5/19
Positive Psychology
The past, present, and future of the Positive Humanities
The past, present, and future of the Positive Humanities
A new Oxford Handbook from Penn’s James Pawelski and Louis Tay of Purdue explores this emerging field, which brings together positive psychology, philosophy, the humanities, and the arts.
Virtual workshops offer resilience training to Penn community
Virtual workshops offer resilience training to Penn community
Penn’s Division of Human Resources, in collaboration with the Positive Psychology Center, is hosting virtual workshops as a part of a six-part series presenting core resilience during COVID.
Navigating holidays in a pandemic, again
Navigating holidays in a pandemic, again
Experts from Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives and Positive Psychology Center offer six tips for making the holiday season joyful, fun, and safe.
Finding beauty in everything, through a camera lens
Finding beauty in everything, through a camera lens
Karen Reivich of Penn’s Positive Psychology Center turned to photography to reconnect to herself during the pandemic. It helped her discover a new way of seeing the world.
Four strategies to find joy in a very different holiday season
Four strategies to find joy in a very different holiday season
Experts from Penn’s Positive Psychology Center suggest tweaking traditions, acknowledging the situation’s highs and lows, and seeking help from people in your life.
A lesson in grit from Angela Duckworth
A lesson in grit from Angela Duckworth
Her new Grit Lab course, part of the Paideia Program, teaches Penn undergrads how to develop more passion and perseverance for long-term goals.
Talking positive psychology and COVID-19 with Larry King
Talking positive psychology and COVID-19 with Larry King
In a free video series co-hosted by James Pawelski, King interviews researchers about coping during the pandemic. In a June 11 event, they’ll speak with actor Kevin Bacon about philanthropy, arts and culture’s role in well-being, and the importance of open dialogue.
Six tips to stay calm, positive, and resilient in trying times
Six tips to stay calm, positive, and resilient in trying times
The situation around COVID-19 can be overwhelming, but experts from Penn’s Positive Psychology Center offer advice to get through—or at the very least, get by.
Parents asked questions about living in lockdown. Penn GSE experts answered
Parents asked questions about living in lockdown. Penn GSE experts answered
Stay-at-home orders, closed schools, and pandemic-induced anxiety are taking their toll on families. Penn GSE’s Caroline Watts offers insights and resources for families requesting online resources.
A simple exercise to help stay calm in the face of coronavirus uncertainty
A simple exercise to help stay calm in the face of coronavirus uncertainty
As the pandemic continues to change, Martin Seligman, director of Penn’s Positive Psychology Center, offers a quick and straightforward way to refocus the mind.
In the News
The Wall Street Journal
Is the secret to happiness having a gratitude practice?
Martin E.P. Seligman of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the benefits of gratitude practices: “Humans are built to attend to the things that go badly in our lives. A lot of the exercises in positive psychology are ways of teaching people to savor and pay attention to what goes well.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
How to make good habits stick
Katy Milkman of the Wharton School was interviewed about her research on motivation and establishing good habits. Milkman co-led a study on exercise habits with more than 60,000 participants.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Finding Flow: When work feels like play
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences wrote about the legacy on Mihaly “Mike” Csikszentmihalyi and the importance of encouraging young people to pursue activities that put them in a flow state.
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The New York Times
Go ahead. Fantasize
Martin Seligman of the School of Arts & Sciences said dreaming about the future can help people live well in the present. “Imagining the future—we call this skill prospection—and prospection is subserved by a set of brain circuits that juxtapose time and space and get you imagining things well and beyond the here and now,” he said. “The essence of resilience about the future is: How good a prospector are you?”
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The Wall Street Journal
The one thing you can control right now: Yourself
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences said self-control is more difficult when people are under extreme stress. “You can think of self-control as bandwidth,” she says. “And right now, it’s divided.”
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Morning Edition (NPR)
How the coronavirus has upended college admissions
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke at the annual conference for the Common Application about factoring “personal qualities” into the admissions process. "Whatever you call them, the take-home message is these things matter, and in some cases matter as much as IQ," she said.
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