Research and Course Guides: Positive Psychology: Background Info

Introduction

Articles chop up your topic into little, narrow questions. If you find 5 articles, each presenting a narrow study, it's often hard to see how they fit together and what question they are all trying to answer. But encyclopedias and handbooks

Give you overviews of your topic
Lead you to the important questions asked by researchers.
Contain articles written by experts in their fields.
Put your idea or question into a historical, research, or social context.
Lead you to further references.

Annual Reviews in Clincial Psychology

Great overviews of current issues in clinical psychology (also see Annual Reviews in Psychology).

Authentic Happiness

Authentic Happiness is Martin Seligmann's website for Positive Psychology. Sign up to review and take tests as part of his research on users' satisfaction with life and ways of enhancing their life. Includes tons of information and research on positive psychology.

Featured Encyclopedias

The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology by Shane J. Lopez
ISBN: 9781405161251
Publication Date: 2009
Articles on history, philosophy, developers, practitioners, and applications of positive psychology.
Elsevier Dictionary of Psychological Theories by J.E. Roeckelein
ISBN: 9780444517500
Describes psychological theories in all fields of psychology -- statistical, family therapy, personality, etc. The preface states that the book contains both good and "not so good" theories, expecting the descriptions to aid the reader in deciding which type of theory is encountered. Includes references to the original proposals and to later analyses and reviews.
Encyclopedia of Counseling by Frederick T. L. Leong, Elizabeth M. Altmaier, and Brian D. Johnson
Publication Date: 2008
Articles on positive psychology, self-efficacy, hope and leaders in positive psychology (Seligman, Deci and Csikszentmihalyi). Each article includes a list of 10-15 references fro further study

BBC's Program on Happiness

BBC's 6 part program on the science of happiness.

Analytical Overviews of Positive Psychology -- Pros and Cons

Annual Reviews: Positive psychology in clinical practice
Duckworth, A. L., Steen, T. A., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Positive psychology in clinical practice. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 629-651. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144154
Dreaming the American dream: Individualism and Positive Psychology
Becker, D. and Marecek, J. (2008), Dreaming the American Dream: Individualism and Positive Psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2: 1767–1780. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00139.x
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ABSTRACT
Although positive psychology now promotes itself globally, its American roots are evident in its persistent though unacknowledged attachment to an American-inspired brand of individualism. That attachment is evident in the movement's endorsement of self-fulfillment as the ultimate life goal, its promotion of self-improvement via personal effort, and its narrow sense of the social. We maintain that the bounded, autonomous self that strides through a positive life is an illusion, as is the notion that human flourishing and happiness are readily available to all. We also take issue with the individualistic vision that pervades positive psychologists’ descriptions of society and social institutions. Taking as an example A Primer in Positive Psychology (a recent textbook written by one of the founding fathers of positive psychology and highly praised by the others), we argue that positive psychology's rendering of social institutions is fundamentally asocial and neglects gender, class, ethnicity, and power relations.
Positive Psychology in Cancer Care
Coyne, J. C., & Tennen, H. (2010). Positive Psychology in Cancer Care: Bad Science, Exaggerated Claims, and Unproven Medicine. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39(1), 16-26. doi:10.1007/s12160-009-9154-z

Positive Psychology: Background Info