POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY & HEALTH

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) have defined positive psychology as, “the scientific study of positive
human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological, personal, relational,
institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life”. Positive psychological science and practice are situated
fortuitously for the identification and understanding of human strengths and virtues as well as for helping
people to live happier and more productive live. Positive Psychology seeks a balanced, more complete view of
human functioning. The field now has applications across a range of areas such as education, ageing, work and
general well-being, to name a few. One such significant area of application for positive psychology is health.

The definition of health according to the WHO (2018) includes “a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Mental Health has been conceptualised
not only as the absence of mental disorders but also as the presence of high levels of mental wellbeing (WHO,
2018; Slade, 2010). Positive psychology is closely linked with health psychology, and a scientific and biological
foundation has been laid for the idea that negative emotions may harm our health whereas positive emotions
benefit us through several physical, psychological and social processes that positively impact factors like coping
skills, physical well-being, emotional health, intellectual functioning, and so on (Baumgardner, 2014).
Moreover, it is the subjective perception of health, which inflates the correlation between subjective well-being
and subjective health (Snyder, 2002). The health benefits of PP assets have been documented in different
cultural settings as well. An example of this can be the concept of Ikigai, “life worth living”, in Japan.

Various models have been proposed to show the link between positive psychology and health. For instance, the
Copenhagen-Medici Model proposed by Martin Seligman (2008) includes the spanning of different health
outcomes with two direct deliverables of the model being conceptualisation and measurement of positive health
and discovery of confirming and disconfirming evidence within existing longitudinal studies of the effects of
positive health on longevity, health costs, mental health, and prognosis. Further, the Complete State Model
(2010) by Westerhof and Keyes (2010) identifies mental well-being and mental illness to be lying on a
spectrum and suggests that personal recovery is the goal of positive psychology, and asserted that since positive
psychology works around the concepts of happiness, hope, motivation, empathy, and self-esteem, it directly
contributes to enhancing our wellbeing. Aspinwall and Pengchit (2013) also put forth a model proposing that
the effect of positive phenomena on health is mediated by five pathways, including biological functioning,
cognitive appraisals and emotions, coping styles, social development, and health behaviors, which eventually
lead to positive health outcomes. According to the Main Effect Model by Pressman & Cohen (2005), trait PA
influences health outcomes provided that the emotion lasts long enough to influence proposed mediating
behaviors or physiological responses in a manner that would create a long-term risk. Lastly, as per the Stress-
Buffering Model (Pressman and Cohen, 2005), individuals high in PA experience less stress in their
environment as the social resources associated with PA help redefine (reduce) the potential for harm and bolster
perceived ability to cope with imposed demands. Alternatively, PA may facilitate recovery from stress-related
activation

Positive Psychology and Health Outcomes

With respect to their positive impact on health, research has identified the following health assets (Park et al,
2014): positive emotions, life satisfaction, optimism, forgiveness, self-regulation, vitality and rest, life
meaning and purpose, helping others, good social relationships and spirituality (Diener and Chan, 2011).
A study by Chida & Steptoe (2008) found that positive affect was associated with lower morbidity risk and
mortality in healthy as well as chronically ill samples. Moreover, the revised Stress and Coping Theory by
Folkman (1997) and Lazarus et al. (1980) addresses how positive affect resulting from a favourable appraisal of
the stressor allows a break from the distress that motivates individuals to sustain themselves in the coping
process. Moreover, the Broadening function associated with Positive affect allows for building up of resources
needed to sustain coping and build a buffer towards stress. The most notable study in the arena of positive
emotions and health is the Nun Study conducted by Danner, Snowdon & Friesen (2001) which was a
longitudinal study that revealed that expression of positive emotions early on in life is associated with longevity
of individuals. Positive Traits like Emotional stability (opposite to neuroticism) are associated with good
mental and physical health (Carr, 2011) as individuals who act on this motive have a strong social support
network, which acts a buffer against stress and fosters good mental and physical health (Emmons, 1997). An
Internet-based intervention that encouraged people to use their strengths in new ways was found to increase
happiness, and decrease depressive symptoms for 6 months (Seligman, 2005).

Further, dispositional optimism has been previously associated with good health and a positive response to
medical interventions for health conditions such as heart disease, cancer and HIV (Taylor et al., 1992; Carr,
2011). For instance, a review by Marton et al. (2020) established the link between dispositional optimism and
health-related quality of life in cancer patients. Optimists have been found to use coping strategies such as re-
appraisal and reframing of situations that help them have positive expectations for their health conditions
whereas pessimists tend to use avoidant strategies (Carr, 2011; Scheier & Carver, 1985). Optimism and hope
have also been found to correlate positively with immunological robustness and efficient neurotransmitter
functioning (Segerstrom et al., 1998; Carr, 2011). Psychosocial Resilience training which targets factors such
as positive emotions, cognitive flexibility, social support, life meaning, and active coping has been found to
reduce total cholesterol among middle-aged adults (Burton et al., 2010). Ezeamama et al. (2016) found in a
sample of 4562 individuals in or near retirement (50-60 years) that higher levels of resilience indicators were
associated with lower overall healthcare utilization as well as improvements in self-rated health.

Grit which refers to an intrapersonal characteristic manifested as “passion and perseverance for long-term
goals”, regardless of the goal at hand has shown to predict success in various areas of life and is related to
psychological well-being, acting as a protecting force against distressing symptomatology (Sharkey et al.,
2018). Sharkey et al. (2018) found in a study of college students with chronic medical conditions, that grit
served as a positive factor that was inversely related to depressive and anxious symptomatology. In terms of
happiness, a study by Becchetti, Bachelet & Pisani (2020) provides evidence of how low scores on eudaimonic
happiness were correlated with future insurgence of chronic diseases and a reduction in functionalities in an
ageing population. The impact of SWB on physical health is shown in the associations between happiness and
longer life, lower susceptibility to disease, and better recovery from illnesses such as cardiovascular disease
(Diener & Seligman, 2004). Subjective well-being has been studied even in Asian cultures like Japan wherein
the lack of a “life worth living” is said to have a significant association with risk to mortality (Park et al., 2016).
The state of our physical health also affects our level of happiness. Illness and injury involve pain and distress,
and may limit our opportunities to engage in pleasurable activities. Studies show that happy people report low
levels of mental illness symptoms (Diener & Seligman, 2004).

Additional research on this topic shows that various positive psychology constructs like neighbourhood social
cohesion, and social relations have a positive effect in reducing the symptoms of stroke, coronary heart disease,
respiratory problems are related to less frequency in doctor visits, longer life span, and even reduced
vulnerability to catching the common cold (Cohen et al., 2006). Emmons and Shelton (2002) have shown in a
series of studies that people who kept diaries of events for which they were grateful show improved health and
subjective well-being compared with people who kept diaries of stresses or other types of events within their
day-to-day lives. Research suggests that beliefs about self-efficacy influence health in two ways. First, self-
efficacy impacts the adoption of health-promoting behaviours, coming out of unhealthy habits as well as
continuing the changed behaviour when encountered with challenges. Second, self-efficacy beliefs can
influence several biological mechanisms which determine the probability of falling ill. An individual’s coping
self-efficacy has been associated with a number of important health outcomes, such as successful weight control
(Linde, Rothman, Baldwin, & Jeffery, 2006), successful disease adjustment (Beckham et al.,1997), as well as
fewer episodes of psychological distress (Bandura, 1997). Low self-esteem is also associated with poor
psychological adjustment, a variety of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, drug abuse, eating
disorders, difficulties making and maintaining stable relationships, poor stress management, poor immune
system functioning under stress, and suicide (Carr, 2011). There is also considerable evidence that high EQ
scores are associated mmmmm with better mental health and low EQ scores with more mental health
difficulties (Carr, 2011). Furthermore, mindfulness meditation has been shown to produce changes in brain and
immune function in a positive way (Davidson et al., 2003).

Snyder & Riff (1998) draw attention to certain features of lives well-lived that contribute to a healthy existence.
They are as follows:

Leading a purposeful life- It was Frankl (1963) who conceptualized a sense of meaning as contributing to well-
being when he noted that the former was the distinguishing resiliency factor that allowed people to survive
within the concentration camps of World War II. In the past few decades, a number of researches have
established a strong relationship between purpose in life and health. Kim et al. (2014) report that those with a
strong purpose in life are more likely to engage in healthy behaviours. A meta-analysis of 10 studies by Cohen
et al. (2016) found that there is a significant association between having a high sense of purpose in life and
reduced mortality.

Quality Connections to Others- Several decades of social epidemiological studies have proved that degraded
social relationships and the lack of social support are related to increased risk of disease and reduced length of
life. The findings of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (1957) warrant sufficient evidence for the power of
well-knit bonds and healthy relationships in decreasing the allostatic load (the cumulative wear and tear of the
physiological systems of the body as a result of being exposed to prolonged chronic stress). Another significant
finding which emerged was that positive relationship pathways had the power of shielding the individual from
adverse situations arising out of economic disadvantage.

Positive Self-Regard- Features of selfhood, such as self-love, self-esteem, self-acceptance and self-respect are
also seen as intersecting with the domain of human mental and physical health. It was Meisenhelder (1985) who
proposed that a positive self-esteem is a crucial factor in maintaining good physical and mental health as they
have more faith in their efforts and abilities, and are able to garner resources to buffer them against adverse
events (Smith and petty, 1996). Park et al. (2016) studied the relationship between self-esteem and overall
health behaviours, and found that participants with higher self-esteem scores slept more and were more satisfied
with the quality of their sleep. They also obtained low scores on depression, suicidal ideation and suicide
attempts.
INTERVENTIONS

Positive Psychology’s application to Health is exemplified by PPIs’ influence on the biological and behavioral
processes implicated in good health, in line with the aforementioned models. Thus, following are the
interventions for the enhancement of physical and mental health. In a study by Peters et al. 2017, the efficacy
of an 8-week intervention to increase happiness and decrease depression and physical impairments in patients
experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain was examined. The 3-armed trial in which the study compared the
new PPI with an internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention for chronic pain and a control
condition was also adopted. The sample size was n=276; n=206 for post-treatment condition. The results
showed that the newly developed PPI had a significant effect on depression and happiness, decreasing anxiety,
increasing positive affect, self-compassion and optimism thus proving the efficacy of PP internet intervention to
decrease distress and increase mental well-being in patients with chronic pain.

In another study, Celano et al, 2020 examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a 4-week, telephone-
delivered PP intervention for patients with bipolar depression (n=14-experimental; n=11, control condition).
Results showed that participants in the PP group found PP exercises to be subjectively helpful and led to trends
towards greater improvements in positive affect and optimism at follow-up. Thus, the findings that the PP
intervention is feasible to patients and leads to substantial improvements in positive psychological constructs
and reductions in depression is proved.

Muller et al. (2016) developed a computer-based tailored intervention based on positive psychology to
enhance well-being and reduce chronic pain in individuals with a physical disability. The participants were
randomly divided into two groups- a control group and an experimental group. The 4 activities that were
included in the separate intervention module of each participant were based kindness, gratitude, savoring, flow,
taking care of the body, spirituality, relationships, goals, optimism and forgiveness. The participants were asked
to perform atleast one activity for a minimum of 15 minutes at least once a week for 8 weeks. On the other
hand, participants assigned to the control group were asked to write down about any 3 events or activities from
the past week for at least 15 minutes once a week for 8 weeks. The researchers found that the intervention
resulted in an immediate (i.e., posttreatment) and statistically significant increase in life satisfaction, positive
affect, and pain control, and a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, pain intensity, pain interference,
and pain catastrophizing. At the two-month follow up, the intervention group had maintained increases in life
satisfaction and pain control, and reductions in depressive symptoms, pain intensity and pain interference.

Moskowitz et al (2012) conducted a positive psychology intervention on individuals who were diagnosed as
HIV positive. They used the following components in their intervention: noticing positive events, gratitude
exercise, mindfulness exercise, focusing on personal strengths, creating attainable goals and engaging in
acts of kindness. The results showed a significant increase in positive affect and a significant decrease in
negative affect. These researches provide examples of the efficacy of positive psychology interventions in
improving health assets of individuals with chronic illnesses. Machado et al (2019) used positive psychology
techniques to increase subjective well-being (SWB) in order to reduce symptoms of common mental disorders
(CMD) in medical students (MS). The intervention lasted seven weeks wherein the experimental group had
meetings focused on emotions, mental health of medical students, gratitude, appreciation, optimism,
resilience, qualities and virtues. The control group attended conventional medical psychology classes. The
intervention group presented average increase by 2.85 points in the positive emotions scale; average increase by
2.53 points in the satisfaction-with-life scale when it was compared to the control group. Positive psychology
interventions also lead to increased well-being for individuals diagnosed with various psychiatric illnesses. A
meta-analysis conducted by Chakhssi et al (2018) analysed 30 studies using positive psychology interventions
on a total of 1864 patients with clinical disorders. The researchers found that positive psychology interventions
led to a significant increase in well being and a significant decrease in depression. The researchers concluded
that when focused on eliciting positive feelings, cognitions and behaviours, positive psychology interventions
increase wellbeing and reduce distress in populations diagnosed with psychological disorders.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a general angst among people as they faced extreme distress due to
the fear of contracting the virus, and due to the lockdown, that was ordered by governments all over the world.
Waters et al. (2021) in their paper explain that positive psychology constructs can indeed play a seminal role in
buffering against mental illness, bolstering mental health during COVID-19 and building positive processes and
capacities that may help to strengthen future mental health. In an intervention by Brouzos et al (2021), the
effectiveness of a group on-line positive psychology intervention (OPPI) designed to mitigate the psychological
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent measures to control it was investigated. The intervention
group attended a voluntary, online, two-week, six-session (each 50 min), group intervention which aimed at
enhancing participants’ personal strengths and resilience in order to cope more effectively with the
psychological impact of social distancing (e.g., feelings of anxiety, sadness, fear, and/or loneliness). The
intervention was found to be effective in alleviating the impact of the pandemic and in strengthening
participants’ resilience. More specifically, the results showed significant decreases for the intervention group in
all measures of psychosocial distress (anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear) and significant increases in
empathy, resilience, and experience of positive emotions.

Further, Bono et al. (2020) found that in a sample of US students, grit buffered against psychological distress
during the pandemic and grit in the pre-pandemic days was associated significantly with the level of resilience
shown during the pandemic. In another study with Chinese university students, Yang et al. (2020) found that
students who used higher levels of positive refocusing (e.g., turning one’s attention towards the positive things
in their life), positive reappraisal (e.g., focusing on what one can learn from the situation), and positive planning
(e.g., thinking about the future) had lower levels of psychological distress. Further, in an adult sample in
Turkey, Arslan et al. (2020) found optimism to be inversely related to anxiety, somatization, and depression
during the pandemic and that positivity mediated the relationship between perceived risk of death distress and
happiness (Yıldırım & Güler, 2021). Kavcic et al. (2020) found that among Slovene adults, high resilience
promoted good psychological functioning in the beginning of the pandemic. Yet another study by Prinzing et al.
(2020) found that sharing positive emotions with others and resilience predicted positive mental health during
COVID-19.

The buffering effect of several positive psychology factors has also been studied in adult samples. In
Germany, Schäfer et al. (2020) conducted survey research into psychopathological symptoms (e.g., anxiety and
depressiveness) using a one-month, test-retest design from February 2020 (prior to COVID-19 being announced
as a global pandemic; n = 2,007) and then again in March 2020 (after restrictions were put in place; n = 1,591).
In this study, psychopathology was buffered by a sense of coherence during the outbreak (i.e., perceiving
life as comprehensible and manageable and belief that life challenges reflect a potential source of growth).
Vazquez et al. (2020) found that in Spain, Post Traumatic Growth was higher when people believed they were
living in a good world and had a positive outlook for the future. Another study by Waters et al. (2021) reported
that using strengths as well as positive reinterpretations by school students during the pandemic predicted
psychological growth, as characterised by learning to deal with uncertainty, not being bothered by small
obstacles, accepting oneself and others. A learning from the aforementioned research findings is that meaning,
self-compassion, grit, gratitude, optimism, and the like can be built to deal with this global crisis whose end is
so far uncertain. Hopefully, the pandemic will allow us to develop strengths that will lead to sustained positive
outcomes. And as Buheji et al. (2020) opine, ‘Managing COVID-19 is more than hand washing and social
distancing; instead, it is a story between hope and despair’.

The findings above highlight the role played by positive psychological constructs in improving mental and
physical health outcomes. Particularly in times of a pandemic, interventions that aim to enhance these positive
psychological constructs can prove to be of immense benefit in ensuring physical and mental well-being.

CONCLUSION

It must be noted that there are limits to the power of positive emotions. This means that hope, optimism or
social support are not magic potions for serious illnesses. Very traumatic and life-changing experiences can
overwhelm our coping resources and be damaging and positive emotions may not guarantee a happy or healthy
ending. However, positive emotions help and their influence should be seen in relative, rather than absolute
terms. That is, other things being equal, people who experience more positive emotions may have an edge over
the physical, psychological, and social resources for coping with illness and stress, compared to people with less
frequent positive emotional experiences.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY & EDUCATION

Contemporary psychology is preoccupied with the negative side of life, and interprets the functioning of the
person only in terms of a disease model, ignoring almost completely the positive side of life (Seligman and
Csikszentmihalyi 2000; Seligman 2005a). The beginning of the 21th century marked a shift of questioning in
the field of psychology from ‘what is wrong with people’ to ‘what is right in people’. Positive psychology
offers a balance to the previous weakness approach by suggesting that we also must explore people's strengths
along with their weaknesses.

Positive psychology as a science is based on three pillars. The first is exploiting positive emotions, the second
is exploiting positive personality traits, and finally, a positive society – exploiting positive social
institutions, in particular those such as democracy, a strong family, and education which promotes positive
development (Seligman, 2005).

The applications of Positive psychology to education, has been gaining quite a lot of importance as a subject
of research. Diener et al., (1999), for instance, found education levels to be positively correlated with
happiness, particularly stronger for lower income groups thereby making happiness an antecedent to
education. Pluskota (2014) further explored the links of the field of positive psychology with educational
psychology and found that the development of the affective, cognitive and social competence of young
people with concepts like self-esteem, the meaning of life, and self-confidence lie at convergence of both
the disciplines. Seligman suggests that the field of education, should turn to look to the future, should focus on
positive emotions, social commitment, the search for meaning, for harmony in human relations; on positive
achievements, volition, and freedom, as well as upon health and growth. Thus, constructs like personal will and
freedom, possessing the potential for growth arising from her or his own strength signatures and virtues
become essential to be integrated with education.

White and Murray (2015) noted that “positive education programs in schools appear in three forms namely:
Empirically validated and scientifically informed well-being intervention programs, Scientifically-
informed proactive strategies to the whole school mental health programs in schools and Specific virtues
or values and character-based education lessons based in philosophy or values-based learning. Gregory
(2013) further collated evidence of impacts of positive education on children and found wide ranging outcomes
like self control acting as a predictor of homework completion, student’s levels of perseverance for long term
goals predicted several academic behaviours like getting top grades, admissions to prestigious universities etc.

Even Seligman’s famous PERMA and PEMRAH frameworks (2011; 2015) are being widely used in schools
which can help educators, teachers and practitioners to foster positive mental health among students and
teachers. The PERMA framework encompasses five main elements that Seligman premised as critical for long-
term wellbeing: Positive Emotions (Feeling positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, interest, and hope);
Engagement (Being fully absorbed in activities that use your skills but still challenge you); (Positive)
Relationships; Meaning (Belonging to and serving something you believe is bigger than yourself) and
Accomplishment (Pursuing success, winning achievement, and mastery). The PERMAH framework also adds
Health onto this, covering aspects such as sleep, exercise, and diet as part of a robust positive education
program (Norrish & Seligman, 2015). For example, Winmalee High School in New South Wales uses the
PERMAH framework through elements such as Project-Based Learning, Anti-Bullying Strategies, and more.

Furthermore, positive education programs are being used to develop positive character using the core character
strengths that are represented in the VIA (Virtues in Action) classification’s six categories of virtue (Peterson
and Seligman, 2014; Linkins et al., 2015), which are Wisdom and Knowledge; Courage; Humanity; Justice;
Temperance and Transcendence.

Pluskota (2014) examined another positive psychology technique called the “Three Blessings'' program as an
intervention to increase positive emotions in students based on the ‘broaden-and-build’ theory of Fredrickson
(1998). Findings suggested that children in a positive frame of mind learn faster, have increased intellectual
resources (span of attention, creativity, and intuition), have higher social skills (like using or sharing the
perspective of others, cooperation, and prosocial attitudes), and their physical fitness improves (Fredrickson
1998).

Yet despite these positive impacts, White (2016) argues many obstacles are currently prevalent in the full scale
application of positive psychology to schools which include:

● Financial issues (large sums of money should be spent on training staff in wellbeing).
● Making PE a Marginal topic (well- being is seen as a distraction from real educational progress).
● Either/or thinking at some policy levels i.e seen as either well-being topic or another topic but never
seen as a culmination of both constructs.
● Maverick providers (service providers who deliver questionable training around the topic that claim to
have impact with limited evidence.
● Scientism where empiricism is seen as the only way forward and overlooks the philosophical questions
which underpin why well-being should be integrated into educational experience.
● Socioeconomic Status and Culture is an excuse not to expect improvement of change in education.

Application of Positive Psych in schooling (the strengths schoolhouse)

Positive schooling is an approach to education that consists of a foundation of care, trust, and respect for
diversity, where teachers develop tailored goals for each student to engender learning and then work with him
or her to develop the plans and motivation to reach their goals.The positive psychology schoolhouse is built of
six parts as follows:

Care, trust, and respect for diversity: A foundation that involves caring, trust, and respect for diversity is
absolutely crucial for students to flourish. Having role model teachers who consistently are responsive and
available for students result in positive emotions through teacher care which provide the secure base
allowing young people to explore and find ways to achieve their own important academic and life goals
(Shorey, Snyder, Yang, & Lewin, 2003). A major part of caring for students involves spending large amounts of
time with them. For example, Bjornesen (2000) when asked undergraduates about what they thought were the
most important aspects of being a college professor, majority reported teachers' willingness to spend time with
them was the most important characteristic. Watson and Ecken (2003) advocate the use of developmental
discipline like the principles of attachment theory, which advocates helping those students who have insecure
attachments to caregivers. Trust in the classroom has received considerable attention among educators, and the
consensus is that it yields both psychological and performance benefits for students (Bryk & Schneider, 2002;
Collins, 2001). Another aspect of the positive psychology foundation for schooling involves the importance of
diversity of student backgrounds and opinions in the classroom. They must avoid becoming cynical about
students, because this undermines the trust that is so crucial for learning.

One way through which these 3 elements could be fostered is through the Jigsaw classroom, where each
student has part of the information that is vital to the success of the group as a whole, and thus there is strong
motivation to include each student's input. Therefore, it teaches cooperation rather than competition. The
research evidence shows that students learn the content along with respect for their fellow students (Aronson,
2000). The jigsaw classroom also helps keep students from becoming "grade predators," who want to succeed
through invidious competitions and social comparisons with each other). The foundation of positive psychology
schooling rests upon an atmosphere in which teachers and students have respect and care for various points of
view and backgrounds. Such respect flows from teachers to students and from students to teachers.

Goals: The component of goals is represented by the second floor of the strengths schoolhouse. This means that
students feel some sense of input in regard to their teachers' conduct of classes. As the instructors set the
classroom goals, they should consider the reactions of their students to it. The success of class goals involves
making the materials relevant to students' real-life experiences whenever possible (Snyder & Shorey,
2002). In turn, tailoring to students' experiences makes it more likely that students will become involved in and
learn the material (Dweck, 1999).

Plans and motivation: The first floor of the strengths schoolhouse is divided into plans and motivation, both of
which interact with the educational goals on the second floor (and with content). Like building science on
accumulating ideas, teaching necessitates a careful planning process on the part of instructors. Teachers
must be enthused about their materials so as to carry out the plans that they have made for their classes. When
instructors make lesson goals and plans interesting to themselves, their students easily can pick up on this
energy. Motivated teachers are sensitive to the needs and reactions of their students. Strengths-based instructors
also take students' questions very seriously and make every effort to give their best answers. Another
consideration in raising students' motivations is to make the material relevant to them (Buskist et al.,
2005). Teachers also raise the motivational level when they take risks and try new approaches in class (Halperin
& Desrochers, 2005). Likewise, by increasing students' accountability can also raise their motivation. Lastly,
praise is very motivating and is best when delivered privately.

Hope: after applying the above mentioned ideas in a classroom, then there will be a spirit of inquiry that
students will pick up (Ritschel, 2005), after which their learning expands to increase their sense of
empowerment. Thus, students are empowered to become lifelong problem solvers. This "learning how to learn"
pulls from goals-directed pathways thinking as well as from the "I can" motivation which also produces a sense
of hope in the student learners. A hopeful student believes that she or he will continue to learn long after
stepping out of the classroom.

Societal contributions: Societal contributions represent the lasting "paybacks" that an educated person gives to
those around him or her-whether this means teaching children to think positively or sharing insights and
excitement with the multitude of others with whom they come into contact over the course of their lifetimes.
Positive education thus turns students into teachers who continue to share what they have learned with others. In
this way, the benefits of the learning process are passed on to a wide range of other people. In positive
education, therefore, students become teachers of others.
Most often teachers engaged with positive schooling define teaching not as work but as a “calling” which refers
to a strong motivation in which a person repeatedly takes a course of action that is intrinsically satisfying
(Sikorski, 2005). When positive psychology tenets are applied to teaching, it is believed that the instructors
behave as if they had callings in that they demonstrate a profound and strong love for teaching.

Application of PE in various countries

Though the goal of PE is to produce both well-being as well as to forward the traditional outcomes of schooling,
many countries have started to apply PE. In Bhutan, solid evidence has emerged that PE simultaneously
increases well-being and national standardized exam performance. (Adler, 2016). In China, PE seems to be
popular not only because it is congenial to traditional Chinese philosophies, but also because the Chinese
education system may be in search of a paradigm shift. The Chinese education system mainly relies on
authoritarian discipline to achieve academic success which may result in the loss of interest of students in
studying, in ever-growing conflicts between students, parents as well as teachers etc. In 2012, the Bureau of
Education of Beijing funded the 19th Middle School of Beijing to build a model of “happy education.” They
combined positive psychology with traditional Chinese philosophy to design courses, train teachers, and
remodel school culture. In Israel, Maytiv program has proven to decrease depression and anxiety symptoms
along with also strengthening students’ self-efficacy, self-esteem, and optimism. In India, CorStone, an
internationally recognized non-profit organization, is working to provide evidence-based resilience programs to
improve mental and physical health, increase academic achievement. Results showed that the resilience
curriculum had significant positive effects compared to controls on psychosocial indicators such as emotional
resilience, self-efficacy, social-emotional assets, psychological well-being, and social well-being (Leventhal,
Gillham, et al., 2015). Another example is that of the Happiness Curriculum, an educational program for
children in grades one to eight in schools run by the Government of Delhi since July 2018. With the objective to
improve the mental well-being of pupils, it teaches mindfulness, social-emotional learning, critical thinking,
problem solving, and relationship building. The curriculum is designed on the basis of the Happiness Triad
Model developed by Nagraj (1999) that views happiness as being experienced through our senses, through
our feelings in relationships and Learning & Awareness; three of which together result in momentary
happiness, deeper happiness and sustainable happiness. Regular happiness classes enable students to reflect
on the relationship between their feelings, thoughts, behaviour and their impact on themselves, family, society
around them and the natural environment. The syllabus is universal and designed age appropriately. Like any
other subject, students will have a happiness period every day. As per media reports and continuous evaluations
done by Government of Delhi, the curriculum has found to be highly effective in boosting confidence,
increasing attendance and overall participation of the students.

In the last decade, positive psychology interventions (PPI) applied in both clinical and non-clinical samples
have demonstrated a proven efficacy to increase positive emotions, well-being, and life satisfaction. However,
few studies have used objective indicators of performance to explore the efficacy of PPI to increase students'
motivation to study or to improve performance. Few examples include:

Muro et al (2018) conducted a positive psychology intervention to investigate its impact on academic
performance of students. A pre-post study design including both an intervention and a control group was
formulated to compare the two groups in terms of average grades and number of failed subjects. Training
sessions included Goal training exercises in phase 1 and PPI activities like writing gratitude letters, counting
blessings, practicing positive thinking, replaying positive academic experiences and writing about the best
possible selves in the present and in the future in Phase 2. Finally, overall self-evaluation of the intervention
like motivational levels, achievements, and openness to new academic goals or personal expectations were
compared to the control group of students. Results showed that the students of PPI achieved a greater
increase in their average grades and motivation.

A similar study was conducted by Adler (2016) to see if teaching well-being can improve academic
performance. The study was conducted in schools in Bhutan, Mexico and Peru. In all three locations, students in
the intervention schools reported significantly higher well-being and they performed significantly better on
standardized national exams at the end of a 15-month intervention.

RULER MODEL (an example of PE)

The RULER model, developed by the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence, is a social and emotional
learning (SEL) program that targets classroom interactions and instruction through teacher training and
lessons that are infused into core curricula (Maurer and Brackett 2004). RULER supports the entire school
community in: Understanding the value of emotions, Building the skills of emotional intelligence and Creating
and maintaining a positive school climate. It is an approach to SEL that teaches emotional intelligence to people
of all ages, with the goal of creating a healthier, more equitable, innovative, and compassionate society.
Research shows that emotions influence Attention, memory, and learning. The program aims to infuse the
principles of emotional intelligence into the immune system of schools, informing how leaders lead, teachers
teach, students learn, and families support students.

RULER is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence i.e. Recognizing emotions in oneself and
others, Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions, Labeling emotions with a nuanced
vocabulary, Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context and Regulating
emotions with helpful strategies. RULER skill development relies on four core tools, which are introduced to all
stakeholders in the school community. RULER skills help people of all ages to use their emotions wisely,
opening opportunities for us to succeed in school, at work, and in life. These skills are both personal and social,
such that a network emerges with positive changes reinforced.

RULER implementation begins with personal and professional learning for leaders and educators, and
continues with classroom instruction for students and family engagement and education. A small team
from the school is given training, either in-person or online. Following which, the team gets online resources to
lead RULER implementation in their school community.

RULER helps in producing the following outcomes:

● Positive shifts in school climate: RULER improves school climate by enhancing teacher instruction
and increasing student engagement. Salovey (2013) examined fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms that had
been implementing RULER for 1 year and then again after 2 years. Independent observers, blind to
which classrooms did and did not have RULER, rated RULER to be better than non-RULER classrooms
on the quality of their climates.
● Enhanced academic performance: Students who receive RULER perform better academically,
particularly in English language arts and in their work habits. Specifically, students in RULER
classrooms earned significantly higher grades in English language arts and were rated by their teachers
as having better work habits and conduct as compared to students in classrooms without RULER.
● Better quality relationships: RULER is designed to improve student connectedness by strengthening
student bonds with their peers, enhancing their engagement in learning, and supporting their
relationships with teachers. Research under review shows that early adolescent students who reported
significantly lower connectedness with teachers (in comparison to their peers) scored significantly lower
on all adaptive indicators and significantly higher on maladaptive indicators in comparison to students
who reported high and average levels of connectedness. Cipriano (2019) examined the impact of
RULER on student conduct and found that students in schools implementing RULER demonstrate less
bullying and aggressive behavior after one year of RULER.

Thus, overall, as a discipline, positive psychology has wide ranging applications in varying fields, with
education being one of them. From theoretical models to interventions; positive psychology provides a medium
of connection between the field of education and psychology and is therefore, an area of research worth
exploring in the Indian context.
COVID & ONLINE EDUCATION

Positive psychology is the study of well-being, which includes 5 essential elements— positive emotions,
engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). Applying positive psychology teaching
strategies can therefore foster student engagement and classroom community, especially in an online
modality and during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in which social connections
are more important and yet harder to establish than ever (Chu,2020).

In March 2020, universities across the globe announced campus closure within weeks of the COVID-19
outbreaks; faculties had to convert their in-person courses to online modalities, and college students struggled
with moving home and learning in an online environment (Crawford et al., 2020; Johnson, Veletsianos, &
Seaman, 2020). Human connections had seemingly lost when students switched learning from interacting with
instructors and classmates on campus to seeing images and text on a computer screen, let alone stayed at home.
“Flattening the COVID-19 curve” to slow down the spread of the virus was certainly important, whereas
“flattening the emotional distress curve” that arose during these challenging and uncertain times was arguably
as, if not more, important (Kaslow et al., 2020).

Applying positive psychology teaching strategies was therefore particularly important when stress and
anxiety were on the rise during the pandemic—a mass trauma we experienced collectively (Horesh & Brown,
2020; Kaslow et al., 2020). Beyond family, higher education might be the only social context within which
college students had human interaction amid the pandemic and thus served as a unique intervention point. As
instructors, we should provide structured opportunities for students, rather than assume that they have the ability
on their own, to experience positive emotions, engagement, and classroom community during these challenge
times (Brunzell et al., 2016; Kaslow et al., 2020). Although there is an exhaustive list of positive psychology
strategies, some of the most common and effective ones instructors can implement are as follows (see Bolier et
al., 2013; Brunzell et al., 2016; Lambert, Passmore, & Joshanloo, 2019 for detailed descriptions): (a) Positive
emotions—implementing gratitude and “what went well” activities to capitalize on positive experiences; (b)
Engagement—engaging and empowering students to identify, practice, and apply their strengths and values in
learning; (c) Relationships—applying active-constructive responding for positive interactions through
capitalizing good news and supporting efforts; (d) Meaning—teaching and emphasizing the value of resilience
during adversity and traumatic experiences through storytelling and connecting students to causes beyond the
self; and (e) Accomplishment—embedding goal setting and growth mindset messages that encourage students
to frame their beliefs about success as dynamic and to grow over time.

COVID-19 seemed to add stress and anxiety for students who were already struggling, and other students we
expected to transition well also struggled academically and/or personally. Listening to and discussing the
daily stressors and challenges students were facing helps instructors to become more empathetic and effective
as instructors. The need for intentional and consistent communication was paramount to being responsive,
especially in the transition to the online format, along with sending positive messages to those in need,
flexibility with deadlines, etc. Another coping strategy from positive psychology focuses on active
constructive responding, a strategy easily forgotten during times of stress. The goal of this exercise is to build
social engagement through showing sincere enthusiasm, provide positive feedback, a genuine interest, and
affirming nonverbal communication in your conversations when individuals are describing something positive
to you (Gable et al., 2004).

Gaining positive psychology tools helps college students, especially those who have been marginalized or
traumatized, navigate not only academic challenges but also non-academic ones in their personal life (Brunzell
et al., 2016; Vela et al., 2018). For instance, application of both character strengths and a growth mindset is
important for students to thrive through challenges such as economic downturns and events involving social
injustice and inequity; practicing gratitude, regardless of life circumstances, allows for generation,
intensification, and continuation of positive experiences that promote overall well-being and academic
engagement (Flinchbaugh et al., 2012). There are many possibilities beyond the pandemic for instructors to
apply positive psychology teaching strategies to promote students’ PERMA, although to do so effectively, it
does take intentionality in finding a good fit among the course content, student characteristics, and current
events.

Providing regular feedback and being available, for the whole class and individual students, also adds
meaning and connections to online learning, especially during challenging times such as the pandemic (Kaslow
et al., 2020). Student engagement and classroom community are important for education at any given time,
although they may be particularly important for online learning experiences and during challenging times such
as the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying positive psychology teaching strategies has the potential of enhancing
these learning outcomes along with student well-being, particularly among vulnerable students such as those
who are minorities or who experience mental health or confidence issues.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY & WORKPLACE

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) reinvigorated the field of positive psychology and described the aim of
the field to be one in which the focus on building positive qualities is just as strong as the focus on repairing the
negative things in life. Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) emphasizes the positive processes,
dynamics, perspectives, and outcomes that occur within organizational contexts and enable flourishing within
individuals (Cameron & Spreitzer, 2012) while Positive Organizational Behavior has been defined as ‘‘the
study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be
measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace’’ (Luthans,
2002, p. 698). It has a strong focus on individual factors such as hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy
(psychological capital; Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007b) and their contribution to individual flourishing.

The conceptualization of job-related well-being is well established in research, and it provides a positive
foundation for examining the determinants of healthy work. Warr (1999) considers constructs like job
satisfaction, job involvement and organisational commitment as a few measures of employee well-being.
Furthermore, work experiences directly translate into other mental health outcomes and indirectly influence
employee’s life satisfaction thereby making this work and non-work-related interdependence important to study
(Judge & Watanbe, 1993). Several theorists support this claim, for eg, according to Jahoda (1982) working
with a group of people provides a social network which in turn provides companionship, as well as the
emotional and practical assistance that can help them and others cope successfully with task and interpersonal
demands. Gainful employment, further, plays an important role in promoting a positive work environment. It
is characterized by benefits such as safe work environments, deriving purpose by providing a product or service,
engagement and involvement, and companionship and loyalty to co-workers and bosses. Characteristics such as
authentic and genuine interactions, honesty and integrity, resilience, awareness of their own and others'
values/moral perspective, are significant features common amongst best bosses.

Model of Healthy Work includes organizational, group, dyadic, and individual perspectives on job related
well-being. High-quality work complements the benefits of team working and transformational leadership

The ever-changing nature of work has dramatically altered employee experience altering not only the type of
work they do but also when they work and how they work (Barling, 1999). For older populations, while long
term employment was the norm; for today’s employees, work includes part time employment, contingent
employment and having multiple careers. Against this backdrop, today’s employees tend to work overtime, face
diminished choice, lack of control, facing greater unpredictability; all of which leads to higher levels of stress
and burnout. Even the approach of most organisations today like- “do more with less”, even though provides an
illusion of organisational efficacy but often puts greater demands on its workforce thereby failing to increase
productivity (Wall & West, 1999). Issues like employee health and safety, deteriorating employee relationships,
declining employee’s quality of life etc necessitate the integration of positive psychology goals to the
workplace.

One of the most important ways of improving employee work experience is to redesign work in order to
encourage employees effectively with task and work environment. The following approaches help explain the
way work should be designed:

● Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1980): In JCM, five characteristics—skill variety,
task identity, task significance, task autonomy, and task feedback—are identified in order to capture the
general content and structure of jobs. It leads to three psychological states—perceived meaningfulness
of work, felt responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of results. Employees with a need for personal
growth and development, as well as knowledge and skill, will display a range of positive personal and
work outcomes. High task control and feedback are crucial for maximizing the motivational and
learning potential of a job. Being engaged in a quality job results in feelings of meaningfulness and
significance for employees while also encouraging their acquisition of greater knowledge, a sense of
mastery, and overall well-being
● Demand/ control model (Karasek, 1979; Karasek & Theorell, 1990) suggests healthy work
environments are those in which appropriate demands production goals are made of workers who are
given correspondingly suitable amounts of decision latitude. Karasek and Theorell (1990) propose
“spirals of behavior” (Parker & Wall, 1998) to explain the effects of work design on well-being
through a learning and development mechanism. Jobs with high demands and high control (“active”
jobs) can inhibit strain by promoting both employee confidence and active learning, making such
employees more likely to apply coping strategies and seek challenging situations that promote mastery.
On the other hand, a “relaxed” job (low demands and high control) does not provide employees with
such intrinsic motivation. Similarly, “high strain” jobs (high demands and low control) are likely to
overwhelm employees and encourage a form of helplessness that can undermine employees’ sense of
mastery and dissuade them from developing and using skills. Last, a “passive” job (low demands and
low control) does not encourage skill development and can result in employee helplessness, similar to
that found in a higher strain job. Finally, Karasek and Theorell (1990) state the role of social support in
promoting psychosocial health.

Apart from the above two approaches, the following job characteristics also influence work experience: Role
clarity, Role agreement and Role load. While having challenging work is helpful, it is equally essential for an
employee to possess a job that’s clearly defined and of an appropriate workload in order to be beneficial for
both employee and organisation. In the longer term, a clearer fit b/w employees and their roles is critical for an
employee's sense of commitment to the organisation and indirectly their ability to work towards the
organisation. Furthermore, having sufficient information and predictability of work (role clarity) along with a
restricted set of demands/expectations (role agreement), challenging but manageable work (role load) can affect
employee morale and well being. Researches have also found JS and OC to be positively correlated with job
clarity and factors like satisfaction with pay, supervisors and co-workers are positively related to role
agreement (Jackson and Schuler, 1985). Having an appropriate level of workload has been found to be
positively associated with positive mood (Kessler et al., 1989).

Apart from individual factors, employees’ work and interaction with teams and groups is also important in
influencing employee and organisational effectiveness. Guzzo and Dickson (1996) define a work group as an
entity comprising individuals who perform tasks in an interdependent fashion to meet the goals of an
organisation. Previous studies have found teamworking to be associated with better individual well being
(Geller et al., 1992; Sonnentag, 1996) as working in teams not only provides social support but also
companionship and emotional-practical assistance. Carter and West (1999) found that higher levels of team
clarity and team commitment to group goals and other positive processes such as task reflexivity and task
orientation predicted better team level well being. Allen (1996) notes “group-organisation congruence” which
states employee’s greater attachment to their work group translated to employee’s overall attachment and
commitment to the larger organisation.

There’s research evidence that states the importance of leadership in contributing to employee well being.
Snyder and Lopez (2007) suggest transformational leadership, in particular, has potential to translate into
individual well being. Transformational leadership occurs when leaders increase followers’ awareness of the
mission or vision toward which they are working, thereby creating a situation where followers feel excited and
interested in common goals. In such a situation, followers are rewarded internally with achievement and self
actualization rather than externally with safety and security (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978). Research suggests that
the elements of transformational leadership like idealised influence, inspirational motivation etc (Avolio, 1999)
have the potential for enhancing wellbeing. For eg, when leaders act in a way that reflects idealised influence
consistently, then mutual trust and respect are built b/w employees and management, which also results in a
perception of interpersonal justice (Greenberg, 1990). Likewise, leaders also display inspirational motivation
when they challenge employees to do their very best and that they can work beyond their expectations which
enhances self confidence and self efficacy of employees. In general, transformational leadership is associated
consistently with higher levels of satisfaction with leadership, trust in the leader, and perceptions of fairness
(Bass, 1998; Hater & Bass, 1988; Pillai, Schriesheim, & Williams, 1999). It was also found that
transformational leadership is associated with higher levels of trust in management and group cohesion,
both of which predicted affective commitment to the organization (Barling, Moutinho, and Kelloway, 1999).

Furthermore, the development of the concept of emotional intelligence has been found to be influential in
contributing to employee well being. Emotional intelligence consists of self-awareness and the ability to control
one’s own emotions, empathy for others and the corresponding ability to influence others’ emotions, and the
willingness and ability to delay gratification. Barling et al (2000) have shown that there is considerable overlap
between emotional intelligence and three of the components of transformational leadership i.e. all except
intellectual stimulation.

In terms of developing proactive role orientations and behaviours, the Model of Healthy Work (Barling &
Zacharatos, 2000; Pfeffer, 1998) contends that practices like those in the Healthy Work model, have benefits for
both employee health and organizational productivity, employees bear some responsibility for making these
healthy work systems succeed. Fortunately, it appears that opportunities to promote broader employee role
orientations and more proactive behavior can stem from some of the same practices that promote healthy work.
Parker et al., (1997) found that when changes were accompanied by an increasing amount of job control,
employees reported incorporating these broader issues into their core job responsibilities. Using a longitudinal
design, Parker (1998) found that employees who had high amounts of task control in an environment with
high-quality communication exhibit greater confidence in their ability to undertake a more proactive set of
work tasks than do employees with fewer of these job characteristics. Furthermore, Parker (1998, 2000)
demonstrated that “role breadth self-efficacy” (RBSE) is both different from a proactive personality (Bateman
& Crant, 1993), and distinct from commonly used affective outcomes such as organizational commitment and
job satisfaction. Taken together, broader role orientations and enhanced RBSE have several implications for
healthy work and positive psychology: these two constructs go beyond measures of job-related well-being
traditionally considered in the work design domain.

Additionally, concepts like Psychological capital or PsyCap is a core positive construct that takes positive
psychology into the workplace. The concept introduced by Fred Luthans (2010) consists of four constructs of
self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience; which taken together are assumed to produce synergy effects
leading to highest efficiency. PsyCap has been defined as “an individual's positive psychological state of
development that is characterized by: (1) having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary
effort to succeed at challenging tasks; (2) making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and
in the future; (3) persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to
succeed; and (4) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond
(resiliency) to attain success” (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007). PsyCap can add value to what people and
organizations already have (e.g., financial capital), what they know (human capital), and who they know (social
capital) (Luthans et al,2010).

Famous positive psychology theories like the Broaden-and-build theory provides a theoretical framework for
understanding why positive emotions have such beneficial effects for employee well being and performance
outcomes. It proposes that positive emotions tend to broaden individuals' thought action repertoires and scope
of attention whereas negative emotions tend to narrow them (Fredrickson, 1998). Similarly, the Strength based
approach by Clifton and Harter (2003) focuses on finding out what a worker's talents are, and then assigning
the worker to jobs where those talents can be used, or shaping the job activities around the workers' talents and
skills, Instead of "fixing" all employees so that each has the same basic level of skills. According to Clifton and
Harter (2003), there are three stages in the strengths-based approach to gainful employment i.e. identification of
talents, integration of the talents into the employee's self-image and the actual behavioral change. Strengths-
based approach has yielded considerable empirical support within the last decade and leads to betterment of
employees work (Hodges,2003). Even the concept of flow i.e. a psychological state of maximum optimism and
satisfaction, experienced during an activity. It is equivalent to a “complete immersion in the task,” characterized
by high involvement and control of the situation, focused attention, lack of boredom and anxiety, intrinsic
motivation, altered perception of time and lack of self-judgmental observation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Bakker (2005) defines flow in the workplace as a short lasting “peak experience,” characterized by
involvement, pleasure of working and intrinsic work motivation.

INTERVENTIONS: can add both in brief

Luthans et al (2006) developed an effective individual-level intervention for the workplace context that targets
Psychological Capital. The intervention individually targets all four capacities (i.e., optimism, self-efficacy,
resilience, and hope) in four “micro interventions,” each focused on one particular component. They all involve
goal-setting activities, identification of obstacles towards achieving goals, and the development of strategies
towards overcoming potential obstacles in goal achievement (Luthans et al., 2006). Each trainee goes through
this process individually and subsequently has an opportunity to receive feedback from the group through
facilitator-led group discussions about their personal goals, potential obstacles, strategies towards achieving the
goal, and helpful revisions to their plan. Luthans et al. (2006) found a 3% increase in overall Psychological
Capital after participation in an intervention targeted toward each individual component, and there was no
significant increase in control group.

A recent successful intervention in North America is called Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the
Workplace (CREW), developed by the Vetrans Affair National Center for Organization Development (Osatuke
et al., 2009). This employee-centered program was developed around the idea of promoting effective
interpersonal interactions in the workplace and increasing civility in the work environment. The intervention
involves regular work group discussion meetings led by a facilitator and through positive workplace initiatives
that are selected by the work group. A key feature of this program is that it can be made unique to each work
unit, addressing primary concerns brought by employees themselves (Osatuke et al., 2009). Compared to
control groups, work units that participated in the intervention reported higher scores on coworker civility
(Leiter et al., 2011; Osatuke et al., 2009), respect, job satisfaction, and management trust and lower
absenteeism (Leiter et al., 2011).

Thus, the PsyCap (Luthans et al., 2007) and CREW (Leiter et al., 2011; Osatuke et al., 2009) are some effective
individual-level interventions that can be implemented in workplaces to promote civility or components of
PsyCap. Findings indicate a 3% increase in overall PsyCap (Luthans et al., 2006) and higher scores on coworker
civility (Leiter et al., 2011; Osatuke et al., 2009), respect, job satisfaction, and management trust and lower
absenteeism (Leiter et al., 2011); amongst the participants.
COVID RELATED:

COVID-19 is both a global health crisis and an international economic threat. At the individual level,
populations of shutdown affected employees were turned overnight into (a) “work from home” employees, (b)
“essential” or “life-sustaining” workers or (c) furloughed or laid-off employees seeking the nation-specific
equivalent of unemployment benefits. Organizationally, the economic shutdowns and related governmental
activities appear likely to (i) change some industries fundamentally, (ii) accelerate trends that were already
underway in others, and (iii) open opportunities for novel industries to emerge, as typically happens in times
of wars and natural disasters (Kniffin, 2020). While COVID-19 abruptly upended normal work routines, it also
caused an acceleration of trends that were already underway involving the migration of work to online or virtual
environments. The need for millions of workers to WFH in response to COVID-19 has accelerated recent
remote work trends facilitated by the rise of connectivity and communication technologies (Gartner,2020).

Even before COVID-19, employers were adopting and developing technologies to monitor employees’
whereabouts (e.g., with sociometric sensors) (Bhave, Teo & Dalal, 2020). The rapidly expanded usage of
videoconferencing has allowed for virtual sight-lines. Yet these virtual sight-lines are fraught with a risk:
they can increase perceived stress through continuous monitoring and feelings of privacy invasion.
Increased team virtuality as a result of COVID-19 may also affect helping and prosocial behavior. the
intersection of remote work with a global crisis brings up questions of how emotions, such as anxiety and stress,
can best be communicated and regulated in the unique setting of virtually connected work where social and
emotional cues are relatively limited (Lindebaum, Geddes, & Jordan, 2018). Working remotely may reduce the
opportunities for subordinates to gain feedback from leaders and prior research suggests that a lack of
learning opportunities is associated with lower organizational commitment and higher risk of turnover
(Vandenberghe et al., 2019). Jahoda's (1982) latent deprivation model helps explain the negative effects of
unemployment on psychological well-being by acknowledging that employment provides both manifest (e.g.,
income) and latent (e.g., time structure, social contact, sharing of common goals, status, and activity) benefits
(ryan,2020). Independent of policies regarding presenteeism, Dietz et al (2020) found that work team members
tended to imitate the level of presenteeism exhibited by their supervisors.

While Organizational and societal inequalities feed into each other, there are grave reasons to be concerned that
growth in inequality after COVID-19 will contribute to a downward spiral of negative trends in the workplace
in the form of decreased work centrality, and increased burnout, absenteeism, deviant behaviors, bullying, and
turnover (Bapuji et al., 2020). Further, it is likely that job insecurities post-COVID-19 will motivate greater
risk-taking and presenteeism among low-paid workers that, in turn, may increase public health risks for further
spread of the disease. Both the requirement to WFH and plans to de-densify workplaces in support of physical
distancing are likely to have side effects that include at least some degree of harm to individuals' mental and
physical health (Brooks et al., 2020). Workplace loneliness has been shown to have strong negative
relationships to employees’ affective commitment, affiliative behaviors, and performance (Ozcelik & Barsade,
2018). Close study of innovations that people started initiating within weeks of mandatory shutdowns (e.g.,
Virtual Happy Hours) would also be valuable to help prevent loneliness and increase resilience
(Williams,2020).

In order to adequately deal with pandemic-specific and generically uncertain job demands, employees will need
resources. To help address this, organizations may use top-down (or may facilitate bottom-up) interventions to
take care of employee health and well-being with a goal to restore balance between job demands and
resources. As a starting point (and part of the reason for our own synthesis), organizations and their leaders
need to learn effective sensemaking and provide means that preserve employee well-being and performance
(Combe & Carrington, 2015) by providing (a) immediate tangible resources, such as information (e.g., about
working from home, prevention of transmission), employee assistance programs (EAPs), or access to
counseling, therapy, and training; and (b) psychological resources such as feedback, support, and inspiration
through regular contact with their employees using video calls (Opera,2020).
Meta-analytic studies by Grover and Furnham (2016), and Sonesh et al. (2015) have shown workplace coaching
to increase wellbeing, and Green and Palmer (2019) have argued for more widespread use of coaching in
workplaces, as part of a broader mental health and wellbeing strategy. The importance of organisations
attending to employees’ wellbeing has been further highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Banerjee
and Rai (2020) observed a negative impact on psychological wellbeing from the pandemic, and Li et al. (2020)
identified significant challenges for people WFH, such as potential feelings of isolation and disconnectedness.
A range of publications about the status of WFH during the pandemic included advice both to employees
(Howe, 2020; Kinman, 2020) and to organisations (Chung et al., 2020; Chartered Institute of Personnel
Development, 2020; Skountridaki et al., 2020), illustrating the importance of mental health and wellbeing
strategies for employees, especially during the pandemic. Positive psychology coaching (PPC) is a distinct
coaching methodology that integrates the applied focus of coaching with key theories from positive psychology
in order to ensure that wellbeing is central to the coaching intervention.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY & AGEING

Positive psychology is ‘the science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive
institutions’. It focuses on understanding and building optimal functioning in individuals, organizations, and
communities (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). As envisioned by Seligman (1998b, 1998c), positive
psychology has three primary goals: To measure positive traits ‘that transcend particular cultures and politics
and approach universality’ thus putting us in a position to begin ‘building’ human strengths, civic virtues, and
the ‘good life’; to promote positive experiences and emotions and to create more positive communities and
institutions that will embody and promote these strengths and experiences.

An important aspect of positive psychology is its application in successful ageing. Historically, old age has been
associated with shortsightedness with old adults being considered cognitively inept, isolated, a financial drain
on society, and depressed by their circumstances (Center for the Advancement of Health [CAH], 1998).
However, Rowe and Kahn (1998) assert that “the common view of old age as a prolonged period of demanding
support from an ever-diminishing number of overworked providers is wrong”. In fact, older adults are quite
skilled in making gradual lifestyle changes to accommodate diminishing physical abilities (Williamson &
Dooley, 2001). Further when given the opportunity, large numbers of seniors are eager to do volunteer work
and take on low-paying part-time jobs. It is a common belief that the older population is depressed along with a
diminishing social support base. However, social networks remain remarkably stable in size throughout the
lifespan, with the number of close relationships among non-institutionalized older adults equaling those of
younger people. Furthermore, older people are more likely than their younger counterparts to access Internet
information and support from a wide spectrum of and often cope more effectively with stressful life events than
do younger adults (McCrae, 1989). Moreover certain attitudinal barriers such as ageism and stereotypes; and
structural barriers like the practical features of the physical environment, bureaucracy, or infrastructure
(Ranzijn & Andrews, 1999) might interfere with the adult’s ability to contribute productively. Even aging adults
bear some responsibility for making sure that they engage in cognitively challenging activities (West, Crook,
& Barron, 1992 as routine activities that require little cognitive effort can exacerbate cognitive decline.
Therefore it is necessary to study the application of Positive Psychology to better understand Ageing because
older age has stereotypically been associated with losses and declines, and relatively little work has been done
to identify gains and areas of growth. Secondly, if positive psychology can improve people’s mental and
physical health, this will reduce dependency and therefore the costs of care in old age. Thirdly, given that an
increasing proportion of the clients of psychologists in the future will be older adults, it is important for clinical
psychologists and other professionals working with older people to understand the potential, as well as the
limitations, of older adults to respond to interventions designed to improve their level of functioning.

Positive aging is a way of perceiving life that construes growing old as meaningful and worthwhile, regardless
of the challenges that old age inevitably presents. The idea of successful ageing was initially conceptualised by
Rowe and Kahn (1998). The term was broadly defined as high physical, psychological, and social
functioning in old age without major diseases (Rowe & Kahn 1998). They proposed 3 essential components
of successful ageing, namely, avoiding diseases, engagement with life and maintaining high cognitive and
physical functioning. Thus, instead of emphasizing negative aspects of ageing, strengths of the ageing process
should take centre stage to increase an individual’s confidence in them and reduce symptoms of mental illness
(Wood et al, 2011). In fact, research has found that holding positive views about life expectancy and quality of
life itself has led to an increase in longevity by 7.6 years illuminating the power of a positive self concept and
belief in self-efficacy (Dorr et al, 2000).

Certain theoretical approaches explain how ageing affects individuals and also inform medical, political and
psychological interventions aimed at improving the well-being of older people. Biomedical theories, for
instance define successful ageing largely in terms of the optimization of life expectancy while minimizing
physical and mental deterioration and disability focusing on the absence of chronic disease and of risk factors
for disease; good health; and high levels of independent physical functioning, performance, mobility, and
cognitive functioning. The socio-psychological models consider successful ageing as a dynamic process, as the
outcome of one’s development over the life course, and as the ability to grow and learn by using past
experiences to cope with present circumstances as well as having a positive outlook and self worth, self efficacy
and sense of control over life, autonomy and independence, and effective coping and adaptive strategies in the
face of changing circumstances (Ryff, 1989). Hill (2005) also proposed a psychological resources model of
positive ageing which suggests that the characteristics of positive ageing are: Recruiting Latent Potentiality
which refers to the person’s ability to make use of latent resources when their existing coping mechanisms seem
to be declining as a consequence of their old age; Flexibility which refers to a person’s capacity to invoke novel
strategies of behaving or thinking to promote better adaptation; Decisional Ability to establishing a plan to
address a goal that acknowledges deficits and an Optimistic Viewpoint which describes an affirmative
approach to life that is characterized by a striving for happiness versus a focus on alleviating symptoms of
distress.

(NOT AS IMPORTANT….. but write in case they ask about models explicitly) -

The Activity Restriction Model of Depressed Affect by Williamson and Shaffer (2000) proposes that increase
in depressive symptoms is associated with ‘activity restriction’ that often follows stressful life events such as
debilitating illness. Activity restriction remains the most proximal predictor of depression. In addition, several
individual differences may interfere with normal activities, such as age, income, personality and social support.
Apart from certain personality characteristics, another important individual difference is social support
resources. People with stronger social support networks cope better with all types of stressful life events
(Mutran, Reitzes, Mossey, & Fernandez, 1995) especially when it’s mutual. Two kinds of support are
particularly important for successful ageing: socio-emotional support and instrumental support. In line with this,
Williamson suggested ways in which interventions could be altered to suit the requirements of the elderly.
“First, therapists should carefully consider the (likely multiple) reasons that activities have become restricted
and design their interventions accordingly. Second, they should target the individuals most at risk for poor
adaptation. Third, identifying manageable activities and available resources means that programs can be
implemented to engage aging adults in pastimes that not only meet their specific interests and needs but also fit
their functional capacities” (Williamson, 2002). Another important model is The Person-Environment Fit
Model by Lawton (1991) which shows the interaction between the individual and the environment.
Emphasis is placed on the extent to which there is a 'fit' between the attributes and competencies of the
individual and the demands and qualities of the environment. As people age, they experience changes in both
their individual attributes and the social, political, and physical demands of the environment. The concept of the
person-environment fit is becoming increasingly prominent in gerontological theory, particularly in discussions
about competencies and capacity to retain autonomy. For example, short of organic disorders (e.g.,
Alzheimer’s disease) that increase with age (e.g., Gatz & Smyer, 1992), older adults in cognitively challenging
environments show minimal declines in thinking and learning abilities and their cognitive performance declines
(e.g., CAH, 1998; Lawton & Nahemow, 1973).
Thus, Productive aging refers to the contributions of older people to their own welfare and that of their
communities and society at large (Ranzijn & Andrews, 1999). There is a long list of contributions that older
people are recognized to make to society (Caro et al., 1993). Most older people help their own adult children,
other family members, or friends in numerous ways, such as by direct financial support, minding children,
caring for their partners and other people who are sick or frail, and doing chores like gardening, painting, and
cooking. Moreover, successful aging is multidimensional. In a study by Amin (2017) it was found that
Bangladeshis’ successful aging encompasses dimensions such as adaptation to an aging body, financial security,
family and intergenerational care, and social participation. Additionally, what it means and entails to age well
differ across cultures (Amin, 2017). For example, Latino older adults maintain a sense of acceptance of aging
related changes rather than trying to control such changes. Appreciation, spirituality, relying on God, helping
others, and feeling joyful and tranquil appeared to them as important to aging successfully (Hilton et al, 2012)

INTERVENTIONS

In 2019, about 6.38% of the Indian population were over 65 years of age, whereas 67% belonged to the 15-64
age group. This demographic change has serious implications; according to the 2017 India Ageing Report
published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the elderly population in India is predicted to
increase thrice as much by 2050, consequently accounting for 20% of the total population. Therefore, it is
becoming increasingly important to have effective mechanisms in place to ensure elderly care in the coming
decades. Contrary to the idea of normal ageing which includes changes that are not necessarily painful or
dangerous such as thinning and greying of our hair, etc PPIs aim at achieving successful ageing. Vaillant
(2004) defined the mission of positive or successful aging as to add more life to years, not just more years to
life’. A variety of PPIs have been designed to achieve successful ageing. Content-focused positive
interventions focus on altering the content of an individual's thinking, while Context-focused positive
interventions emphasize on modifying the situational and historical events that influence an individual’s
behavior (Hayes, Strosahi & Wilson, 2011). Further, one to one interventions are individual-specific and
tailor-made. For example, home visits and regular telephone calls to reduce loneliness among elderly who live
alone (Smith et al, 2007). Interventions at Family Level involve making routine visits to the parents’ place,
helping elderly engage in family decisions and events, and planning regular outings with them can be beneficial.
Finally, group-based interventions are commonly used to reduce loneliness among the elderly people
(Mendieta & Martin, 2003) by providing social support and engaging them in social activities. For example,
promoting volunteering and technology-aided activities among the elderly which is in line with the Activity
Theory according to which participating in an activity strengthens the sense of subjective well-being in the
elderly.

Kim and Park (2016) identified four domains describing successful ageing- avoiding disease and disability,
having high cognitive, mental and physical function, being actively engage in life, and being psychologically
well adapted in later life. They also mentioned how interventions may require convincing elders to shift from
problem focused to emotion-focused coping mechanisms with identifying community-residing older adults
with deficits in social support being a good starting point for intervention. Further, more attention should be
paid to explore ways in which ageing persons can increase their adaptive talents and actively influence their
environments. One such intervention was done by Ho et al (2014) which developed and evaluated a nine-week
positive psychology intervention program for the elderly. The sample consisted of 74 older people who were:
(a) 60 years of age and above; (b) were not clinically depressed; and (c) had intact verbal and hearing abilities.
For the purpose of the intervention, eight key concepts of positive psychology, namely, optimism, gratitude,
savoring, happiness, curiosity, courage, altruism, and meaning of life, were selected, operationalized, and
developed into exercises for the promotion of subjective well-being among older adults. The program
emphasized on: a. Learning through Experience b. Homework Assignments c. Diversification of Group
Activities. The results revealed that compared with the pre-test, older adults exhibited fewer depressive
symptoms, were more satisfied with life, held more gratitude towards life, and were generally happier at the
post-test.

In another study, Killen and Macaskill (2014) examined the effect of a Three good things life gratitude
intervention on hedonic and eudemonic well-being and perceived stress levels in 88 non-clinically depressed
older adults above the age of 60 years. As part of the intervention, participants were requested to record three
good events occurring that day that seemed positive to them for a period of 14 days. Baseline questionnaires
were repeated on the day following completion of this diary exercise (Day 15) and at 30 days post-intervention
(Day 45). Significant increases in flourishing were evident from baseline to day 45. There were decreases in
perceived stress from day 1 to day 15 but these were not maintained once the intervention ended.

Some of the psychological traits that are enhanced by these strategies are subjective happiness. In one such PPI
by Proyer et al (2014), one of the aims was to enhance happiness through three interventions namely, gratitude
visit, three good things, and using signature strengths in a new way. The results reflect the efficacy of these
interventions in increasing happiness and life satisfaction. In the same study the three funny things intervention
was successful in reduction of depressive symptoms for older adults. Chamorro et al (2013) in their
autobiographical memory, gratitude and forgiveness intervention saw an increase in life satisfaction, along with
other factors like subjective happiness and specific memories in the elderly population. Further, Ortega et al
(2018) in their quasi-experimental study examined the efficacy of three separate strengths training-based
interventions – Gratitude, Savoring, and Optimism among the aged. The researchers found that, in addition to
Life Satisfaction and Subjective Happiness, an increase in resilience was also noted in the control group. Some
of the benefits of fostering these traits include better physical health, longer life expectancy, lower rate of
hospitalization and institutionalization, and reduced expenditure for health care services (Jung et al, 2010).
Furthermore, by expanding these traits, these interventions can help older adults to shift their attentional focus
from overemphasizing their limitations to appreciating positive qualities that are accompanied with old age.

COVID-19 has spread worldwide causing an unprecedented public health crisis. Particularly, the mental and
physical health of the elderly aged above 60 and classified as high-risk groups is more vulnerable than other age
groups, requiring more attention. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze and identify the psychological concepts and
protective factors that support and constitute these guidelines and strategies and prepare practical suggestions to
protect the mental health of the elderly during COVID-19. Epidemic-induced stress [Center for Disease
Control and Prevention,2020] is the root of negative psychological and mental influences and, concurrently, a
chief key concept that can offset psychological and mental distress and aggravate psychiatric symptoms
[Park,2020]. Therefore, the right approach to initiate guidance and coping strategies against negative
psychological and mental influences seems to be “coping with stress”. The most effective method for handling
stress caused by COVID-19 includes the appropriate and integrated use of problem-focused and emotion-
focused coping strategies. Problem-focused coping eliminates the problems of stress in this unusual pandemic
situation, while emotion-focused coping helps manage emotions accompanied by stress perception in this
unavoidable circumstance.

Erikson stated that ego integrity among elderly is the state of psychological well-being, the ultimate state of not
fearing death and accepting one’s life without regret [Erikson,1986]. Constant exposure to high-stress levels in
old age decreases expectations toward the self and damages positive self-perception [Willburn,2005] as is
happening in the pandemic. Self-efficacy, therefore, not only helps the elderly to recognize their abilities in
stressful situations caused by COVID-19 but also helps demonstrate the belief that they can overcome difficult
situations. High resilience among the elderly predicts variables such as high coping skills, long lifespan, low
depression, a positive mind, strong social support networks, and dynamic physical activity (Hawkins, 2016).
Thus, resiliency development is particularly important among the elderly.

Social support is an important factor that can help the elderly maintain their health in a pandemic situation.
More specifically, because social support convinces the elderly of their ability to control stressful situations,
those with social networks tend to perceive stressors as less threatening than those who lack coping resources.
Family relationships are a crucial part of social support for the elderly because it is an important environment
that provides affection and protection. Hence, family support and relationships may be the solution for
protecting the psychological and mental health of the elderly throughout the pandemic situation. Regular
physical activities play a positive role in preserving the functional capabilities of the elderly. Additionally,
physical activity is closely related to the mental well-being of the elderly, such as enhancing cognitive and
emotional functions, influencing mental health and well-being by maintaining social networks, and improving
their quality of life [Mihalko,2001]. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, negative content on
social media, such as ‘WhatsApp text forwards’ and tweets, often categorised the elder population as
expendable just because the elderly are more vulnerable to the virus. Soto-Perez-de-Celis (2020) analysed the
contents of tweets about older adults and COVID-19, and found that elderly are thought of as dependent,
unproductive, and a burden to society. According to a survey conducted by HelpAge India (2020), the
lockdown impacted the livelihood of over 65% elders in the age group of 60-69 years, 28% elders in the age
group of 70-79 years and 5% elders in age group of 80 and above. Besides the challenges mentioned above, the
elderly are also subjected to stigmatisation, social isolation, elderly abuse, including verbal, physical, sexual
and psychological abuse, and neglect. In a survey conducted by Agewell Foundation (2020), it was revealed
that over 56% elderly suffered abuse in their families during the lockdown, out of which 79% elderly were
mistreated primarily due to financial reasons. Thus, interventions focusing on building resilience, employment
opportunities, social relationships and self-efficacy should be designed in an attempt to enhance the quality of
life by improving the fit between the person and the environment. Online access for older adults, once
harnessed, can help create online support groups, provide video counseling, and help design diagnostic and
therapeutic services (Vahia and Shah, 2020). Interventions need to be adapted to be more person-centered, more
attuned to the diverse pathways leading to states of isolation and more mindful of the importance of perceived
social isolation as an early sign of increased vulnerability (Dassieu and Sourial, 2021).

In conclusion, positive psychology has important implications for the ageing population, especially in relation
to elderly care. Interventions may be designed to foster well-being, growth and development in the older
population by incorporating positive psychological constructs such as mindfulness, optimism, hope, gratitude,
forgiveness, humour as well as including family members and community. There seems to be a dearth of
literature exploring the link between positive psychology and ageing in the Indian context making it imperative
to bridge this gap in literature, especially in light of the ongoing global pandemic that has had damaging
implications for our elderly. Domiciliary care services too need to be supported to use their creativity, in
partnership with their clients, to develop aids and technologies to enable older people to remain functioning
within their communities as long as they wish.