Positive psychology: what is it and how to use it A useful guide

In this article, we will present interesting dynamics to use at home, at work, and in raising children. It promotes personal strengths, optimism and creativity. Get acquainted with fun games and exercises of positive psychology for children and adults. Improving mental and personal happiness is easier when you know how.

Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with happiness. What makes us happy? In this article, we explain what positive psychology is and provide pointers and exercises on how to apply positive psychology.

Experts say that happiness depends on three factors: 50% it depends on our character, which is genetic, 10% it depends on the events in our life and 40% it depends on what we do to be happy to be. In these 40% of cases, positive psychology intervenes.

What is positive psychology? Definition and concept

After decades of psychology focusing on disorders, psychopathologies, behavioral problems, illnesses, etc..., it has started to think about what is good for us. It's no longer just about finding a treatment to cure disease, but also about finding answers about what makes us thrive and makes us happy. In positive psychology, problems are not ignored, but above all we look for what gives us satisfaction.

Positive psychology could be defined as the scientific study of what makes our lives worth living, without forgetting personal problems.

Positive psychology promotes our strengths in a balanced way and conveys a more objective self-image. This is necessary because some strengths are not necessarily good, nor are they beneficial in excess, such as positivity. Being too positive can make us believe that we are invulnerable. This allows us to believe that we will achieve everything. This can result in us taking too many risks and tackling more things at once than we can realistically do. On the other hand, if we are negative, we will hardly be able to enjoy the good things that life brings.

What is positive psychology not?

Positive psychology is often underestimated because it can give the image that it is a cheap form of self-help. However, this does not ignore people's real problems. It WILL take care of strengths and weaknesses, building on the best in life and repairing the worst. This makes people's lives happier and thus also treats pathologies. Nor is it about offering all people universal solutions to happiness. Everyone is unique, and what one person likes may not be the same for another. Nor is their goal to always make us joyful and happy. Being happy means accepting that there are sad moments, that we get angry and disappointed, and that we also fight. But it helps us

You can train to be happy.

Why do we focus on the negative? The selective perception

It is true that in our daily life positive things are often forgotten, they often go unnoticed and we only focus on the negative events. You may think: "I was stuck in a terrible traffic jam", "the water in the shower was freezing", "I've gained weight again, I'm dreadful", "I had a fight with my colleague", etc. Im In contrast, we often forget the "little pleasures" that happen in our daily lives: enjoying a meal we like; a pleasant conversation; a warm shower….

This tendency for most of us to pay more attention to and remember the negative aspects of life and underestimate the positive is called selective perception.

Some experts consider selective perception to be an adaptive mechanism beneficial to our survival. This is because negative or unfavorable events require a response from us to confront and resolve them. However, positive events that do not threaten our survival do not require a response and go unnoticed for our attention and memory.

However, when we focus on the negative, our mood deteriorates and we risk suffering from anxiety, depression, and other psychological problems.