Positive psychology revisited

I recently wrote on some concepts from positive psychology in a post entitled On grit, flow and 'vasbyt'. Now an extensive review about positive psychology, entitled An intellectual movement for the masses, has just appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The following quotes highlight some of the issues facing positive psychology:

"The world of positive psychology is vast and varied. The term is not trademarked, after all. Google it and you can find links not only to Seligman's Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania but also to self-styled gurus describing their own "path of self-discovery" and to sites like Enlightenment Central, advertising neurofeedback and "consciousness exploration." A segment about positive psychology on National Public Radio in 2007 still makes researchers cringe: Its prime example of the field was the best seller The Secret, in which the television producer Rhonda Byrne argues that everything in the universe vibrates on a particular frequency; if people attune their thoughts to the same frequency as, say, money, they will attract wealth; ditto love, health, and unlimited happiness."

and

"Researchers in positive psychology are constantly fighting its image as a New Agey, self-help movement, a reputation that has plagued it from its inception and that persists not only in the news media but also among many in the broader discipline. 'The curse of working in this area is having to distinguish it from Chicken Soup for the Soul,' "

The whole article makes for good reading.

What is encouraging is that positive psychology seems to headed for a greater measure of evidence based methodology.