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Leadership is an integration between positive opposites, which can become negative when viewed in isolation, and that effective coaching supports and challenges employees to go beyond the either/or choices presented by these positive opposites.
Jolanta Burke integrates positive psychology and cyberpsychology into the new and novel field of positive technology. Merging cyberpsychology and positive psychology draws attention to the use of technology in addressing human needs and the development of well‐being programs which are delivered using technology. Positive cyberpsychology aims to study three broad areas: the positive impact of technology in directly improving individual and group level well‐being, the positive subjective experience of technology, and the positive subjective impact of online content at the individual and group level.
With respect to the positive impact of technology in directly improving individual and group level well‐being, there are currently available interventions used in the medical field which serve as a stepping stone since they primarily focus on health rather than well‐being. The author contends that cyberpsychology can inform positive psychology in this regard by focusing researchers on the effectiveness of and optimal use of cyberpsychology. To understand the impact of technology on well‐being requires further research attention to ensure end‐users’ positive experiences with technology. Specifically, there is a paucity of research on the positive impact of technology with much greater attention being given to the negative physical and mental outcome of technology. Initial studies have demonstrated how technology can improve lives and this should serve as a guide to developing positive cyberpsychology interventions.
Robert J. Sternberg, in another contribution, is empathetic and expresses his concern as an academic and a world citizen on how pandemics and issues such as COVID‐19 are addressed. Guided by relevant research he notes the failure of human beings to truly adapt to catastrophes highlighting several ways in which human beings have failed to adapt to changes. Citing the mismanagement of the Spanish flu pandemic as the perfect example of what world leaders should avoid, he posits that twenty‐first‐century world leaders instead choose to either ignore those events or implement decisions which arguably have made the current COVID‐19 pandemic worse. The chapter challenges the traditional notions of intelligence, drawing a comparison between competence, which refers to our capabilities, and performance which refers to what we do. Applying academic definitions of intelligence may be flawed in real‐world settings since pandemics, catastrophes, and climate change oftentimes require practical solutions for which there is no predefined right or wrong answer.
Sternberg argues for the need to incorporate social psychology in the study of intelligence since real‐world problem solving and decision making occur within a sociocultural context. Cognitive dissonance theory was used to succinctly explain changes in behaviors and decisions and to demonstrate the utility of incorporating social psychology in the study of intelligence. The role of rational thinking and personality traits are important consideration for realization of the fruits of social intelligence. The chapter outlines the use of positive psychology in helping individuals make important decisions which have health and well‐being implications.
What is the relationship between time perspective and feeling good? Aleksandra Kostić, Derek Chadee, and Marija Pejičić’s chapter addresses this issue. Psychological research on time indicates that the attitude toward time has a strong and even powerful influence on how we live. The way we relate to different time intervals and the way in which we separate and connect them, and then separate again, influence our perception of the world and sense of well‐being. The authors’ interest is directed toward the analysis of the connection between the subjective experience of time and an individual’s positive affective experience, which implies finding answers to some unresolved questions. Therefore, an important question to ask is whether a certain preferred temporal orientation implies a higher number of positive effects, and another one implies a higher number of negative effects. Core to this chapter is understanding how our motivation, activities, achievements, and transformations are influenced by our time perspective and in turn influence our well‐being.
Massimo Agnoletti and Sandro Formica’s chapter on physiological and epigenetics builds on research which explored emotions and physiology to demonstrate the deeper impact that emotions, both positive and negative, can have on physical health and well‐being. The authors acknowledge the gap between medically researched interventions, which focus on physical and chemical processes of acute illness and trauma, and the psychological impact of illnesses and progressive treatments on humans. Progressive treatment of patients has sought to narrow the mind–body gap since there is new and compelling empirical support for the integration of both methods of treatment. This integration of biomedical and psychological knowledge brings a new and valuable understanding of the physiological and cellular dynamics of positive emotions.
To demonstrate adequately the benefits of physiological and epigenetic effects of positive emotions, the authors use three elements: the dopaminergic neural pathway, the cholinergic anti‐inflammatory pathway (CAP), and the interoceptive information. The dopaminergic pathway provides an understanding of the motivational influences governing repeating of behaviors which have positive emotional experiences and promotes better health. The CAP mediates the relation between life experiences and cellular information of the immune system which means that both the quality and quantity of life experiences can trigger epigenetic changes which can affect the quality of life and perception of personal identity. Finally, the interoception information is a continuous bidirectional communication between emotions and external sensory exchanges. The quality of life will be improved when human beings become aware of their thoughts, deeds, and lifestyle and advocate for the further narrowing of the mind–body gap and a move toward developing a platform for a holistic approach to the well‐being of individuals and society.
Youth civic engagement is multidimensional with a synergy among individuals, institutions, cultures, and subcultures with a social and economic, among others, context. Laura Wray‐Lake, Burkhard Gniewosz, Celina Benavides, and Sara Wilf adopting a developmental and cultural perspective, provide a micro–macro understanding of factors contributing to youth civic engagement and how these levels and their interaction influence engagement. The authors distinguish civic engagement from citizenship noting that the latter is a formal and legal status of being a member of a society while the former is the subjective representation of citizenship with psychological or tangible interactions with others where individuals express rights and acts on responsibilities without the requirement of citizenship. For engagement to take place there must be interaction between the individual and community. An emphasis of this chapter is the importance of socialization in civic development in both childhood and adolescence allowing for a sense of purpose in connection to their social world. The authors embolden discourses to build a consensus across cultures and disciplines on the understanding of youth civic engagement.
In his third contribution, Robert J. Sternberg focuses on the several elements of love and the contribution of these elements to the satisfaction and maintenance of a relationship including elements of trust, compassion, and communication. These core elements are utilized in a holistic analysis and identification of malfunctions within the relationship, and perception of the degree to which the relationship helps the individual to self‐actualize. Crucial to an understanding of love are intimacy, passion, and commitment. These form the author’s triangular theory of love, the understanding of which is posited to be essential for a successful relationship. The theory of love as a story is discussed, along with the formulation and functions of the stories of love. The roles of jealousy and envy within current and future relationships are also considered, with situational and personal jealousy and envy being the focus. These constructs were noted as being either harmful or beneficial to a relationship. The chapter provides an angle into the meaningfulness, the eudaimonic, of love and positive relational development.
The celebrated and one of the major contributors to the genesis of positive psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes on the flow concept, a major contribution he has made to positive psychology. He notes that this concept arose out of research on low to nonextrinsic rewarding activities. Csikszentmihalyi provides an understanding of the development of the flow concept. He describes the state of flow as an intense concentration in which we tend to lose self‐consciousness, though being