Positive Psychology in Times of Adversity: Pandemic and Well-being in Daily Life
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31580/jrp.v2i3.1696Keywords:
positive psychological adaptation, resilience, positive emotions, character strengths, COVID -19Abstract
AbstractOur life on earth often is dashed by hardships, losses, and crises. Naturally, these adverse life events and tragedies create doubt and disbelief about the meaning of life, and our human mind engaged with helplessness, despair, and negativity. However, human's physical and psychological immune systems have programmed through the evolutionary process of survival of the fittest. It makes us capable of overcoming the threats and adversities and showing greater resilience and courage to respond to the demand. At present, the COVID -19 pandemic has paralyzed human life in all aspects irrespective of the social, economic status across the world in 216 countries, areas, or territories. Pandemic causes panic, insecure feelings about life and death, fear of transmission of infection, and so on. The field of positive psychology studies human strengths and potentials that are the ingredients of our well-being, resilience, adjustment, and adaptation to any adverse situations of life. This review article attempts to show the relevance of positive psychology and how positive psychological adaptation and its constructs help to strengthen humankind in times of adversity.
References
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Snyder, C. R., C. Harris, J. R. Anderson, S. A. Holleran, L. M. Irving, S. T. Sigmon, L. Yoshinobu, J. Gibb, C. Langelle, and P. Harney. 1991. “The Will and the Ways: Development and Validation of an Individual-Differences Measure of Hope.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 60 (4): 570–85.
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Werner, Emmy E. 1995. “Resilience in Development.” Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10772327.
White, Barry. 2009. “Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues2009274Edited by Joseph P. Byrne. Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press 2008. , ISBN: 978 0 313 34101 4 £115, $199.95 2 Vols.” Reference Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1108/09504120910978951.
Zowalaty, Mohamed E. El, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sean G. Young, and Josef D. Järhult. 2020. “Environmental Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic – a Lesson for the Future.” Infection Ecology & Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008686.2020.1768023.
Burns, David D. 2012. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. Harper Collins.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 2020. Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life. Basic Books.
“Definition of PANDEMIC.” n.d. Accessed August 30, 2020. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic.
Dehkordi, Amirhoshang Hoseinpour, Majid Alizadeh, Pegah Derakhshan, Peyman Babazadeh, and Arash Jahandideh. 2020. “Understanding Epidemic Data and Statistics: A Case Study of COVID?19.” Journal of Medical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25885.
Diener, Ed. 2009. “Subjective Well-Being.” Social Indicators Research Series. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_2.
Doherty, Peter C. 2013. Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press.
Encyclopedia Britannica, and Inc. 2008. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
Frankl, Viktor E. 2011. Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning. Random House.
Fredrickson, Barbara L., Michael A. Cohn, Kimberly A. Coffey, Jolynn Pek, and Sandra M. Finkel. 2008. “Open Hearts Build Lives: Positive Emotions, Induced through Loving-Kindness Meditation, Build Consequential Personal Resources.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95 (5): 1045–62.
Fredrickson, Barbara L., and Thomas Joiner. 2002. “Positive Emotions Trigger Upward Spirals Toward Emotional Well-Being.” Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00431.
Fredrickson, Barbara L., Michele M. Tugade, Christian E. Waugh, and Gregory R. Larkin. 2003. “What Good Are Positive Emotions in Crisis? A Prospective Study of Resilience and Emotions Following the Terrorist Attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.365.
Hays, J. N. 2005. Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History. ABC-CLIO.
Kabat-Zinn, Jon. 2005. Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. Harper Collins.
Kiken, Laura G., Kristjen B. Lundberg, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. 2017. “Being Present and Enjoying It: Dispositional Mindfulness and Savoring the Moment Are Distinct, Interactive Predictors of Positive Emotions and Psychological Health.” Mindfulness 8 (5): 1280–90.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. 2020. “Pandemics and the Shape of Human History.” The New Yorker, March 30, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/06/pandemics-and-the-shape-of-human-history.
Lent, Robert W. 2004. “Toward a Unifying Theoretical and Practical Perspective on Well-Being and Psychosocial Adjustment.” Journal of Counseling Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.51.4.482.
“Life in the Time of Coronavirus Lockdown.” n.d. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2020/apr/20/life-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-lockdown-2132645.html.
Loomis, Joshua S. 2018. Epidemics: The Impact of Germs and Their Power Over Humanity. ABC-CLIO.
Niemiec, Ryan M. 2020. “Six Functions of Character Strengths for Thriving at Times of Adversity and Opportunity: A Theoretical Perspective.” Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9692-2.
O’Leary, Ann, and Shirley Brown. 1995. “Self-Efficacy and the Physiological Stress Response.” Self-Efficacy, Adaptation, and Adjustment. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6868-5_8.
Otero, Marcela C., Jenna L. Wells, Kuan-Hua Chen, Casey L. Brown, Dyan E. Connelly, Robert W. Levenson, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. 2019. “Behavioral Indices of Positivity Resonance Associated with Long-Term Marital Satisfaction.” Emotion , July. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000634.
Peterson, Christopher, and Martin E. P. Seligman. 2004. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press.
Qiu, W., S. Rutherford, A. Mao, and C. Chu. 2017. “The Pandemic and Its Impacts.” Health, Culture and Society. https://doi.org/10.5195/hcs.2017.221.
Rashid, T., & McGrath, R. E. 2020. “Strengths-Based Actions to Enhance Wellbeing in the Time of COVID-19.” International Journal of Wellbeing 10(4) (September): 113–32.
Renshaw, Tyler L., Michael J. Furlong, Erin Dowdy, Jennica Rebelez, Douglas C. Smith, Meagan D. O’Malley, Sueng-Yeon Lee, and Ida Frugård Strøm. n.d. “Covitality.” Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203106525.ch2.
Scheier, M. F., and C. S. Carver. 1985. “Optimism, Coping, and Health: Assessment and Implications of Generalized Outcome Expectancies.” Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 4 (3): 219–47.
Scheier, Michael F., Charles S. Carver, and Michael W. Bridges. n.d. “Optimism, Pessimism, and Psychological Well-Being.” Optimism & Pessimism: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1037/10385-009.
Seligman, Martin. 2018. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Hachette UK.
Seligman, Martin. 2018. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Hachette UK.
Seligman, Martin E. P. 2012. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Simon and Schuster.
Seligman, Martin E. P., and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 2014. “Positive Psychology: An Introduction.” Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_18.
Sheldon, Kennon M., and Sonja Lyubomirsky. 2019. “Revisiting the Sustainable Happiness Model and Pie Chart: Can Happiness Be Successfully Pursued?” The Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1689421.
Shoshani, Anat, and Michelle Slone. 2016. “The Resilience Function of Character Strengths in the Face of War and Protracted Conflict.” Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02006.
Snyder, C. R., C. Harris, J. R. Anderson, S. A. Holleran, L. M. Irving, S. T. Sigmon, L. Yoshinobu, J. Gibb, C. Langelle, and P. Harney. 1991. “The Will and the Ways: Development and Validation of an Individual-Differences Measure of Hope.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 60 (4): 570–85.
“Things We Learned to Appreciate More during COVID-19 Lockdown.” n.d. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www.unicef.org/northmacedonia/stories/things-we-learned-appreciate-more-during-covid-19-lockdown.
Werner, Emmy E. 1995. “Resilience in Development.” Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10772327.
White, Barry. 2009. “Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues2009274Edited by Joseph P. Byrne. Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press 2008. , ISBN: 978 0 313 34101 4 £115, $199.95 2 Vols.” Reference Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1108/09504120910978951.
Zowalaty, Mohamed E. El, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sean G. Young, and Josef D. Järhult. 2020. “Environmental Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic – a Lesson for the Future.” Infection Ecology & Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008686.2020.1768023.
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Published
2020-12-21
