1st Edition
The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology
Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the field of positive psychology has sought to implement a science of human flourishing so that we may lead happier, more fulfilling lives. It has found expression not only in academic papers but also popular books and, increasingly, in government policy. The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology is the first volume dedicated to a critical appraisal of this influential but controversial field of study.
The book critically examines not only the scientific foundations of positive psychology, but also the sociocultural and political tenets on which the field rests. It evaluates the current field of knowledge and practice, and includes chapters analysing the methodological constructs of the field, as well as others that question what positive psychology actually means by ideas such as happiness or well-being. Taking the debate further, the book then discusses how positive psychology can be applied in a wider variety of settings than is presently the case, helping communities and individuals by acknowledging the reality of people’s lives rather than adhering strictly to debateable theoretical constructs.
Including contributions from disciplines ranging from psychoanalysis to existential therapy, theology to philosophy, and contributors from throughout the world, The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology will be enlightening reading for anyone interested in how psychology has sought to understand human well-being.
Foreword
Interiorizing and Interrogating Well-Being
Isaac Prilleltensky
Chapter 1
Critical Positive Psychology: A Creative Convergence of Two Disciplines
Piers Worth and Matthew Smith
Section 1: Criticism of Positive Psychology
Introduction
Nicholas J. L. Brown
Chapter 2
The Unavoidable Role of Values in Positive Psychology: Reflections in Light of Psychology’s Replicability Crisis
Brent Dean Robbins and Harris L. Friedman
Chapter 3
Taking a Closer Look at Well-Being as a Scientific Construct: Delineating its Conceptual Nature and Boundaries in Relation to Spirituality and Existential Functioning
Douglas A. MacDonald
Chapter 4
The Meaning and Valence of Gratitude in Positive Psychology
Liz Gulliford and Blaire Morgan
Chapter 5
Positive Psychology, Mental Health, and the False Promise of the Medical Model
Sam Thompson
Chapter 6
Is Positive Psychology an Indigenous Psychology?
Jeanne Marecek and John Chambers Christopher
Chapter 7
Community Psychology’s Contributions on Happiness and Well-being: Including the Role of Context, Social Justice, and Values in Our Understanding of the Good Life.
Salvatore Di Martino, Francisco José Eiroa-Orosa, and Caterina Arcidiacono
Chapter 8
Positive Psychology: Intellectual, Scientific, or Ideological Movement?
Bernardo Moreno-Jiménez and Aldo Aguirre-Camacho
Chapter 9
Is Positive Psychology Compatible With Freedom?
Digby Tantam
Chapter 10
Critique of Positive Psychology and Positive Interventions
Paul T. P. Wong and Sandip Roy
Chapter 11
Toward a Well-Spoken Explanatory Style
Paul Kalkin
Chapter 12
An Introduction to Criticality for Students of Positive Psychology
Nicholas J. L. Brown
Interlude 1
Chapter 13
Five Historic Philosophers Discuss Human Flourishing and Happiness in Positive Psychology: A Speculative Dialogue in Three Acts
Liz Gulliford and Kristján Kristjánsson
Section 2: Doing Positive Psychology Critically
Introduction
Tim Lomas
Chapter 14
A Re-appraisal of Boredom: A Case Study in Second Wave Positive Psychology
Tim Lomas
Chapter 15
Affirming the Positive in Anomalous Experiences: A Challenge to Dominant Accounts of Reality, Life, and Death
Edith Steffen, David J. Wilde, and Callum E. Cooper
Chapter 16
Uncovering the Good in Positive Psychology: Toward a Worldview Conception That Can Help Positive Psychology Flourish
Peter C. Hill and M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall
Chapter 17
Toward a Culturally Competent Positive Psychology
Adil Qureshi and Stella Evangelidou
Chapter 18
Cultural and Racial Perspectives on Positive Psychologies of Humility
David R. Paine, Sarah H. Moon, Daniel J. Hauge, and Steven J. Sandage
Chapter 19
Positive Psychology’s Religious Imperative
Daniel K. Brown and David G. George
Chapter 20
Character Strengths as Critique: The Power of Positive Psychology to Humanise the Workplace
Roger Bretherton and Ryan M. Niemiec
Chapter 21
Toward an Integrative Applied Positive Psychology
Byron Lee
Chapter 22
Positive Politics: Left-wing Versus Right-wing Policies, and Their Impact on the Determinants of Wellbeing
Tim Lomas
Chapter 23
A Proposed Enquiry Into the Effect of Sociocultural Changes on Well-Being
Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa
Chapter 24
Complexity: Towards a New Measure of Societal Well-being
Daniel T. Gruner and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Interlude 2
Chapter 25
Pleasure as a Form of Liberatory Practice
Tod Sloan and Marisol Garcia
Section 3: Applied Perspectives
Introduction
Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa
Chapter 26
Community Social Psychology and Positive Psychology: Learning From the Experience of Latin America
Ramón Soto Martínez and Salvatore Di Martino
Chapter 27
Positive, Necessary, and Possible Lives: Experience and Practice from the Struggle for a Dignified Life
José Eduardo Viera and Lauren Languido
Chapter 28
Exploring the Role of Engagement on Well-Being and Personal Development: A Review of Adolescent and Mental Health Activism
Anne C. Montague and Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa
Chapter 29
Citizenship, Mental Health, and Positive Psychology
Jean-François Pelletier, Chyrell Bellamy, Maria O’Connell, Michaella Baker, and Michael Rowe
Chapter 30
The Brutality of Reality
Chris Beales
Chapter 31
Philotimo: Vices and Virtues of a Moral Archetype
Manos Rhodes Hatzimalonas
Chapter 32
Evaluating Positive Education: A Framework and Case Study
Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick, Nikki S. Rickard, and Tan-Chyuan Chin
Chapter 33
Shaping Positive Education Research to Influence Public Policy
Charlie Simson, Lauren Rosewarne, and Lea Waters
Chapter 34
Positive Psychology at a City Scale
Mike Zeidler, Liz Zeidler, and Byron Lee
Chapter 35
Judging the Efficacy and Ethics of Positive Psychology for Government Policymaking
Mark D. White
Chapter 36
Feel Good or Be Happy. Distinctions Between Emotions and Development in the Environmental Psychology Research of Wellbeing
Pablo Olivos and Ricardo Ernst
Biography
Nicholas J. L. Brown is a PhD candidate in Health Psychology at the University Medical Center, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research examines the claims made by positive psychology regarding the relation between well-being and physical health outcomes.
Tim Lomas is a Lecturer in positive psychology at the University of East London, UK. He has published numerous books and papers on topics including positive psychology theory, language, meditation, Buddhism, and neuroscience.
Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship coordinated between the universities of Barcelona and Yale. The aim of his project is to explore the role of context on mental health interventions with key stakeholders such as service users, professionals, and policy makers.
