

Suggests the relevance of many findings, methods, and viewpoints of military psychology to approaches taken by behavioral and social scientists in solving contemporary problems. 4 factors which have promoted utilization of the results of military psychology are discussed: organizational continuity, membership in the research and development community, comprehensiveness of individual projects, and concern about implementation. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sport psychology in the profession of psychology.

Historically, sport psychology has been identified with physical education; however, recent developments in the field toward applied issues have substantially expanded psychologists' interests and opportunities. Unfortunately, little is known about professional psychologists' involvement in sport psychology practice, research, and training. Therefore, a national survey of 500 male and 500 female psychologists (American Psychological Association Division 12 members) was conducted. Based on 489 responses, results indicated that psychologists (a) were uninvolved in sport psychology research and teaching and (b) had received minimal training or supervision in the field. Despite this absence of sport science training, many had consulted with (22%) or provided individual therapy to (48%) athletes or sport teams. Implications for psychology training and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Animal research in psychology: More than meets the eye of the general psychology student.

The general psychology course provides a unique opportunity to present the science of psychology to a wide audience. Informing the general public about the importance of animal research in psychology is especially important given contemporary concerns about animal rights and animal welfare. A study of 8 leading introductory psychology textbooks indicated that with the exception of principles of conditioning and learning, the contributions of animal research to psychology were often not explicitly acknowledged. In addition, major findings from animal research were frequently presented as if they had been obtained with humans. In obscuring the contributions of animal research, introductory psychology textbooks miss the opportunity to ensure that public policy is based on accurate information about the significance of this research to many areas of psychological science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Men's issues in doctoral training: A survey of counseling psychology programs.

The study of men and masculinity is an important clinical competency that needs to be integrated into psychology training. The extent to which the psychology of men has been integrated into applied psychology training programs is unclear. Using counseling psychology as an example of one discipline's integration, the authors examined current training in the psychology of men. One hundred 60 faculty members participated in this study. Results suggest that training practices in the psychology of men are limited in counseling psychology doctoral training programs; faculty interest in the psychology of men was positive, and faculty members viewed psychology of men as an important area of research and training in counseling psychology; and approximately 80% of the participants regard the psychology of men as a multicultural issue. A case vignette illustrates implications for training and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marketing psychology.

Marketing psychology means learning more about consumers in order to (a) improve existing services, (b) develop new services, (c) educate the public about psychology, (d) improve training of psychologists, and (e) provide feedback to researchers. Psychologists must become more knowledgeable about the consumers of psychology: Ongoing research would complement other efforts to advance the profession and the public welfare. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Engendering psychology.

Engendering psychology refers to cultivating a psychology that is sensitive to issues of gender and diversity. The increase in the number of female psychologists does not guarantee that the discipline will be responsive to those issues. This article reviews the progress made in engendering psychology by examining undergraduate textbooks and classroom instruction and by looking at gender bias in both research and practice. By engendering psychology, it becomes a stronger science and profession and better serves the public interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching about animal research in psychology.

Responds to P. F. Cunningham's (see record 199604968-008) and S. D. Gosling's (see record 199604968-009) comments on M. Domjan and J. E. Purdy's (see record 1995-45383-001) study of the acknowledgment of contributions of animal experimentation in leading introductory psychology textbooks. The authors agree with Gosling that the primary goal of the general psychology course is to facilitate the students' understanding of psychology and that animal research is not presented in an educationally effective fashion in general psychology textbooks. However, it is argued that students need to know not only the conclusions of research but also something about how the research was conducted. In response to Cunningham's contention that psychology instructors will have to address why research animals are kept under stressful laboratory conditions, the authors note that psychology experiments typically do not involve deadly diseases or experimental pathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The need for a principle-based positive psychology.

Comments on M. E. P. Seligman and M. Csikszentmihalyi's (see record 2000-13324-001) introduction to the special issue on positive psychology (American Psychologist, 2000[Jan], Vol 55[1]). T. M. Kelley is concerned by the apparent absence of causal psychological principles to guide the emerging field of positive psychology in its study of optimal human functioning. Kelley illustrates how the principles of psychology of mind or health realization lead to a fundamentally different view of one of the most prominent theoretical concepts of positive psychology: Csikszentmihalyi's (1999) flow. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A specialized doctoral program in health psychology: Considerations in its evolution.

The Graduate Group in Psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, began in 1970 to develop a specialized program in health psychology. A dual emphasis on both operational and theoretical value from the research shaped a curriculum that stresses basic courses in social, personality, and cognitive psychology; research methodology; and introductions to the health system and biomedical science. Responses from health care settings to the program have been positive. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology and positive reinforcement.

Comments on the special issue the American Psychologist (2000[Jan], Vol 55[1]) on positive psychology. The author urges those who advocate a positive psychology to embrace behavior analysis, its applications, and positive reinforcement in particular by learning more about it, by teaching it to their students, and by promoting it in our culture and in the world at large. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology versus the medical model?: Comment.

Comments on "Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions" by Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (see record 2005-08033-003). Seligman and colleagues provided a progress report on positive psychology, reviewing the impressive developments over the past five years. We wholeheartedly support the positive psychology movement and believe its success is a testimony to Seligman's vision and leadership. However, in looking back over the past five years, we are mindful of what the next five years may hold and are concerned over the future direction and development of the positive psychology movement. Positive psychology as a movement largely continues to operate within the medical model and thus to implicitly condone the "medicalization" of human experience. If positive psychology is seen only as a supplement, then a limited view is offered in which positive psychology may only be relevant as an "extra" for those who are already capable and well-functioning rather than as a useful guide for people wherever they are on the continuum of functioning. Our vision is that positive psychology should stand in contrast to the medical model and its impetus toward the medicalization of human experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is positive psychology only White psychology?

Comments on the special issue of the American Psychologist (2000[Jan], Vol 55[1]) on positive psychology. The author points out that in this special issue the perspectives of psychologists of color were not represented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural psychology.

Cross-cultural psychologists have supplied information that can be integrated into regular psychology courses for undergraduates. References to this kind of information are provided, and methodological problems of cross-cultural research are discussed in terms of differing meanings of concepts, translation, and bias in the use of single research methods. The benefits and difficulties of cross-cultural research are examined in terms of theory expansion, study of the context in which behaviors occur, and the possibility of unconfounding research variables. Some of the contributions of this field to the study of perception, cognition, motivation, interpersonal interaction, and group dynamics are reviewed. Some applications of cross-cultural psychology to employee selection and appraisal, cross-cultural training, and psychopathology are mentioned. (113 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theoretical psychology: Subdiscipline or metadiscipline?

Comments on the article by B. D. Slife and R. N. Williams (see record 84-17550) concerning theoretical psychology as a subdiscipline of psychology. Considerations that may add to continuing positive discourse concerning a theoretical subdiscipline are presented. It is believed that efforts to avoid the development of any gulf between theoretical psychology and other areas of psychology should be given high priority in future discourse concerning the development of a subdiscipline of theoretical psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)