Top 7 Critiques on Positive Psychology and Where to go From There

Looking into getting that Critiques on Positive Psychology to learn about pursuing ‘happiness’? You might want to know first of the ‘negatives’ of it. I compiled a few noteworthy criticisms about Positive Psychology so you could go over it before you decide on taking on that course.

These were the things that made me skeptical about the approach.

Before you continue you might like to consider our free worksheet on exploring “Shadow Work”. Please download this worksheet here.

This Article Contains:
Quick Overview of Positive Psychology
Most Notable Criticism of Positive Psychology
1. Dangers of Separating Positive Psychology
2. Methodology
3. Simplification Into Duality Disregards Depth
4. Perspective Bias On Topics And Research Findings
5. The Necessity of the Negative
6. “Positive” Blaming
7. Blows On Humanistic Psychology
4 Best Features Of Sound Waves Positive Psychology
1. Incorporation of Dialectics-Fluidity and Reliance
2. Bridging Psychology as Usual and Final Wave Positive Psychology (PP)
3. Embraces the ‘Dark Side of Life’
4. Transcendence through Self-Awareness

Quick Overview Of Positive Psychology

Here listed is a quick run-through of Positive Psychology as introduced by Seligman. Emphasized ‘positives’ (thoughts, emotions, traits, attitudes, experiences, etc.) Voiced deviation from ‘psychology as usual (which focused mainly on ‘negative’ experiences and qualities, dysfunction and disorder) Regarded negative states and experiences as unwanted, and thus people should aim to avoid these; encouraged ‘positive’ qualities as it was said to be beneficial and should therefore be sought. Positive Psychology pioneered by Martin Seligman was not that all “positive” with the psychological community. As with any emerging thoughts or movements, it was, of course, met with reservations by some professionals.

Most Notable Criticisms About Positive Psychology:

1. Dangers of Separating ‘Positive’ From The ‘Negative’

A known researcher about coping and emotion, Richard Lazarus, was one of the notable critics of Positive Psychology. – He pointed out how the ‘seemingly’ simple dichotomy or labeling emotions as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ can be misleading and superficial. – He may have felt that his line of study has been somewhat labeled ‘negative’ when in fact these ‘negativities’ (like anger, anxiety, etc.) are important points that need immediate attention than the ‘positives’ (happiness, love, etc.).

2. Methodology

When Positive Psychology was first introduced by Martin Seligman, this opened new topics for research but it mostly first relied on cross-sectional correlation research which: – Proved as a limitation since correlation researches only show relationships between variables and do not provide cause and effect

3. Simplification Into ‘Duality’ Disregards Depth

The critics believe that the dichotomy oversimplified the depth of topics (like emotion). For critics, Positive Psychology insinuates a polarization about the goodness of “positives” and outright regards the “negatives” as harmful when in fact it has a lot more dimension.

4. Perspective Bias On Topics And Research Findings

This might have stemmed from the dichotomy into “negatives” and “positives”

• Researches under Positive Psychology focuses on the “positive” topics which somehow neglects the existence and relevance of previous researches with topics that are now deemed as “negatives”.
• It somehow has an unconscious message that encouraging the positive (while ignoring the negative) is favors benefits.
• This somehow limits the spotlight on researches about ‘negatives’ that turns beneficial for personal, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.

5. Necessity of the Negative

Post-Traumatic Growth is one of the topics that emerged from Positive Psychology that showed how the ‘negatives’ are beneficial and necessary for one’s well-being.

6. ‘Positive’ Blaming

Another pitfall of Positive Psychology’s dichotomy is how likely the absence of ‘positive’ emotions, thoughts, and attitudes might shift the blame of misery back to the person as if it is their fault.

• It has long been the goal of traditional psychology (or ‘psychology as usual’) to help people understand that their sufferings and hardships are sometimes not within their control.
• Blaming oneself for the lack of ‘positives’ is viewed as immediately a personal choice when in fact there are a lot of factors (like cognitive, physical abilities/disabilities, mental disorder, etc.)

7. ‘Blows’ On Humanistic Psychology

Seligman looks at humanistic psychology as unscientific (Held, 2004) and draws a line between the latter and positive psychology.

• Seligman defines a legitimate scientific as only that of quantitative empirical research since humanistic psychology has a tradition of using qualitative methods.

If Positive Psychology has these… is it really worth taking a Positive Psychology Course? Well, YES!! BECAUSE HERE’S THE CATCH… It is already diverging from the pioneered Positive Psychology ideation! It is currently on its second wave.

4 Best Features Of Second Wave Positive Psychology

The skepticisms about the first wave are justifiable. As with every thought movement, it is normal it would evolve into something more reasonable. This second wave offers a more logical take of finding happiness through the positives. It does not mean that the first wave was more, it was that it has room for improvements and a more comprehensive take. The following are just some of the reasons why you should check it out.

1. Incorporation of Dialectics— Fluidity, and Reliance

• This refers to the notion that opposites may be at different ends but they are undeniably fluidly connected and reliant on each other’s existence.
• This, therefore, addresses the unease about the dichotomy into ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ and puts into perspective the grey area and the other side of the positive spectrum.
• This also looks into the fluidity of the polarizations— how there can be a shift from one to the other (positive to negative and vice versa)

2. Bridging ‘Psychology as Usual’ and First Wave Positive Psychology (PP)

• This Second Wave of Positive Psychology bridges the gap between the seeming dismissal of First Wave PP about ‘negative’ thoughts, emotions, and attitudes and the absence of encouragement of ‘positives’ in ‘psychology as usual’ or traditional psychology.
• In Hegelian terms, the second wave acts as the synthesis between the thesis (‘psychology as usual’) and antithesis (first wave positive psychology).
• Although it finds a subtle balance between the two, it is a dynamic field that could keep evolving.

3. Embraces the ‘Dark Side Of Life’

If the first wave focused on the ‘brighter side of life’, this second wave embraces and does not neglect the existence of the ‘dark side of life’ or negative thoughts, emotions, attitudes, or experiences.

4. Transcendence Through Self-Awareness

This brings us into a fresh dimension in psychology which involves spirituality.

Spirituality is not entirely about religion but instead more about getting in touch with ourselves to know more than just the inner workings of mind but to reach beyond be attuned to what affects us.

The exciting part about this second wave is the integration of mindful meditation in clinical interventions and even in RCT’s (Random Controlled Trial) researches. RCT’s are like the holy grail of experimental researches. It’s the best setup one can use for experimental research.

Lots of studies have been done using Mindful Meditation that showed fruitful results regarding:

• Decrease in stress
• The lower tendency of relapse
• Decreased pain on those with chronic or terminal illnesses
• Help in parenting and a healthy diet

It felt like the reservations I had at about Positive Psychology were valid. It was good that I was skeptical about it.

But when I heard and knew about this Second Wave movement, it changed my mind because it was more inclusive and thorough.

 

If you’re ready to explore and transform your inner challenges, download our free Shadow Work Workbook here to start your journey toward personal growth and self-awareness.