Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions.

TLDR

Positive psychology has flourished over the past five years. The study aims to evaluate interventions that increase individual happiness. The authors reviewed recent field developments and conducted a 6‑group randomized placebo‑controlled internet study testing five happiness interventions against a control. Three interventions produced lasting increases in happiness and reductions in depressive symptoms, suggesting that positive interventions can supplement traditional treatments and may become the field’s practical legacy.

Abstract

Positive psychology has flourished in the last 5 years. The authors review recent developments in the field, including books, meetings, courses, and conferences. They also discuss the newly created classification of character strengths and virtues, a positive complement to the various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (e. g., American Psychiatric Association, 1994), and present some cross-cultural findings that suggest a surprising ubiquity of strengths and virtues. Finally, the authors focus on psychological interventions that increase individual happiness. In a 6-group, random-assignment, placebo-controlled Internet study, the authors tested 5 purported happiness interventions and 1 plausible control exercise. They found that 3 of the interventions lastingly increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms. Positive interventions can supplement traditional interventions that relieve suffering and may someday be the practical legacy of positive psychology.