A Case for Lyrics and How They Impact Our Emotions

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A Case for Lyrics and How They Impact Our Emotions

On August 28th, 2015, a few months before graduating with my Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania, I walked into the office of James Pennebaker, a leading researcher in language and emotional experiences. I was excited and ready to talk about how words matter. Specifically, how lyrics, the words in a song, matter. I couldn’t wait for the conversation about his favorite lyrics, how artists could influence the world, and for all of the resources he could share that would support this hypothesis and set me up to start writing my capstone. I knew this was going to be good!

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The Creativity Circuit

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The Creativity Circuit

Creativity is prized by many, and involves an individual generating ideas that are novel, surprising and compelling. Well-being, also sought by many, can be viewed through a PERMA lens, whose components, according to Martin Seligman, include Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments, abbreviated as “PERMA.” Positive connections to creativity have been shown on multiple dimensions of psychological well-being. Together, creativity and well-being can interact together to create a kind of “creativity circuit” that we can use to improve both our personal and professional lives. This creativity circuit can work in an individual or small group setting, and even on a larger, societal scale. The literature on creativity and positive psychology can show us how these two concepts interconnect and interact in a positive way.

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Positive Humanities, Revelations and Love

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Positive Humanities, Revelations and Love

When writing the compendium Character Strengths and Virtues, Professors Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman turned to the Humanities to seek the universal traits that humanity considers the universal keys for flourishing. Cross-cultural strength-spotting in art, literature, religion, and history led to the discovery of the 24 strengths and virtues that became the basis of the empirical VIA Strengths survey, turning towards the humanities to identify the very virtues we often look for in ourselves. Is it surprising, then, that our discipline is sending us back out to the humanities to look for interventions to help us flourish? I think not. In my opinion, the new field of Positive Humanities is closing a circle.

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Making It Up as We Go: Approaching Life Like an Improviser

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Making It Up as We Go: Approaching Life Like an Improviser

We are all improvising all of the time. Improvisers do it on a stage for laughs and applause, while the rest of us are constantly making it up as we go (and almost never getting standing ovations for our efforts). In order to improvise games, scenes, even a two-act Shakespearean play or a full Broadway-style musical, theatrical improvisers cultivate a willingness to take risks, a well-developed sense of play, and major trust in oneself and one’s teammates. Improvisation requires performers to be exquisitely present as both active listeners and bold move-makers. It also requires a whole lot of resilience when things inevitably go “wrong.” As opposed to many games humans play, the goal in improvisational games is not to win, but to collaborate with others honestly, productively, and joyfully. We’re all just making it up as we go. Improvisers, however, are experts at making it fun as they go, and they reap well-being benefits as a result. I believe anyone can benefit from applying the philosophies of improvisation to daily life. So what are some of the “rules” of good improv and how might you apply them?

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IPPA Evidence in Action: Spirituality in Higher Education

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IPPA Evidence in Action: Spirituality in Higher Education

It was a profound honor to be asked to present at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Evidence in Action conference. This first-ever conference, with a theme of “Celebrating the Application of Positive Psychology,” took place virtually from March 18-19, 2021. The Conference featured over 30 hours of discussions and presentations from expert speakers and panelists representing IPPA’s six divisions. Presenters shared research as well as ideas and practical approaches that allowed participants from more than 30 countries to learn how to put the research into action.

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Letter from the Editor: What Is the Future of Happiness?

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Letter from the Editor: What Is the Future of Happiness?

With a year into the pandemic, it’s timely to reflect on how our experience of Covid-19 has changed us on a personal level. With our worlds narrowed down to the size of our apartments, we also needed to shift our coping strategies. We were no longer able to use the coping mechanisms that we regularly used in the pre-pandemic world to deal with the stressful situations that we faced in the lockdown world.

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The Pursuit of Other Peoples’ Perspective...Matters

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The Pursuit of Other Peoples’ Perspective...Matters

Chris Peterson’s legacy that “other people matter” was the foundation upon which Angela began her vivacious and endearing chat. She began with a few comments about how 2020 had taught her that “other people matter” through the perspective of empathy and truly recognizing the other perspective. While navigating the next months (maybe years) of our collective COVID normal of Zoom meetings, scarcely packed street corners, and less social time than we may desire with family and friends, Angela offered us a unique opportunity. We can hone critical skills of connection, empathy, and inclusivity by strengthening our ability to acknowledge and appreciate that other people have a perspective all their own, and that perspective matters.

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MAPP.15 Capstone Montage

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MAPP.15 Capstone Montage

For students in the University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, the MAPP capstone is the project or thesis that symbolizes the peak of accomplishment within the program. The capstone also reveals the array of unique passions that compelled each student to explore and research a new nook and cranny of the field of positive psychology. For many members of the MAPP Class of 2020, the capstone experience was a positive MAPP rite of passage. For some, their capstone represented their life’s work. For a vast majority, the experience was highly valuable (most are using their research — or plan to — in an applied way that will make the father of positive psychology and MAPP Professor Marty Seligman proud), and for others the capstone journey and destination bordered on life-changing.

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Letter from the Editor: A Moment to Reflect and to Welcome Our New Editorial Team

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Letter from the Editor: A Moment to Reflect and to Welcome Our New Editorial Team

As I pass the baton of MAPP Magazine Editor into the capable hands of Dr. Irem Gunay (C’12), I am reflecting on the enormity of what has transpired in our world during my one-year tenure. We have collectively experienced events which were to me unfathomable at this time last year: a global pandemic, a breaking point reached through tragedy after tragedy in the centuries-long American story of racial and social injustice, and a political firestorm that has shaken the very foundations of our democracy. For most of us, even as we watched these unimaginable events unfold from the relative comfort of our homes, our personal lives have been dramatically altered by the pandemic, bringing fundamental changes to the way we work, parent and relate to our loved ones and community. The year has been nothing short of life-changing for us all.

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Lost and Found: Reconnecting with Your Strengths

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Lost and Found: Reconnecting with Your Strengths

My curiosity sparked multiple questions about my strengths. How do I express my unique strengths and how do others receive them? How might I nourish each of my five signature strengths? Does each strength need its own ‘nutrition’ plan? How do my strengths interact and support each other? I was also curious about others’ signature strengths. How do other people experience their top strengths? How do others express perspective, spirituality, humor, and other strengths that were not as familiar to me?

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Be Your Own Inner Ally: Harness the Power of Self-Compassion

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Be Your Own Inner Ally: Harness the Power of Self-Compassion

Which trait is more likely to increase your well-being: high self-esteem or a high level of self-compassion?

According to Kristin Neff, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and a pioneer of self-compassion research, it’s no contest. Self-compassion will serve you better in every circumstance.

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Transcending with Scott Barry Kaufman

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Transcending with Scott Barry Kaufman

I had the honor to talk with Scott Barry Kaufman about his latest book Transcend: The New Science of Self Actualization, his research, and his mission to define a common humanity of wholeness. Scott or “SBK” as he is affectionately referred to by peers, colleagues and friends, is an innovative writer and scientist. He is also well-known for his top-rated psychology podcast, which is aptly named, The Psychology Podcast. Over the past 20 years, SBK’s research has spanned a broad range of intriguing topics, including imagination and creativity, intelligence and gifted children.

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Pandemic Positive: How MAPP Alumni Stay Up when COVID has Us Down

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Pandemic Positive: How MAPP Alumni Stay Up when COVID has Us Down

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic is something we all have in common. Yet our personal experiences vary widely, depending on our unique circumstances. It follows that our approaches to coping, adapting, and even flourishing, are different, too. As I connected personally and professionally with a few of my MAPP alumni friends in the early months, I heard stories of new routines and rituals. Many were devised as necessities to address the big lifestyle changes brought on by remote work and school. Others seemed to be joy-filled, inspired by newfound opportunities of staying close to home. By mid-summer, I became quite curious about what activities this community of extraordinary people, devoted to enhancing worldwide well-being, were putting into place in their own lives, in order to survive and to thrive in this difficult time.

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Meet Shondrea McCargo, MAPP15

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Meet Shondrea McCargo, MAPP15

I spoke with Shondrea as she was gearing up to virtually teach her 5th grade class in Baltimore. Fresh from wrapping up her capstone, she’s far from putting MAPP behind her, like the rest of us newly-minted grads are figuring out how to do. Nope! She’s joining the program as an Assistant Instructor in Marty’s 600 class, which makes the class of 2021 MAPPsters a darned lucky bunch to have Shondrea’s calming presence and wisdom to lean on (especially as they chew upon Jaynes’ The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind). I chatted with Shondrea before her evening plans of a pescatarian dinner and a personal training session

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COVID-19’s Implications for Wellbeing, Resilience, and Positive Education: A MAPP Meet-Up with Mathew White

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COVID-19’s Implications for Wellbeing, Resilience, and Positive Education: A MAPP Meet-Up with Mathew White

Mathew A. White, PhD, Associate Professor of Education and Deputy Head of the School of Education at the University of Adelaide, recently spoke to the MAPP community about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the landscape of education, highlighting the overwhelming need for an increased focus on wellbeing and resilience. COVID-19 has shifted the ground beneath us in many ways. It has demanded us to adapt to ambiguity, isolation, and if we are lucky, new routines. Its ripple effect on education has been far-reaching, and rebounding from this will present both challenges and opportunities. In addition to teaching and learning, schools are stable pillars of community connection and a necessary source of both resources and wellbeing. While we continue to do our very best through the pandemic, new perspectives can be leveraged to reimagine education for the future. Mathew White presents a hopeful and collective path forward.

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Well-Being Shimmers in a Sampling of MAPP14 Capstones

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Well-Being Shimmers in a Sampling of MAPP14 Capstones

From the beginning of the MAPP journey, the capstone is a term that all MAPPsters quickly learn. For every MAPP student, the capstone, comparable in many ways to a master’s thesis, is the culminating project of an intense year. For some, the topic is chosen before the first day of immersion week, with each paper written throughout the year bringing them another step closer to its completion. For others, each new subject matter within the study of positive psychology presents an additional opportunity for capstone consideration, and a topic is not chosen until the last minute (or even beyond)! Each capstone reflects its writer’s individual interest, viewpoint, and assertion about the world of positive psychology, and the topics chosen are varied and diverse.

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Body Full of Joy: Move Your Body, Love Your Mind

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Body Full of Joy: Move Your Body, Love Your Mind

Our bodies are important to how we think, feel and behave. Research demonstrates physical activity not only helps prevent disease, but it helps improve the quality of our life and health. In fact, physical activity, active leisure, and play are essential for our physical, intellectual and emotional development at all ages, and stages of life.

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From Nightmare Negotiations to More Pie for All

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From Nightmare Negotiations to More Pie for All

Why does hearing the word "negotiation" make our pulse quicken? If you close your eyes and picture a negotiation, what do you see? Many people envision a conference room with people in business attire sitting across the table from one another. More than likely, nobody is smiling, there is tension in the air, and the mood feels adversarial. What if I told you that negotiations don't have to be that way?

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