Interest Group "Positive Psychology“ in the DGPs

Positive Psychology is a comparatively young discipline that has gained popularity and attention in the early 2000s. The core concern is, unlike a perspective on dysfunctional processes (like in the sense of (psycho-)pathogenesis), to place a stronger focus on functional processes that are oriented towards positive subjective experiences as well as characteristics and institutions that have a positive effect and that make it possible to maintain or increase well-being as well as to be more resilient in dealing with current and future challenges. For many years, Positive Psychology has made an important contribution to a better understanding of psychological processes that promote the experience of positive emotions and states such as satisfaction and well-being.  It has developed, implemented and evaluated interventions on this basis.

The interest group therefore aims to bundle positive psychological research in Germany and to work together on questions of positive development on an individual, interpersonal and organizational level, on the description of differences in positive characteristics and experiences (in the sense of state-trait differences) and on the differential effectiveness of positive psychological interventions. National and international activities are to be networked and critically discussed. Challenges such as theory formation and method development in the positive-psychological spectrum are to be dealt with, and the role of contexts and settings (e.g. school, workplace) is to be examined in more detail from a positive-psychological perspective.