Free Positive Psychology Essay Topics & Examples
Before Marty Seligman became the President of the American Psychological Association and chose it as the core issue of his term, positive psychology was not a common field of study. Since the early days of psychology, it has been focused on the troubles of the mind, not achieving happiness or wellbeing. In the late 1990s, Seligman suggested it was time for a fresh take and a new outlook for the psychological science community.
Like other theories, positive psychology has its advantages and downsides, and there is plenty of scientific evidence of both. Still, the issue remains fresh and exciting while offering enough data for you to chew on. So writing positive psychology essays is a fitting challenge for college students, regardless of their major.
Essay Examples on Positive Psychology
- Three Things That Are Important for Happy Life
- What Makes You Happy?
- Happiness According to Aristotle
- The Concept of Learned Optimism and Coping With Stress
- Happiness and Virtues According to Aristotle
- Stumbling on Happines
Intriguing Positive Psychology Topics for Essays and Research Papers
Unfortunately, positive psychology is a bit more complex than a simple mantra of “Be happy”. While the field does focus on positive emotions, there’s much more to the theory than that. And college professors expect you to demonstrate your in-depth knowledge and understanding of the issue. It starts with formulating a smart, thought-provoking research question that fits your assignment prompt and word count requirements. We’ve drafted five essay topics related to positive psychology that should jumpstart your research and writing:
- What sets positive psychology apart from other psychological theories? For decades, disorders, depression, and psychological problems were the focus of psychology. In your paper, consider how positive psychology focuses on helping humans achieve subjective wellbeing through focusing on their strengths, achievements, and positive emotions.
- The historical influences in Martin Seligman positive psychology theories. Seligman was not the first to draw attention to happiness as the core value of human life. You can trace the origins of this theory to humanist psychologists, like Maslow and Fromm, and compare how early teachings transformed to shape the modern positive psychological approach.
- The core prerequisites of achieving a flow state and resulting benefits. Consider the advantages of getting in the zone for personal and professional endeavors and research effective ways of achieving the coveted mental state. Support your arguments with recent research data.
- An overview of behavioral interventions for improved wellbeing. Research the short-term and long-term effects of expressing kindness, gratitude, mindfulness, and awe on subjective wellbeing. You can turn the research data into a positive psychology essay or research paper, but a case study would be even more impressive.
- Psychological, physiological, and emotional repercussions of toxic positivity. If you’re not a huge fan of the theory or a devout critic, your essays on positive psychology should focus on the downsides of ignoring negativity. Overview the potential effects of repressing anger, anxiety, or depression. Highlight the idea that all emotions are equally valuable and necessary for healthy living.
With your topic chosen, what do you do next? Should you read all of Seligman’s works or focus on his critics? Or should you begin with a quick scan of a Wikipedia page? Do you start outlining now or after you’ve done your research?
Let us suggest a smarter alternative! Start your research by browsing our collection of free essays on positive psychology. It won’t take you more than 30 minutes to scan the select samples on offer. And once you’re done, you’ll have a better idea of what your next steps should be. At worst, you’ll have a couple of usable sources to look up. At best, you’ll have an essay outline template along with several core points to make and a thesis statement you can borrow for your paper. This little shortcut will save you days of research struggles in the long run, and your assignment will be all the better for extra inspiration.
But what if an example of a positive psychology essay isn’t enough? What if your paper is long overdue, and you have one last chance to turn it in before you lose the points and fail the class? The only surefire way to get out of trouble is to get help. A professional writer can breeze through research and draft a paper in under 24 hours. And with an expertly-written paper, you can’t get a low grade.
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