What is Positive Psychology? Wikipedia positive psychology page. [ted id=312] What (and Why) is Positive Psychology, an overview paper by psychologists Shelly Gable and Jonathan Haidt. Positive Psychology Books 1. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom – The book which introduced me to positive psychology. Book summary. 2. Stumbling on Happiness – … Read more

What goal types are most effective for encouraging performance and happiness in children? In this study, two personality variables and three experimental conditions were investigated. Those with a high motive to achieve success performed better and reported higher satisfaction and happiness than those with a high motive to avoid failure. In addition, those with a … Read more

“Children who were rated 1-point higher on a 3-point self-control scale were 26% less likely to be overweight as adolescents.” Multiple factors determine a child’s weight status, of whether they are healthy or overweight. This study assessed whether self-control was one of those factors. 844 children were watched from age 9 to 15. Those who … Read more

How does grit affect your ability to reason, think and ultimately succeed at your goals? Discover the science behind grit and how it can improve your life satisfaction. Grit is the ability to persevere over long periods of time in the face of significant challenge – the ability to stay interested in the same idea, … Read more

In this study, the specific reasons why grittier spelling bee finalists reach higher rounds was assessed. The observation that grit correlates with spelling bee performance had already been made. Grit was found to predict two behaviors which in turn lead to increased performance – more practice, and better practice. More practice is self-explanatory – the … Read more

Across six studies, the authors of this article create and then attempt to prove the predictive validity of a shorter version of their previous, 12-item Grit Scale. In study one, using data from an older study, the 12-item grit scale was successfully shortened into the 8-item grit scale (Grit-S). In study two, using an online sample of … Read more

Teaching difficult students can be taxing – suggesting that emotional health and perseverance (e.g. grit) may predict teacher performance in poor neighborhoods. In this study, Teach For America teachers, who are required to teach in mostly poor neighborhoods, were assessed for 4 qualities: grit, life satisfaction, optimism, and performance. Performance was objectively assessed by averaging the academic gains of … Read more

Have you ever seen those cartoons where a character has an devil on one shoulder telling it all the bad things it should do; and an angel on the other shoulder telling it all the good things it should do and the reasons it shouldn’t do them. I have always thought of self-control as that … Read more

IQ tests, in their ideal form, accurately measure intelligence. In the real world, they don’t, for several reasons. First, many portions of an IQ assessment test crystallized knowledge – that is, they test for facts that have already been memorized. Although knowledge is a component of intelligence, intelligence, as it is usually used, means, ‘how fast can this person learn?’ The … Read more