Carmel Proctor

Strengths Gym: The impact of a character strengths-based intervention on the life satisfaction and well-being of adolescents

This preliminary research study examined the impact of Strengths Gym, a character strengths-based positive psychological intervention program, on adolescent life satisfaction. Using a quasi-experimental treatment-control condition design, the study compared student outcomes for life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and self-esteem for 319 adolescent students aged 12–14 (M = 12.98): 218 adolescent students who participated in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum, and 101 adolescent students who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum. Results revealed that adolescents who participated in character strengths-based exercises experienced significantly increased life satisfaction compared to adolescents who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises. Overall, results provide encouraging preliminary support for the application of character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum as a means of increasing life satisfaction and well-being among youths.

Youth life satisfaction measures: a review

The burgeoning field of positive psychology has highlighted the need to discover what makes life worth living. Within this framework is the exploration of how youths perceive their lives and achieve happiness. Recent research demonstrates that perception of life satisfaction (LS) among youths has important implications for their psychological, social, and educational functioning. An important part of understanding how youths perceive their lives is the incorporation of measurement of life satisfaction, and this article provides a review of the extant measures of youth life satisfaction. Following systematic literature searches, empirical studies (n = 47) of youth LS measures are reviewed. The review provides an overview of each instrument outlining its normative samples, reliability, and validity. Recommended future research directions are briefly discussed.

The Rogerian Fully Functioning Person A Positive Psychology Perspective

Two studies examined the characteristics of the Rogerian fully functioning person from the positive psychology perspective. Based on the findings of extant research in support of the Rogerian metatheoretical model, indicators were selected to represent characteristics constituting the fully functioning person. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a single factor structure of the fully functioning person was assessed with young adults aged 16 to 19 years (x¯ = 16.86). Participants of both studies completed measures of life satisfaction, positive thoughts and feelings, authenticity, organismic valuing, aspirations, basic psychological needs, anxiety, and strengths use. Participants of Study 2 also completed a measure of character strengths endorsement. Analyses revealed that variables consistent with the Rogerian fully functioning person loaded positively on a single “fully functioning person” factor. Overall, results suggest that the fully functioning person is high in life satisfaction, has increased positive thoughts and feelings and decreased negative thoughts and feelings, low anxiety, and moves toward intrinsic values rather than extrinsic values. The fully functioning person component was positively correlated with the character strengths of enthusiasm, bravery, honesty, leadership, and spirituality and negatively correlated with modesty and fairness. Results supplement research indicating strong links between positive psychology and the person-centered theory of Carl Rogers.

Life Satisfaction in Youth

How to better the lives of people is central to the mission of positive psychology, and understanding and fostering life satisfaction is widely seen as being central to this goal. A wide range of studies attests to the role that life satisfaction plays in successful functioning in youth. Increased life satisfaction is consistently related to adaptive psychosocial functioning, interpersonal and social relationships, academic success, decreased behavior problems, increased healthier behaviors, and a host of school-related variables, including perceived academic efficacy, competence, and self-efficacy. This chapter reviews the factors that are associated with and predictive of life satisfaction in youth, including supportive interpersonal relationships with both family and peers, participation in meaningful instrumental activities, having a healthy lifestyle, cultural integration, positive behavior, and peer interactions. Further, the chapter also reviews specific positive psychology interventions that have been shown to increase life satisfaction, including gratitude diaries, the teaching of well-being in schools, and character strengths interventions.

Measuring Eudaimonic Well-Being

This chapter presents Aristotle’s conceptualization of eudaimonia and reviews measures that can be used to assess this type of eudaimonic well-being. The authors consider the question of the extent to which eudaimonia is measureable given the conceptual confusion and lack of normative clarification surrounding the use of the term. It is proposed that a defining factor in the measurement of eudaimonia, that makes it different from the assessment of other related constructs, is the inclusion of the assessment of virtue. The lack of virtue measurement in assessments of eudaimonic well-being given Aristotle’s definition is presented. The authors offer suggestions for researchers currently choosing measures of eudaimonia.

Surveying the Landscape of Positive Psychology for Children and Adolescents

In this chapter we set the context for the volume as a whole. The chapter begins by noting that, despite 14 years since the inauguration of positive psychology, there has still been relatively little focus on positive psychology for children and adolescents. The chapter reviews major areas of work in the field, including positive psychology as it relates to teaching, schools, and education; applying strengths in school and college; subjective experience and strengths in children and adolescents; and positive development interventions. The chapter then goes on to lay out the plan for the volume, providing chapter summaries for each of the chapters across the five parts of the volume: Strengths and Well-being; Interventions and Applications; Family, Friends, and Community; Positive Education; and Positive Youth Development: Practice, Policy, and Law.