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Positive psychology approaches have been shown to play a vital role in protecting mental health in times of challenge and are, therefore, important to include when studying the psychological outcomes of COVID-19. While existing research has focused on individual psychological health, this paper focuses on collective wellbeing and collective posttraumatic growth, with the aim of more clearly identifying the positive experiences and potential for positive growth for key institutions in our society during the pandemic. A range of positive psychology interventions for families, schools, workplaces, and clinical psychology are presented. The paper then considers how three broad-reaching phenomena existing in our wider society (i.e., arts and culture, eco-connection, and wellbeing literacy) can be used to boost collective wellbeing. A positive systems approach to understand civilian responses to the pandemic together with an examination of the role that positive psychology can play in supporting marginalized groups are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the COVID-19 global health disaster continues to unfold across the world, calls have been made to address the associated mental illness public crisis. The current paper seeks to broaden these calls by considering the role that positive psychology factors can play 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. The paper explores evidence and applications from nine topics in positive psychology that support people through a pandemic: meaning, coping, self-compassion, courage, gratitude, character strengths, positive emotions, positive interpersonal processes and high-quality connections. In times of intense crisis, such as COVID-19, it is understandable that research is heavily directed towards addressing the ways in which people are wounded and weakened. However, this need not come at the expense of also investigating the ways in which people are sustained and strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While positive psychology has been in development for more than 20 years, positive psychologists still face the challenge of finding optimal measurements of well-being. The PERMA framework provides a new understanding of well-being based on years of research. However, whether it adds value in terms of being distinct from the already established measures of Subjective Well-Being (SWB) has recently been under debate. Certain characteristics of PERMA make it unsuited for traditional factor analysis and data analysis techniques. In this paper, we argue that a network approach is more suitable for understanding the interrelated nature of PERMA components. We then show how the components of PERMA and SWB are distinct using exploratory graphical analysis. Our results show that while PERMA predicts SWB, PERMA provides us a more nuanced way to understand the interrelated antecedents of well-being, which we refer to as the web of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visiting art museums is a common activity that a wide variety of people choose to engage in for many reasons. Increasingly, communities, nations, and societies are turning to art museums as institutions to enhance flourishing (i.e., reducing ill-being factors, such as depression, and increasing well-being factors, such as feelings of belonging). In this paper, we review the psychological literature examining art museum visitation and museum program participation and their associations with flourishing-related outcomes. The literature suggests art museum visitation is associated with reductions in ill-being outcomes and increases in well-being outcomes. Additionally, programs targeting flourishing outcomes in clinical or at-risk populations (e.g. people living with dementia, older adults) show benefits to participants, with visits to art museums being socially prescribed across the globe to address a variety of ill-being conditions. Implications for existing knowledge and avenues for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 50% of the world uses social media. There has been significant academic and public discourse around its negative mental health impacts. There has not, however, been a broad systematic review in the field of Positive Psychology exploring the relationship between social media and wellbeing, to inform healthy social media use, and to identify if, and how, social media can support human flourishing. To investigate the conditions and activities associated with flourishing through social media use, which might be described as 'Flourishing through Social Media'. A systematic search of peer reviewed studies, identifying flourishing outcomes from usage, was conducted, resulting in 118 final studies across 7 social media platforms, 50,000+ participants, and 26 countries. The interaction between social media usage and flourishing is bi-directional and nuanced. Analysis through our proposed conceptual framework suggests potential for a virtuous spiral between self-determination, identity, social media usage, and flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, research studies and theoretical work have made the case for altruistic and compassionate love as a psychosocial determinant of physical and mental health and well-being. Empirical findings and the deliberations of various conferences, working groups, and think-tank initiatives have laid the groundwork for a field that has been referred to as the epidemiology of love. This article provides a narrative history of this field, beginning with early work in psychology and in sociology. These precursors include decades of psychological studies of romantic, sexual, affectional, and interpersonal bonds, preceded by the work of sociologist Pitirim Sorokin in the 1950s detailing his taxonomy of the multiple aspects and dimensions of altruism and love. More recently, research at the intersection of altruism, love, spirituality, and human flourishing has emerged, including studies of physical and mental health. Currently, funded initiatives are developing applications of this research to global population health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive psychologists have used science to understand many virtues but have only just started to study grace, recently defined as ' ... the gift of acceptance given unconditionally and voluntarily to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver'. The purpose of the current article is to provide a systematic review of all empirical studies (published and unpublished) on grace. Broadly, the empirical study of grace has focused on what people believe and how people experience both divine and human grace. Additionally, empirical attention has shifted to explore outcomes of grace-based interventions (e.g., congregation-wide interventions, marital interventions). In general, beliefs and experiences of grace were associated with (a) positive mental health outcomes, (b) religiosity, (c) virtue development, and (d) interpersonal functioning. Human grace has not been extensively explored and divine grace has been studied mostly among Christians; future studies should address these limitations and explore causal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared positive emotions involving caring and synchrony – termed 'positivity resonance' – are associated with mental health. We hypothesized that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, individual differences in trait resilience would be linked with better overall mental health in part because those higher in trait resilience experience more positivity resonance. We surveyed respondents nationally in April and May of 2020 (total N = 1,059), during pervasive stay-at-home orders. Participants completed self-reports of trait resilience and mental health and used the Day Reconstruction Method to describe their social and emotional experiences. Structural equation models showed perceived positivity resonance to mediate the links between trait resilience and mental health outcomes. Subsequent analyses showed these mediating effects to be independent of overall positive emotion and social interaction quantity (amongst nationwide adults). These results indicate that high-quality social connection played a uniquely important role in maintaining mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors related to the 'typical university experience,' such as high levels of perceived stress and a lack of sleep, negatively affect student mental health. The present study analyzes mental health risk and protective factors from 2,472 respondents gathered through the National College Health Assessment-II survey to inform the development of a mental health program for post-secondary students at an institution in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Students who reported symptoms or diagnoses of anxiety and depression, above or below average stress, and few nights of restful sleep were more likely to be languishing than moderately mentally healthy, while students who reported average levels of stress and three or more restful nights of sleep per week were more likely to be flourishing than moderately mentally healthy. This work draws on the Health Belief Model in developing effective wellness programs to help students move along the mental health continuum toward flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The states of mind (SOM) model-related ratios of positive/negative affect to psychological functioning, findings that were later integrated into Lefebvre's mathematical model of self-awareness. Using a different mathematical model, Fredrickson and Losada proposed a 'tipping point' that distinguished 'languishing' from 'flourishing groups,' but a critique of their work led to a retraction. This cast doubt on positivity ratios and left the concept without mathematical underpinnings. This article highlights critical differences between tipping points and balance points, the latter used by the SOM model and not subject to the same criticisms. An experiment using Fredrickson's and Losada's model was re-analyzed comparing their method with the SOM model, revealing a higher concordance of ratios with existing norms using the SOM method. Since positive and negative affect are important mental-health indicators, restoring a valid mathematical model strengthens the scientific status of this phenomenon and provides a robust theory for positive psychology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]