Psychological interventions to enhance positive outcomes in adult cancer caregivers: A systematic review

This systematic review aims to examine the characteristics of psychological interventions that aim to enhance positive outcomes, such as wellbeing, post-traumatic growth, or hope in cancer caregivers. Studies published until December 2023 were searched on PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, WOS, PsycARTICLES and were included when examining interventions targeting positive outcomes with adult cancer caregivers. Of the 1424 articles retrieved through the databases, 16 studies were eligible for inclusion in this review, targeting 908 caregivers (70.2% female; Mage = 53.5). A narrative synthesis was used to describe the interventions, which were based on a variety of approaches such as psychoeducation, mindfulness, or Existential Behavioral Therapy, and reported positive gains for the positive outcomes. The results show few randomized controlled trials published to date, highlight the contrast between the focus shift towards these outcomes and the need for systematic testing of the interventions, to be able to inform evidence-based service delivery.

Optimism in dire times: The buffering role of optimism in the relationship between food insecurity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Considering the need to gain a deeper understanding of the protective factors associated with coping with food insecurity, specifically in times of severe prolonged stress, the current longitudinal study seeks to examine the role of optimism in the relationship between food insecurity and adverse mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A three-wave longitudinal study involving 1921 Israeli adults was performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed questionnaires assessing food insecurity, anxiety, depression, optimism, and socio-demographic characteristics. To explore the relationship between food insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as the moderating role of optimism in this relationship, we employed a set of panel regression models with individual fixed effects. Our results indicate that the degree and change in food insecurity over time were positively associated with both anxiety and depression symptoms, whereas the degree and change in optimism were negatively correlated. Optimism was found to moderate the association between food insecurity and anxiety symptoms over time, but not the association between food insecurity and depression symptoms. A subgroup analysis revealed that optimism moderated the relationship between food insecurity and anxiety and depression for women, but not for men; for married/coupled individuals but not for singles; for non-parents with regard to anxiety, and for parents with regard to depression. Our results highlight the need to practice and enhance optimism in times of great despair, uncertainty, and hardship, especially in situations of food insecurity where tangible change may take time.

The value of believing in free will: A prediction on seeking and experiencing meaning in life

Despite abundant philosophical pondering and experiential evidence demonstrating the need for freedom in leading a meaningful life, the literature lacks an investigation of whether and how free will beliefs contribute to one's meaningful life as an antecedent variable. Based on the coupling of the life-affirming hypothesis and Chinese culture, we used a manipulation experiment (Study 1, n = 242) and a two-wave longitudinal study (Study 2, n = 378) to test the potential causality between laypeople's daily beliefs in free will and meaning in life (presence of and search for meaning) with two samples of Chinese undergraduates. The results show that belief in free will positively predicts the presence of meaning and search for meaning, immediately (Study 1) and 2 months later (Study 2). The present work corroborated that the belief in free will is an antecedent variable that imbues life with meaning and sparks actions seeking meaning, supporting the life-affirming hypothesis instead of the deficit-correcting hypothesis.

Impact of confrontation to patient suffering and death on wellbeing and burnout in professionals: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Palliative care and oncology generate a risk of burnout and psychological distress in professionals. The purpose of this study is to identify both psychopathological and positive factors related to mental health at work. It aims (i) to explore the extent to which these professionals are confronted with suffering, illness, and death; and to explore the prevalence of psychological distress and/or burnout, (ii) to identify potential determinants of burnout and psychological wellbeing at work, (iii) to develop an integrative model of mental health; and to identify frequency and impact of confrontations with death, and (iv) to identify profiles of professionals are at risk of developing a mental health disorder or, conversely, characterized by wellbeing.

METHODS

A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in palliative care and oncology evaluating confrontations with death, coping, burnout, psychological distress, personality, self-esteem, well-being and meaning at work. Regressions, clustering, and structural equation modeling analyses were performed.

RESULTS

109 professionals participated (58% from oncology and 42% from palliative care), of which 79% were female, and 65% were between 30 and 49 years old. Aim i: 30% witnessed an intolerable suffering at least 9 times a month, 45% reported moderate to high levels of burnout, 39% suffered from anxiety and 11% from depression. Aim ii: the determinants of burnout were the personality traits conscientiousness and neuroticism, low meaning of work, and low wellbeing (R2 = 0.44). The determinants of wellbeing were work meaning, depersonalization, self-esteem, fulfillment and low emotional exhaustion (R2 = 0.71). Aim iii: the integrative model included both well-being (self-esteem, conscientiousness) and psychopathology (neuroticism, anxiety) parameters, and strongly satisfied the standard SEM goodness of fit indices (e.g., CFI, IFI, and TLI ≥ 0.95). Aim iv: three profiles were identified: (a) a "distressed profile" with a majority of professionals at the patient's bedside, (b) a "disengaged profile" with professionals working as second-line consultants, (c) a "wellbeing profile" contains profiles of caregivers insensitive to psychological distress and with a high level of positive Impact of confrontation on different areas of their lives.

CONCLUSIONS

An integrative approach is essential to understand the full range of mental health issues for professionals. Meaning of work is a key factor in professional interventions that should primarily affect front-line professionals with limited experience.

Psychological wellbeing in Chinese university students: insights into the influences of academic self-concept, teacher support, and student engagement

Objective

This study investigates the complex interplay between academic self-concept, teacher support, student engagement, and psychological wellbeing among Chinese university students. We aimed to elucidate the mediating role of student engagement in these relationships.

Methods

A sample of 597 Chinese undergraduate students from diverse universities participated in the study. We employed structured questionnaires to assess academic self-concept, teacher support, student engagement, and psychological wellbeing. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test our hypothesized model.

Results

Structural equation modeling indicated that the partial mediation model, which considered both direct and indirect effects, outperformed full mediation and direct effect models. Student engagement significantly mediated the relationships between academic self-concept, teacher support, and psychological wellbeing. Importantly, teacher support demonstrated a direct impact on psychological wellbeing, even when accounting for the mediating role of student engagement.

Conclusion

This study underscores the pivotal role of student engagement as a mediator in the relationship between academic self-concept, teacher support, and psychological wellbeing among Chinese university students. While student engagement plays a substantial mediating role, our findings also recognize the persistent direct influence of teacher support on psychological wellbeing. These insights have implications for educators and policymakers aiming to enhance the wellbeing of university students by fostering positive academic self-concept and teacher support while recognizing the importance of student engagement.

The positive education of challenge: innovative integration of challenge based learning and positive education

Challenge based learning is not generally considered part of positive education. This study argues that challenge based learning should be considered and integrated with positive education to advance it from three perspectives. First, the aims of both educational approaches emphasize the promotion of engagement, meaning, achievement, and learning. Second, empirical studies suggest that challenge based learning is likely to enhance well-being and learning outcomes, aligning with positive education's impact. Third, incorporating challenge based learning in positive education will likely address multiple criticisms of positive education and help advance it by incorporating real-life challenges, meaningful contexts, experiential learning, collective perspectives, and educational studies. To advance positive education, more empirical studies should be conducted on the impact of challenge based learning on well-being to fill the research gap in quantity, scope of variables, and longitudinal studies, with due consideration of its variety in implementation. Furthermore, innovative integration of challenge based learning and existing positive education interventions should be explored based on comparative analyses of both approaches to develop positive education that enables learners to flourish with challenges at the individual and collective levels. Positive education that explicitly incorporates challenges is called the positive education of challenge. To advance the positive education of challenge, more educational approaches (other than challenge based learning) that focus on challenges (e.g., challenge courses and pedagogy of challenge) should also be explored for integration with positive education.

Positivity and coping as key to well-being and psychological adjustment during the pandemic of COVID-19: A follow-up study in Portugal

This follow-up study aimed to analyze the protective role of positivity and coping strategies on the well-being and psychological distress levels reported during Portugal's first and third waves of COVID-19. The total sample consisted of 135 participants (82.0% women) with ages ranging from 20 to 72 years (M = 39.29, SD = 11.46). Results suggested a significant decrease in well-being levels but no changes in psychological distress were observed. Positivity was a strong and significant predictor of well-being and psychological distress during the pandemic crisis. Among the set of strategies used by individuals at the first wave, denial, self-blame, and self-distraction predicted a poorer adaptation with more significant mental health impairment, with self-blame standing out as the most harmful. This study highlighted the key role of positivity in adjusting to the current pandemic crisis and the lasting detrimental impact of specific coping strategies.

How Trait Gratitude Influences Adolescent Subjective Well-Being? Parallel-Serial Mediating Effects of Meaning in Life and Self-Control

The relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being is well documented in the literature. Recently, growing attention has been given to examining which factors are determinants in the relationship. However, there are no studies to present a comprehensive model of how meaning in life and self-control jointly play a role in this relationship. This study investigated parallel and serial mediation of the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and self-control in the relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being. A total of 764 adolescents (Mage = 14.10, SD = 1.43, 48.43% males) from three middle schools in China completed a six-item measures of gratitude questionnaire form, a meaning in life questionnaire, a middle school students' self-control ability questionnaire, and a satisfaction with life scale. The study revealed that trait gratitude affected the presence of meaning and subsequently affected subjective well-being. In addition, trait gratitude affected self-control through the presence of meaning and the search for meaning, and it subsequently affected subjective well-being. Therefore, the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and self-control played an important role in the positive effects of trait gratitude on adolescent subjective well-being. The findings were in line with the intrinsic and extrinsic goal theory of gratitude and provided new insight to inform the improvement of adolescent subjective well-being in the future.

Beyond polarization towards dynamic balance: harmony as the core of mental health

Worldviews are culturally derived assumptions that influence individual and collective behaviors, values, and representations of reality. The study of mental functions is not exempt from this influence, as reflected in scientific theories, methodological approaches, and empirical studies. Despite acknowledging the interplay of mental processes with developmental, environmental, and cultural dimensions, psychological research is still primarily based on quantitative methods, and on the conceptualization of mental phenomena as unfolding along polarized continua. A lively epistemological debate surrounds this approach, especially underscoring the risk of blurring the distinction between constructs derived from statistical models and real-life processes and experiences. Based on this debate and on recent empirical evidence derived from the positive psychology literature, this paper is aimed at proposing an integrated view of mental health, as a holistically patterned, contextually imbedded, and dynamic phenomenon changing over time and across life events, with harmony, harmonization and dynamic balance as core qualities. The heuristic potential of investigating the qualitative configuration patterns of mental health dimensions across individuals and groups, beyond their position along a quantitative continuum, is outlined. The development of more integrated approaches and methodologies to investigate mental health as a harmonization process, taking into account personal, contextual and developmental features, would be aligned with evidence derived from the integration of traditional nomothetic and ideographic approaches, and other life sciences. However, the development of a transdisciplinary line of research requires further inputs from different epistemological views, as well as higher attention to the potential contribution of different philosophical traditions.

Wakakosha "You are Worth it": reported impact of a community-based, peer-led HIV self-stigma intervention to improve self-worth and wellbeing among young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe

Introduction

Self-stigma-negative self-judgements or core beliefs-can result in feelings of shame, worthlessness and self-blame, and impacts social interaction, mental health and health service utilization among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Few interventions target self-stigma among PLHIV and, to our knowledge, none until now for adolescents and young people LHIV (AYPLHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa. We present qualitative findings on the perceived impact of a self-stigma intervention (Wakakosha, "You are Worth it").

Methods

The Wakakosha intervention adopted inquiry-based stress reduction (IBSR) at its core-a unique way of identifying and questioning deeply rooted self-stigma, combined with mindfulness, meditation and creativity. The intervention consisted of 16 × 3 hour group sessions. Supporting the intervention was a 156-page activity journal. We utilized a qualitative enquiry to explore the perceived impact of the intervention at various time points between November 2021 and November 2022, with 62 participants (n = 32 female). Discussions explored experiences of being involved in the intervention and any reports on changes in relation to self-stigma and shame. Additionally, we reviewed intervention documentation and creative elements. A thematic analysis guided generation of themes across all data sources.

Results

Both intervention participants and coaches described the transformative effect of the intervention, detailing their experiences before and after. Main themes that emerged were positive changes around: self-confidence, self-agency, sense of purpose/meaning, body positivity, improved communication and personal/family relationships and, forgiveness. The intervention also transferred a set of practical skills on self-inquiry, mindfulness, meditation and creativity that continued to be used in participants' daily lives.

Conclusion

The Wakakosha intervention, using IBSR supported by music, creativity, writing and mindfulness techniques, showed potential for reducing self-stigma and improving self-worth among AYPLHIV. It also transferred practical skills to intervention participants and peer coaches, building their capacity to support others and deal with life challenges beyond HIV. The next phase is to continue supporting the young people to ensure fidelity as the peer coaches deliver the intervention to others. Study results indicate that culturally and practically, interventions to reduce self-stigma and/or improve self-worth operate at various levels and need to be designed and assessed at each level.

Meaning in life as a protective factor against depression

The main objective of this study was to analyze the mediating role that meaning in life has between emotion dysregulation and depressive symptomatology in Spanish university students. Five hundred and sixty-six Spanish university students participated in the study. All of them completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Purpose in Life Test (PIL-10). A mediation model was performed to test the hypothesis that meaning in life mediates the effect of emotional dysregulation on depressive symptomatology in college students. The results show a positive, moderate, and statistically significant correlation between depression and emotional dysregulation. In addition, a negative, moderate, and statistically significant correlation was found between depression and meaning in life, and a negative, small, and statistically significant correlation between emotional dysregulation and meaning in life. Finally, the results of the mediation model evidence the role of meaning in life in different emotional dysregulation strategies and depressive symptomatology. These findings suggest the importance of incorporating the meaning in life variable in the development and implementation of prevention and treatment programs for psychological disorders.

Meaning Making Mechanisms in Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a complex and prevalent problem with devastating long-term consequences for survivors. Despite these consequences, some survivors seem to find a source of meaning and fulfillment throughout their recovery process, which may facilitate resilience and posttraumatic growth (PTG). However, little is known from the literature about the specific meaning making mechanisms that CSA survivors experience. A scoping review was conducted by searching relevant journals and several online databases such as EbscoHost, Scopus, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Studies published in English and that discussed meaning making as a topic of recovery from CSA in the context of women survivors' experiences were included, where a total of 57 articles were selected including qualitative (n = 32), quantitative (n = 9), mixed method (n = 9), and review (n = 7) articles. Using thematic analysis, the results of the scoping review found four mechanisms of meaning making and seven sources of meaning describing the meaning making processes of women survivors of CSA. The mechanisms were identified as being benevolent; restoring and empowering the inner self; mobilizing external and social resources; and lastly actively integrating the trauma narrative. This study contributes toward the global knowledge base on meaning making mechanisms of women survivors of CSA by providing the first known summary of studies to date. Future research is recommended to further confirm these findings to inform treatment interventions for women survivors of CSA.

Varieties of suffering in the clinical setting: re-envisioning mental health beyond the medical model

In this paper, we argue for the need to rethink mental health beyond the medical model because much of human suffering cannot be diagnosed by the DSM-5. During the pandemic and post-pandemic, people have learned to accept the fact that no one is immune from suffering. Given the universality and complexity of human suffering, it is natural for people to wrestle with existential questions such as "Why struggle when all life end in death?" and "How can one flourish when life is so hard?" Existential positive psychology (EPP or PP2.0) was developed to address these existential concerns. After explaining the inherent limitations of the medical model and the need for EPP as an alternative vision for mental health, we provide illustrative clinical cases to demonstrate the advantages of this broader existential framework for both case conceptualization and interventions. According to EPP, mental illness is reconceptualized as both deficiency in knowledge and skills in coping with the demands of life and deficiency in meeting the basic needs for livelihood and mental health, the Soul's yearnings for faith, hope, and love. Finally, we introduce integrative meaning therapy as a therapeutic framework which can equip people with the needed skills to achieve healing, wholeness, and total wellbeing.

Martin Buber: guide for a psychology of suffering

Martin Buber was untrained in psychology, yet his teaching provides helpful guidance for a psychological science of suffering. His ideas deserve attention at three distinct levels. For each of these, his ideas align with research findings, but also push beyond them. At the individual level, Buber's radical approach to relationships disrupts typical social cognitive cycles of suffering and can thereby build a defense against suffering. At the community level, he provides guidance that can help create a society that cares for people who suffer. At the dyadic level, Buber's guidance also matters. His ideas point toward a therapeutic dyad that can help address suffering when the individual and community responses are not sufficient. Specifically, he guides us toward a holistic view of the person that transcends labels and also toward ineffable human relations. Here again, his ideas align with empirical research, but push beyond. Buber's unique take on relationships has much to offer scholars seeking to understand and alleviate suffering. Some might perceive Buber as ignoring evil. That possible criticism and others deserve consideration. Nonetheless, readiness to adjust theory in response to Buber and other psychological outsiders may be valuable when developing a psychology of suffering.

Brief self-affirmation intervention for adults with psoriasis for reducing anxiety and depression and boosting well-being: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

There are relatively few studies to address mental health implications of self-affirming, especially across groups experiencing a chronic health condition. In this study, short- and longer-term effects of a brief self-affirmation intervention framed in terms of implementation intentions (if-then plans with self-affirming cognitions; S-AII) were evaluated against an active control group (non-affirming implementation intentions; N-AII), matched to the target condition, and mere goal intention condition (a non-active control) in adults with psoriasis. The three pre-registered primary outcomes captured depression, anxiety, and well-being.

METHODS

Adults with psoriasis (N = 175; M_age = 36.53, s.d. = 11.52) were randomized into S-AII, N-AII, or control. Participants' mental health outcomes were assessed prior to randomization (at baseline), at week 2 (post-intervention), and at a 1-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Linear mixed models were used and results were reported on the intention-to-treat principle. Analyses revealed that S-AII exerted significantly more improvement in the course of well-being (ds > 0.25), depressive symptoms (ds > -0.40), and anxiety (ds > -0.45) than the N-AII and control group at 2-week post-intervention. Though the differences between groups faded at 1-month follow-up, the within-group changes over time for S-AII in all mental health outcomes remained significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Brief and low-intensity S-AII intervention exerted in the short-term a considerable impact on mental health outcomes. The S-AII shows promising results as a relevant public mental health strategy for enhancing well-being and reducing psychological distress. Future studies could consider whether these effects can be further enhanced with booster interventions.

The Mental Illness-Health Matrix and the Mental State Space Matrix: Complementary meta-conceptual frameworks for evaluating psychological states

OBJECTIVE

It is increasingly appreciated that mental health may not just involve a relative absence of mental illness, but the active presence of positive psychological desiderata. However, research attention on mental illness and health has tended to remain siloed and disconnected-proceeding along parallel tracks-with their potential relationship underexplored and undertheorized. As such, we sought to develop theoretical models to help us better understand the interaction of these two domains of experience.

METHODS

Through extensive engagement with relevant literature, we created two complementary meta-conceptual frameworks to represent and evaluate states of mental illness and health.

RESULTS

The Mental Illness-Health Matrix allows different forms of mental illness and health to be situated and assessed within a common framework. The Mental State Space Matrix further enables these various forms to be conceptualized and appraised in terms of numerous common parameters (e.g., valence and arousal).

CONCLUSION

It is hoped that these frameworks will stimulate and support further research on the inter-relational dynamics of illness and health. Indeed, the matrices themselves are provisional works-in-progress, with their articulation here intended as a foundation for their further development as understanding of these topics evolves and improves.

A comparative study of well-being, resilience, mindfulness, negative emotions, stress, and burnout among nurses after an online mind–body based intervention during the first COVID-19 pandemic crisis

Background

To mitigate against the possible adverse effects of stress among nurses due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we designed a 12-week mind–body based online intervention program to promote well-being and prevent stress-related disorders such as burnout. Our study aimed to compare the impact of the intervention on perception of stress, negative emotions, burnout, mindfulness, resilience, and well-being at pretest and 6 months post-intervention and to compare the effect among nurses working at two different hospitals.

Methods

We conducted an uncontrolled trial using a convenience sample of nurses working at two hospitals in Mexico: one designated to treat confirmed COVID-19 patients (COVID-hospital) and the other whose patients had a negative COVID-19 test on admission (Non COVID-hospital). The 12 week online intervention consisted of 36 mind–body based micropractices, with subjective well-being as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were health perception, resilience, mindfulness, negative emotions, stress, and burnout.

Results

A pretest survey was completed by 643 nurses. Of the remaining valid responses, 82% were women, with a mean age of 34.8 (SD = 8.95) years old. For the analysis two groups of nurses were sampled by cluster: a COVID-hospital group of 429 (67%) nurses, and a non-COVID Hospital group of 214 (33%) nurses. The proportion lost to follow-up was 71% at postest (n = 188) and 42% at 6 months follow-up (n = 371). At pretest, non-COVID hospital nurses had lower subjective well-being and higher burnout than their COVID hospital counterparts. At postest, non-COVID hospital nurses displayed more negative emotions than their COVID hospital peers. At 6 months post-intervention, nurses experienced improved mindfulness, reduced negative emotions and stress, but a decrease in subjective well-being and resilience. Nurses working at the non-COVID hospital had significantly higher mean scores for burnout than those working at the COVID hospital.

Conclusion

The results of our study suggest that our online mind–body interventions can help to reduce stress and negative emotions, yet the effects on subjective well-being and resilience are uncertain. Further research is needed to gain a better understanding of their potential mechanisms and the associated efforts of such online interventions.

Clinical Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05515172.

Anxious, Depressed, and Suicidal: Crisis Narratives in University Student Mental Health and the Need for a Balanced Approach to Student Wellness

There is growing global awareness of the poor mental health of university students, as well as the need to improve students' access to services and expand the range of available evidence-based interventions. However, a crisis narrative is emerging, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that runs the risk of positioning all students as potential patients in need of formal psychiatric interventions. Our aim in this commentary is to critically present the evidence that supports increased attention to student mental health, while also raising a concern that the crisis narrative may itself have unintended harmful consequences. We highlight some of the potential dangers of overtly medicalizing and thus pathologizing students' experiences of everyday distress, inadequacies of formal diagnostic categories, limitations of focusing narrowly on psychotherapeutic and psychiatric interventions, and the short-sightedness of downplaying key social determinants of students' distress. We argue for an integrative and balanced public health approach that draws on the rigor of psychiatric epidemiology and the advances that have been made to identify evidence-based interventions for students, while simultaneously being mindful of the shortcomings and potential dangers of working narrowly within the paradigm of diagnostic labels and psychotherapeutic interventions.

Toward an Expanded Taxonomy of Happiness: A Conceptual Analysis of 16 Distinct Forms of Mental Wellbeing

Recent decades have seen a surge of scientific interest in happiness. However, its theoretical conceptualization is a work in progress. Much of the literature focuses on two main forms: hedonic (encompassing life satisfaction and positive affect) and eudaimonic (encompassing phenomena such as character development and meaning in life). However, this binary has been critiqued as being incomplete, in part because it reflects a Western-centric perspective that overlooks forms emphasized in non-Western cultures. As a result, scholars have begun to highlight other forms besides hedonia and eudaimonia. This article surveys the literature to identify 16 potential forms in total, classified according to whether they primarily pertain to feelings (hedonic, contented, mature, chaironic, and vital), thought (evaluative, meaningful, intellective, aesthetic, and absorbed) or action (eudaimonic, masterful, accomplished, harmonic, nirvanic, and relational). This article thus offers a more expansive, albeit still just provisional, taxonomy of this vital and still-evolving topic.

Cross-Cultural Psychometric Analysis of the Mature Happiness Scale-Revised: Mature Happiness, Psychological Inflexibility, and the PERMA Model

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Mature Happiness Scale, a measure focused on inner harmony. Mature happiness is achieved when a person can live in balance between both positive and negative aspects of their life. A total sample of 2,130 participants from five countries (Canada: n = 390, United States: n = 223, United Kingdom: n = 512, Spain: n = 724, and Hungary: n = 281) responded to an online survey including the original Mature Happiness Scale, the PERMA-Profiler, and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a one-factor solution with seven positive items (non-reversed). We called this new version of the questionnaire the Mature Happiness Scale-Revised (MHS-R). Measurement invariance was found across countries, age groups, gender, and mental disorder diagnosis. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high. Older people, males, and people without a mental disorder diagnosis scored higher in mature happiness than younger ones, females, and those with a mental health disorder diagnosis, respectively. Mature happiness showed strong positive associations with various subscales of the PERMA-Profiler, specifically with positive emotions and meaning in life. In addition, mature happiness was strongly correlated with less negative affect and inner conflict and lower psychological inflexibility, whereas it was moderately correlated with lower loneliness. This validity evidence supports the cross-cultural use of the MHS-R in the aforementioned countries to reliably measure happiness among adults. With its holistic approach, the MHS-R may be a unique complement to other well-being measures, particularly to better predict mental health problems.

A qualitative study of positive psychological experiences and helpful coping behaviours among young people and older adults in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic

While much research has focused on challenges that younger and older people have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to the capacity for resilience among these groups. We therefore explored positive psychological experiences and coping behaviours that protected mental health and well-being. Participants were 40 young people (aged 13-24) and 28 older adults (aged 70+) living in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were held between May 2020 and January 2021. We generated six themes using qualitative thematic analysis, including: engagement in self-fulfilling activities, increased sense of social cohesion, personal growth, use of problem-focused strategies to manage pandemic-related stressors, giving and receiving social and community support, and utilising strategies to regulate thoughts and emotions. While all six themes were relevant both to younger and older adults, there were nuances in how each was experienced and enacted. For example, many older adults adjusted their routines given worries about virus vulnerability, while some young people experienced greater personal growth amidst increased awareness of mental health as they navigated the various lockdown restrictions.

Suffering and happiness in Turkish folk poetry in the context of positive psychology: The examples of Asik Mahzuni Serif and Neset Ertas

The widespread adoption of positive psychology at the beginning of the century has fortified the scholarly foundations of "happiness." Thus, researchers have focused on "happiness" rather than "suffering" in boosting the joy of life within positive psychology, aiming for individuals to achieve peace with themselves and society. With the developments in positive psychology, over recent years, the idea of integrating both positive and negative aspects of human nature to build a better life for oneself and others has contributed to the rise of second-wave positive psychology (PP 2.0). The present study aimed to explore suffering and happiness in Turkish folk culture through a sample of poems by Asik Mahzuni Serif and Neset Ertas. The study results indicated that suffering-themed concepts were mentioned more than happiness-themed concepts. Within the theme of suffering, the world was the most frequently mentioned concept in Mahzuni's works. He emphasizes in his works that the world is the source of many sufferings. In Ertas's poems, moreover, love was found to be the most frequently mentioned suffering-themed concept. Ertas considers love to be the most significant source of suffering. It was also determined that while separation is the least used concept in the theme of suffering in Mahzuni's verses, it is never mentioned in Ertas's poems. Other concepts pointing to the theme of suffering are poverty, ignorance, longing, death, and slavery. We found that the theme of happiness is mentioned much less frequently than the theme of suffering. While the most used happiness-themed concept is misery/remedy, in Mahzuni's words, love is cited in Ertas's poems. Expressing the view that suffering can be an opportunity for people, Mahzuni emphasizes in his poems that people can grow by learning lessons from their suffering. Ertas, moreover, sees love as the most important source of happiness. The other concepts referencing happiness in the poems were friend, mother, soft answer, and spring. Overall, the results suggest that suffering is an important source of building resilience, which, in turn, can produce happiness. People can grow with the help of the experience of suffering so that this experience can contribute to their flourishing.

The positive psychology of challenge: Towards interdisciplinary studies of activities and processes involving challenges

Activities and processes involving challenges are a natural part of life for most people and are highlighted in times of rapid change and global issues. This article argues that more studies around activities and processes involving challenges should be conducted with a focus on the concept of challenge in the context of well-being and optimal functioning. The concept of challenge is important because it is explicitly embedded in many major themes of positive psychology and can be a key concept in creating perspectives and frameworks to connect and integrate multiple elements in positive psychology to promote advancements in the field. Studying activities and processes involving challenges is also important from the perspective of dialectically integrating the positive and negative elements encompassed in the concept of challenge. The article also proposes to label activities and processes involving challenges as "challengership" and that an interdisciplinary area to study "challengership" (named "challengership studies") should be created, which can collaborate with positive psychology for mutual development. The positive psychology of challenge/challengership is likely to provide opportunities for further advancement of positive psychology by creating more integrated knowledge of how to flourish when faced with challenges individually and collectively. The knowledge created in these areas can also be applied to education, coaching, and training at schools and organizations to meet the needs of the times, where skills of challengership should be considered trainable.

Accelerating the science and practice of psychology beyond WEIRD biases: Enriching the landscape through Asian psychology

More than a decade has passed since major concerns emerged about the WEIRD-centric focus of mainstream psychological science. Since then, many calls have been made for the discipline of psychology (and other disciplines within the social sciences) to become more broadly representative of the human species. However, recent evidence suggests that progress toward improving the inclusivity and generalizability of psychological science has been slow, and that the dominance of WEIRD psychology has persisted. To build a more comprehensive psychological science that truly represents the global population, we need strategies that can facilitate more rapid expansion of empirical evidence in psychology beyond WEIRD biases. In this paper, we draw on several examples (i.e., non-duality and dialectical interaction, Wu-Wei, Zhong Yong) to illustrate how principles of Asian psychology could contribute to reshaping mainstream psychology. We discuss some strategies for advancing a global psychological science, along with some complementary practical suggestions that could enrich the WEIRD-centric landscape of current psychological science.

Going within, between and beyond: An exploration of regular Ashtanga Yoga practitioners' conceptualizations of five dimensions of wellbeing

Yoga is an embodied practice underpinned by philosophical elements, seeking to evolve different dimensions of human existence for optimal functioning in relation to oneself, others and beyond. This mixed-methods research focused on 137 regular Ashtanga Yoga practitioners (AYPs) by investigating their conceptualizations of five dimensions of wellbeing (i.e., physical, emotional, psychological, social, spiritual). Conceptualizations were analysed through word count analysis and Reflexive Thematic Analysis separately for each dimension, yielding four themes in each case, which partly aligned with existing wellbeing and yoga models, and partly extended on the existing literature. Further higher level analysis identified shared meanings across these five dimensions, expressed in themes grouped within five topics (i.e., freedom from and managing suffering, a positive and integrated sense of self, a sense of equanimity and steadiness, the self in relation to others and the world, meta-awareness). Furthermore, it also portrayed each dimension as multileveled, represented in three levels of human functioning. The foundational level encompassed the absence and managing suffering, representing functioning in coping and recovery mode. The optimal functioning level included a positive and integrated sense of self, a sense of equanimity and steadiness, and the self in relation to others and the world, representing functioning in personal development and growth mode. The contemplative and transcendental level involved meta-awareness in every dimension of wellbeing, representing functioning in transpersonal mode. As a result, we propose a preliminary model informed both by this empirical work and previous theories. While the continuousness of themes across dimensions reinforces the importance of embodiment and transcendence in wellbeing frameworks, the notion of the self as a multi-level system could be further explored in relation to knowing about and cultivating wellbeing.

Psychometric Validation and Environmental Psychological Correlates of the Light Triad Traits

Abstract. The Light Triad Scale (LTS) measures the concept of the Light Triad, which was conceptualized as personality traits that reflect a person’s loving and beneficent orientation toward others, consisting of Faith in Humanity, Humanism, and Kantianism. As a novel construct, the Light Triad has yet to establish its structural validity in non-Western countries and needs to demonstrate its association with environmental psychology constructs. This study aims to: (1) examine the structural and criterion validity of the LTS in the Philippines and (2) determine the influence of the Light Triad on environmental concerns and green purchase intentions. Data were collected through an online survey completed by 447 Filipino adolescents. Comparing three models (i.e., one-factor, two-factor, and intercorrelated three-factor models), the present findings corroborated the original model which proposed an intercorrelated three-factor model of the LTS. The LTS demonstrated criterion validity by establishing correlations with relevant measures of environmental psychological constructs. Additionally, path analysis showed that Humanism and Kantianism predicted green purchase intentions via an increase in environmental concern. Measurement and conceptual strengths, future directions, and limitations are discussed.

Suffering, authenticity, and meaning in life: Toward an integrated conceptualization of well-being

Most conceptions of well-being either ignore suffering or assume an ideal version of human life in which suffering would be eliminated. This trend is especially emblematic of positive psychology. Recent research on well-being indicates a mediating function of meaning in life between suffering and well-being demonstrating that making sense of past experiences is significantly correlated with high presence of meaning in life. Hence, meaning-making serves the role of an active coping mechanism that alleviates suffering. This and related strategies of defining, measuring, and augmenting well-being however overlook a form of suffering that is ineliminable and in fact essential to personal growth. In this paper the insights of the existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard are developed to formulate an integrated conceptualization of well-being that regards "negative" affects as crucial for a rich and complete life. The complexity of the relationship between meaning in life, suffering, and authenticity concerning well-being are discussed. A synthetic perspective on the subjective dimension of the experience of suffering and on the objective nature of human limitations that often cause suffering is discussed in relation to the notions of meaning in life and authenticity. Finally, an integrated conceptualization of well-being is posited. It entails suffering as constitutive of meaning in life and authenticity, which are key components of a well-lived life.

Association between Workplace Violence and Depressive Symptoms among Primary Healthcare Professionals in Shandong, China: Meaning in Life as a Moderator

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence (WPV) is common in healthcare settings. However, the association between WPV and depressive symptoms has not been explored among primary healthcare professionals, especially in China. The assumption of the moderating effort of meaning in life on the association has also not been tested. The purposes of the study are to investigate the relationship between WPV and depressive symptoms and identify the moderating role of meaning in life among primary healthcare professionals in China.

METHODS

In this study, we collected 2530 valid questionnaires. The participants were composed of primary healthcare professionals in Shandong province, China. WPV, meaning in life (including presence of life and search for life), depressive symptoms, and some social-demographic variables were evaluated. The SPSS macro was used to build the moderating relationship.

RESULTS

WPV was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (β = 9.09, p < 0.001), and meaning in life was negatively associated with WPV and depressive symptoms (β = -0.13, p < 0.05) among primary healthcare professionals in China. For primary healthcare professionals with low presence of life, presence of life aggravated the relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study has verified the association between WPV and meaning in life, and the relationship between WPV and depressive symptoms has been supported among primary healthcare professionals in China. Meaning in life and presence of life as moderators play crucial roles in the relationship between WPV and depressive symptoms.

Measuring child coping in times of societal crises: Pilot development, reliability, as well as mental health and meaning mindset convergent validity of the children’s crisis coping scale (3Cs)

To date, there are no brief child self-report coping measures for the pandemic and other major societal events resulting in social or learning disruptions for children. Ignoring the voice of children can ultimately result in programs or services that fail to meet their needs. Thus, a child self-report measure called the 3Cs (Children’s Crisis Coping) was developed and underwent pilot evaluation. This measure was designed in collaboration with key stakeholders using a Knowledge Translation-Integrated development framework. Some of the primary concerns that were relevant in the literature for the development of a pandemic coping measure included stress, worries, loneliness, and unpredictable school changes. The completed 4-item measure, grounded in these concerns, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, as well as convergent validity with mental health and meaning mindset. A Second Wave Positive Psychology framework is presented concerning a spiritual concept called “meaning mindset” and it’s association with positive societal crisis coping (i.e., pandemic coping in the present study).

The fear of COVID-19 and flourishing: the mediating role of search for meaning and presence of meaning

Past researches have found that sense of control and meaning in life can act as a protective factor against fear of COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined whether the search for meaning and the presence of meaning could mediate the link between fear of COVID-19 and flourishing. A total of 312 Iranians who were identified by snowball sampling were recruited as the subjects of the cross-sectional study. The participants gave their consent to complete the Meaning in Life Scale, Flourishing Scale, and Fear of COVID-19 Scale. The findings demonstrated that fear of COVID-19 had a significant direct effect on flourishing. The presence meaning was positively and significantly connected with flourishing and the search for meaning. Both the search for - and the presence - of meaning were negatively and significantly linked with fear of COVID-19. Mediation analysis demonstrated that a presence of meaning is a protective factor for flourishing, but the search for meaning can be detrimental to flourishing. As a result, it may be worthwhile to conduct longitudinal research to track how the effects of the presence of meaning and the search for meaning vary over time. The study calls on mental health providers to take into account how the presence of meaning might lessen the negative impacts of fear in crisis situations and promote flourishing.

The Garden and the Orchestra: Generative Metaphors for Conceptualizing the Complexities of Well-Being

Our understanding of well-being, and related concepts such as health and flourishing, is shaped by the metaphors through which we think about such ideas. Current dominant metaphors-including a pyramid, ladder, and continuum-all have various issues. As such, this paper offers two other metaphors which can better do justice to the nuanced complexities of these notions, namely, a garden and an orchestra. Through these metaphors, this paper articulates a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing and appreciating the nature of well-being (and associated concepts), which it is hoped will generate further insights and research into these valued and sought-after phenomena.

Meaning in life among Chinese undergraduate students in the post-epidemic period: A qualitative interview study

Background

COVID-19 epidemic has lasted for nearly 3 years, and revolutionized social life. In the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with Chinese undergraduate students to explore their understanding and experience of meaning in life. Meaning of life is interpreted from four aspects: life goals, life value, life enthusiasm, and life freedom. These four aspects are independent yet interrelated. Based on the free grasp of life, individuals explore and pursue the true meaning of life goals, acquire life value in evaluating the completion of life goals, and subsequently experience enthusiasm for life. Life enthusiasm and the perception of life value can help individuals to further understand and possess their meaning of life.

Materials and methods

The present study adopts the qualitative method to understand the experience of meaning in life among Chinese undergraduate students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and six people participated the study. The Grounded Theory was adopted to analyze the qualitative data.

Results

(1) Chinese undergraduates had clear life goals and obtained a certain sense of achievement and satisfaction when striving for these goals. (2) The life value of Chinese undergraduates was mainly to their families, but there was also a willingness to make due contributions to the country and society. (3) Chinese undergraduates' feelings about life were polarized, but they all expressed the view of "living in the moment and cherishing the present." (4) Chinese undergraduate students see life freedom as freedom of choice and generally believed that COVID-19 did not restrict their lives very much. (5) Chinese undergraduate students gained a deeper understanding of meaning in life after this major public health emergency.

Self-Compassion and Authentic-Durable Happiness During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Meaning of Life and the Moderating Role of COVID-19 Burnout

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS

Self-compassion is important for authentic-durable happiness, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the potential complexity of effects, this study sought to explore (a) the mediating role of meaning of life in the association between self-compassion and authentic-durable happiness and (b) the moderating role of COVID-19 burnout in the relationship between self-compassion and meaning of life.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey study in China from February 1 to 14, 2021. Online survey questionnaire technique and convenience sampling method were used for data collection. Participants anonymously completed the measures of self-compassion scale short form, COVID-19 burnout scale, meaning in life questionnaire, and subjective authentic-durable happiness scale. The data were examined utilizing Pearson's r correlations and moderated mediation analysis.

RESULTS

This study included 1165 Chinese college students (Mage = 19.68 years, SD = 1.37). Self-compassion (M = 3.39, SD = 0.49) was significantly positively associated with authentic-durable happiness (M = 3.82, SD = 0.66) (r = 0.45, p < 0.001), and mediation analyses indicated that meaning of life (M = 4.65, SD = 0.86) partially mediated this association (indirect effect = 0.103, SE = 0.016, 95% CI = [0.073, 0.135]). Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that COVID-19 burnout (M = 1.87, SD = 0.72) buffered the relation between self-compassion and meaning of life (β = -0.05, p < 0.033).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Findings of this study shed light on a correlation between self-compassion and authentic-durable happiness. In addition, this study underlines the importance of intervening in COVID-19 burnout among college students and enhancing the meaning of life in order to promote and safeguard authentic-durable happiness in the setting of COVID-19.

Generation Y medical doctors’ experiences of a positive psychology 2.0 intervention for burnout in a South African public hospital

The aim of the research was to explore experiences of a Positive Psychology 2.0 (PP2.0) intervention for burnout among Generation Y medical doctors working in a South African public hospital. The emphasis was on the potential benefits and recommended intervention amendments in a specific cultural context of South Africa. A phenomenological approach was followed in the collective case study. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered in phases I and III to quantify the level of burnout. This study offers findings that could be incorporated into a bigger burnout intervention strategy in the South African public hospital, involving all stakeholders to ensure that burnout is combatted on a long-term basis. Furthermore, the findings emphasized certain culture-specific structural issues and the impact that the neglection of burnout has on newly qualified medical doctors working in a South African public hospital and patients in their care. Certain recommendations were made for the South African public hospital for future research in PP2.0 interventions and for facilitators working with burnout among newly qualified medical doctors.

Integrating positive psychology and spirituality in the context of climate change

In the context of climate change and its accompanying impact on stress and mental health, we argue that positive psychology (PP) may benefit from an integration of spirituality to better support people’s wellbeing. Starting with an overview of climate change’s impact on wellbeing and health, we explore the paradoxical and complex relationship between humans and nature. Following which, we will briefly define spirituality and present an evocative metaphor of the wave to portray the evolution of the field of PP. In our conclusive remarks, we argue that the field of PP has gradually become more open to integrate spirituality (since the first wave), as it evolves towards greater complexity (in its third wave). In addition to meaning, some spiritual perspectives potentially relevant to positive psychology facilitate an ecocentric view (i.e., eco-spiritualities) which allow for a better understanding of the paradoxical human-nature relationship, as we struggle to deal with the complex issues related to climate change.

Existential Positive Psychology (EPP): A Positive Tool for Healing Existential Anxieties in South Africa during, and after, the COVID-19 Pandemic

Globally, humanity is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, we question our individual, and collective, behaviours. Long periods of lockdown and ever-escalating death rates have found people asking questions such as "What is the point of carrying on?" This is exacerbated by the world's burgeoning ecological crisis. Humanity is beginning to wonder if it belongs on the planet when its footprint has caused such rampant destruction to forests, oceans, the animal kingdom, and other ecological entities. Existential positive psychology (EPP) seeks to uncover truths about humankind's existence, survival, and, thus, meaning in life. We, as people, need to make sense of our reason for being as we struggle with our anxieties and seek to become authentic. This discussion paper contends that EPP can help humanity find the courage to challenge, and heal, its existential anxieties, namely, death, isolation, freedom, and meaningless, in order to find individual and group identities, as well as overall mental wellness (or happiness), specifically in a South African context, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The writings of Wong, who works within the framework of EPP, and those of Frankl, a holocaust survivor, whose work falls within the scope of humanistic and existential psychology and Asante's Afrocentrism, which is a philosophical framework grounded on the African continent, are used to support this argument.

Context matters: Sociocultural considerations in the design and implementation of community-based positive psychology interventions in sub-Saharan Africa

Scholars conducting cross-cultural research in mental health often import intervention programs found to be efficacious in one social context (e.g., Western) and directly implement them in other contexts (e.g., African and Asian) without recourse to the sociocultural disparities between the target populations and the theoretical foundations of the constructs and principles underpinning the intervention programs. Such efforts mistakenly assume that positive psychology interventions (PPIs), most of which were developed from Western perspectives and assumed individualistic cultural orientation and value systems, operate equally across all contexts. Drawing on the extant literature and on insights from designing, implementing, and evaluating group-based (mental) health behavior change intervention programs across several communities in Ghana, we discuss some sociocultural, theoretical, and methodological issues that can significantly constrain the design, uptake, and effectiveness of PPIs in the rural, low literate, socioeconomically disadvantaged, highly collectivistic context of Ghana, and sub-Saharan Africa more generally. In all illustrations, we offer suggestions to guide the design and implementation processes to ensure culturally appropriate, highly acceptable, and potentially effective intervention programs. We argue that PPIs can be potentially fructuous in the sub-region when adapted to, or embedded in, the cultural values of the target population and tailored to the needs, capacities, and circumstances of participants.

Striving for Personal Perfection: Rudolf Allers's Psycho-Ethic-Metaphysical Approach to Character and Self-Improvement

The Viennese psychiatrist Rudolf Allers was one of the principal authors that studied character and contributed to understanding its development and education, including the neurotic character. His psychological observations were based on his own clinical experience, his individual psychology, phenomenological and existential philosophies, and, above all, the doctrine of the Fathers of the Catholic Church and Thomas Aquinas. This paper presents Allers's main ideas about self-improvement as a process of personal changing toward self-perfection, that is, toward the best version of oneself. For Allers, self-perfection implies the modification of insane aspects of character such as egocentricity, pride, and untidy love for oneself, which are the most important impediments to self-improvement.

A Narrative Review of Peer-Led Positive Psychology Interventions: Current Evidence, Potential, and Future Directions

Positive psychology interventions are an effective means for cultivating flourishing, addressing low levels of wellbeing, and preventing languishing. Peer-led interventions can be a particularly advantageous delivery method of positive psychology interventions, as participants tend to respond more favourably to people that they can identify with personally. Such interventions have been applied in a variety of settings and populations, but the literature on peer-led positive psychology interventions has not yet been summarised. This paper provides a narrative overview of peer-led positive psychology interventions. We reviewed relevant peer-led interventions, assessed the available evidence on their effectiveness, and highlighted promising opportunities for peer-led positive psychology interventions. We found that the majority of the studies were observational in design but showed a high level of acceptability for participants across the reviewed domains. In particular, schools, workplaces, the aged care sector, and community settings are noted as promising target domains for these interventions. However, more studies—particularly high-quality research—will be needed to comprehensively test the effectiveness of peer-led positive psychology interventions. We discuss opportunities for future research in this field.

Measuring Positive Mental Health and Depression in Africa: A Variable-Based and Person-Centred Analysis of the Dual-Continua Model

The dual-continua model of mental health provides a contemporary framework for conceptualising and operationalising mental health. According to this model, mental health is distinct from but related to mental illness, and not the opposite or merely the absence of psychopathology symptoms. To examine the validity of the dual-continua model, previous studies have either applied variable-based analysis such as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), or used predetermined cut-off points for subgroup division. The present study extends this contribution by subjecting data from an African sample to both CFA and latent class analysis (LCA) to test the dual-continua model in Africa. We applied CFA separately for the Mental Health Continuum—Short Form (MHC-SF) and Patient Health Questionnaire—9 (PHQ-9); and LCA on combined item responses. College students (N = 892; average age = 22.74, SD = 4.92; female = 58%) from Ghana (n = 309), Kenya (n = 262), Mozambique (n = 232), and South Africa (n = 89) completed the MHC-SF and PHQ-9. With minor modifications to the measurement models, the CFA results of this study confirm the three-factor structure of the MHC-SF, and a unidimensional solution for the PHQ-9. LCA results show the presence of three distinct latent classes: languishing with moderate endorsement of depressive symptoms (25.9%), flourishing with low endorsement of depressive symptoms (63.7%), and moderate mental health with high endorsement of depressive symptoms (10.4%). These findings further contribute to affirming the evidence for the dual-continua model of mental health, with implications for the assessment of mental health, to inform policy, practise, and future research in community and clinical settings in Africa.

Savoring Interventions Increase Positive Emotions After a Social-Evaluative Hassle

Achieving a high quality of life is dependent upon how individuals face adversity. Positive psychological interventions are well-suited to support coping efforts; however, experimental research is limited. The purpose of the current research was to examine whether different savoring interventions could increase important coping resources (i.e., positive emotions) in response to a social-evaluative hassle. We completed an experimental mixed subject design study with a university student sample. All participants completed a hassle induction task and were then randomly assigned into different intervention groups. Positive emotion ratings were collected at three points in time (baseline, post-induction task, post-intervention). Results revealed a significant time x intervention interaction effect, such that individuals in the savoring the moment intervention reported higher levels of positive emotions (at post-intervention) compared to individuals assigned to the true control group, guided imagery control group, and savoring through reminiscence intervention. Such findings represent a significant extension to savoring theory and offer support for savoring the moment exercises as a primary prevention strategy to bolster effective responses to social-evaluative hassles.

Positive Psychology: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Envisioning the future of positive psychology (PP) requires looking at its past. To that end, I first review prior critiques of PP to underscore that certain early problems have persisted over time. I then selectively examine recent research to illustrate progress in certain areas as well as draw attention to recurrent problems. Key among them is promulgation of poorly constructed measures of well-being and reliance on homogeneous, privileged research samples. Another concern is the commercialization of PP, which points to the need for greater oversight and quality control in profit-seeking endeavors. Looking ahead, I advocate for future science tied to contemporary challenges, particularly ever-widening inequality and the pandemic. These constitute intersecting catastrophes that need scientific attention. Such problems bring into focus "neglected negatives" that may be fueling current difficulties, including greed, indifference, and stupidity. Anger, which defies easy characterization as positive or negative, also warrants greater scientific study. Going forward I advocate for greater study of domains that likely nurture good lives and just societies - namely, participation in the arts and encounters with nature, both currently under study. Overall, my entreaty to PP is to reckon with persistent problems from its past, while striving toward a future that is societally relevant and virtuous.