Search Jonesboro Yellow Pages

By Irina Khramtsova

JONESBORO -- Can you guess what the most popular course was at Harvard this spring?

It was Positive Psychology, the new science of happiness. With enrollment of 855 students, it has beaten out even Introductory Economics.

Founded in 2000 by Martin Seligman, the then-president of the American Psychological Association, this new academic field focuses on subjective well-being, positive emotions, character strengths, and other enabling conditions of human existence.

Does that mean that psychology before year 2000 never investigated the positive aspects of human life? It did, but the emphasis had been on mental abnormalities and disease rather than on building human strengths or positive emotions, according to Seligman, who is currently a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Seligman himself paid tribute to "negative psychology" -- you may remember his name in connection with learned helplessness, a form of pessimism that explains why people give up trying. However, later he switched to studying learned optimism, and wrote the book "Authentic Happiness" (see his Web site, www.authentichappiness.com, where you can evaluate your level of happiness).

Why bother to promote "authentic happiness?" Research shows that happy people are more productive in their jobs, more successful in relationships, and cope with stress better. Happy people enjoy better physical and mental health and live longer. For example, in a classic study of 180 nuns, it was found that those of them who experienced and expressed more positive emotions lived longer and were healthier.

My own research shows that happiness impacts the educational process.

Happy students are more motivated to study and have better attitudes about their classes and professors according to our recent study. This and other cross-cultural research will be presented by me, Amy Pearce, David Saarnio and our international colleagues at an invited symposium entitled "Positive Psychology across Cultures" in Greece in July.

If it is important to be happy, can you increase your happiness level? Seligman's formula for determining enduring happiness (in contrast to a momentary happiness) is H=S+C+V, where S is your set range, C is your life circumstances, and V stands for those factors that are under your voluntary control.

How can you improve your happiness without taking a positive psychology class at Harvard or at ASU? Write in a gratitude journal, read "Authentic Happiness" by Seligman, or join the ASU Positive Psychology club by contacting its current president, Melissa Shortnacy, at geneic2002@yahoo.com.

Dr. Khramtsova is an assistant professor of psychology at Arkansas State University.