Positive psychology has been an issue of concern to the majority of psychologists who believe it guides individuals as well as the community and help them strive for meaningful and fulfilling lives. Positive psychology as a study tends to reveal the strengths and virtues of individuals within a society that can help them live a happy life. To live a purposeful and happy life, psychologists find it more important for individuals to have a positive thinking in whatever they do. In order to ensure the achievement of positive psychology, psychologists find the application of its available principles more crucial. The positive thinking an individual has towards work helps greatly to improve his or her performance in the work. Happiness as well nurtures people’s relationship in relation to others and help develop the social support they can get from one another. A collection of people who are happily working together makes the work appear friendly to everyone who is involved in the work and may be ready to perform best to his or her ability. As many psychologists tend to believe happiness is just obvious, and it just comes naturally, Csikszentmihalyi comes out strongly to challenge their mentality.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, happiness does not simply come; instead, it is prepared and cultivated by setting objectives that are achievable (Csikszentmihalyi). He viewed happiness as a measurable phenomenon and is possible to gauge how much an individual is interested with a particular event. Contrary to Csikszentmihalyi, Crotchety believes happiness is a continuous process that each and every human being struggles for (Critchley). According to him, happiness revolves around pleasure, love, community, as well as truth. He believes that one does not just become happy naturally. It is a continuous process that one gains according to how he or she relates to the people around him or her. The second principle to achieving positive psychology is on how people perceive events in their surrounding environment. The potential of each and everyone in the community is realized when they come out to perform to the best of their ability. Setting the mind in the right direction will greatly ensure a person achieves more and to the best of his/her ability. The way one views the surrounding, can help him/her achieve the best by taking care of the knowledge the surrounding has impacted on him/her. Another core principle of positive psychology is the mindset. How we train our minds and look at opportunities determines how successful we can be. Opportunities are achievable when they are taken in a positive manner. In order to achieve great successes, it would be of much importance for one to be happy and optimistic about any opportunity that comes across. People around us are motivational in helping us capitalize on the available opportunities. How we handle a crisis that we come across is also another fundamental principle(Kendra). We should never allow emotions to take control of whatever we do. One should not be very excited with all that he or she has achieved; instead, one should be ambitious to achieve even better things. Learning how to handle different threats that come our way is the best method to bring about success in whatever one does. Starting from the lowest possible level is also a principle of great importance. One should never be over ambitious; instead, be willing to start from the lowest possible level. The lower levels help build a habit that would always lead to greater positions that one has admired to reach.
Despite the several approaches laid down by different scholars to achieve positive psychology, the exercise experiences a number of criticisms regarding its weaknesses. A number of people feel that it is never possible to buy happiness to individuals. As much as some people would feel happy when they are paid for a particular work they have done, the money paid to them would not necessarily buy the happiness. Instead, they just feel comfortable and relaxed when they have got money. Another criticism is based on the collective perspective of happiness. As much as a group of people working together is expected to be happy in their workplace, it is never obvious that everyone involved in the work shall be happy. Some may hate the job but would only have to persevere and tolerate the job. Positive psychology involves telling the truth. Some people are never willing to tell the truth about themselves. This becomes a challenge to other community members who are expected to benefit from such information. The greatest weakness that is realized with the positive psychology is the different opinion by different psychologists regarding some fundamental aspects positive psychology exhibits, such as happiness. Different psychologists have got their own understanding of what happiness means. That makes it a bit technical to understand the real meaning of such aspects.
In conclusion, positive psychology has got beneficial factors to individuals and to the community. This is because it helps people realize their potential and make contributions to the community to the best of their abilities. Psychologists Critchley and Csikzentmihalyi had different understanding of happiness as an aspect of positive psychology. They both understood happiness differently. Nonetheless, both of them acknowledged happiness as a fundamental aspect of a person’s existence in the community.
Works Cited
Critchley, S. Happy Like God. 25 5 2009. 12 03 2014 <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/happy-like-god/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0>.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. A Life Worth Living: Contributions to Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Kendra, C. What Is Positive Psychology? 12 03 2014 <http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/a/positive-psychology.htm>.
