Beyond Positive Psychology? McNulty, James K; Fincham, Frank D
American psychologist/The American psychologist,
02/2012, Volume:
67, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The field of positive psychology rests on the assumption that certain psychological traits and processes are inherently beneficial for well-being. We review evidence that challenges this assumption. ...First, we review data from 4 independent longitudinal studies of marriage revealing that 4 ostensibly positive processes-forgiveness, optimistic expectations, positive thoughts, and kindness-can either benefit or harm well-being depending on the context in which they operate. Although all 4 processes predicted better relationship well-being among spouses in healthy marriages, they predicted worse relationship well-being in more troubled marriages. Then, we review evidence from other research that reveals that whether ostensibly positive psychological traits and processes benefit or harm well-being depends on the context of various noninterpersonal domains as well. Finally, we conclude by arguing that any movement to promote well-being may be most successful to the extent that it (a) examines the conditions under which the same traits and processes may promote versus threaten well-being, (b) examines both healthy and unhealthy people, (c) examines well-being over substantial periods of time, and (d) avoids labeling psychological traits and processes as positive or negative.
Friends with benefits relationships (FWB) are a blend of friendship and physical intimacy outside of a committed romantic relationship. This study examined young adults’ (
n
= 889) engagement in, ...and reactions to, a FWB relationship in the past year based on their gender, psychological distress, alcohol use, and relationship attitudes. Men (54.3%) were more likely than women (42.9%) to report at least one FWB relationship and both men and women reported that FWB relationships were associated with more positive emotional reactions than negative ones although this difference was larger for men. Greater alcohol use was related to engaging in a FWB relationship and this relationship was stronger for women. Further, thoughtfulness about relationship decisions moderated the relationship between alcohol use and engaging in FWB relationships, and again this moderation effect was stronger for women than men. Young adults with more psychological distress and who felt constrained in the FWB relationship were more likely to report negative emotional reactions. Implications for psychoeducational programs and future research are offered.
Trait mindfulness is associated with sexual satisfaction, but their temporal relation is unexplored. Using a short-term longitudinal design, the present study not only examines their temporal ...relation but also extends extant research by also investigating relationship mindfulness and potential mechanisms that might account for any temporal relation that exists between the two forms of mindfulness and sexual quality. Participants were sexually active emerging adults (N = 104) in romantic relationships who initially completed measures of trait and relationship mindfulness, and 6 weeks later measures of relationship satisfaction and difficulties in emotion regulation. After another 6 weeks, they completed a measure of sexual quality. Relationship mindfulness was related to sexual satisfaction 12 weeks later via relationship satisfaction, whereas trait mindfulness was related to later sexual dissatisfaction via difficulties in emotion regulation. These results suggest that the temporal relationship between mindfulness and sexual quality is indirect and more nuanced than previously thought. Several avenues for future research are suggested.
The world's longstanding religions emphasize divine forgiveness, yet systematic research on God's forgiveness is notably absent from the scientific literature. Because religious beliefs are a ...core-motivating feature in many peoples' lives, divine forgiveness requires attention if we are to attain a more complete understanding of human behavior. The goal of this article is to provide a roadmap for future research on divine forgiveness. Toward this end, it provides a review and critique on extant research followed by an analysis of the construct of divine forgiveness. This provides a segue to identifying and discussing several topics for future investigation, which include documenting how divine forgiveness is perceived and experienced, the role of mental representation of God and the role of various dimensions of one's relationship with God in understanding divine forgiveness, and the relations among types of forgiveness (divine, interpersonal and self-forgiveness). Also outlined are numerous approaches to the development of a psychometrically sound measure of divine forgiveness. The article concludes with a brief summary of salient issues.
Objectives: While there are good reasons to assume that mindfulness protects against burnout in students, nothing is known about the role of caring for bliss. This study examined whether caring for ...bliss moderated the relationship between mindfulness at baseline and aspects of burnout approximately 12 weeks later. Participants: Students (n = 92) from a university in the United States. Methods: Online surveys were administered in 2018. Results: Moderated regression analyses, controlling for depressive symptoms and burnout at baseline, revealed that caring for bliss moderated the relationship between earlier mindfulness and two aspects of later student burnout, namely emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Specifically, exhaustion and cynicism were low when students reported either low or high scores on both mindfulness and caring for bliss. No moderating effect was found for academic efficacy. Conclusions: Mindfulness and caring for bliss appear to work synergistically to reduce aspects of student burnout over time.
Little attention has been paid to whether violence in adolescent romantic relationships is associated with relationship violence later in young adulthood. This study examined the continuation of ...intimate partner violence (IPV) from adolescence to young adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, results from negative binomial models and propensity score models showed that being victimized by relationship partners in adolescence was significantly associated with both perpetration and victimization in romantic relationships in young adulthood. Women reported higher levels of perpetration and lower levels of victimization than men did. Those who were living together (married or cohabiting) reported higher levels of victimization and perpetration than those who were dating. Further, such associations existed beyond the effects of parent—child violence and general aggression tendencies, suggesting the continuation of relationship-specific violence. Finally, these patterns persisted after controlling for participants' age, race and ethnicity, parental education, and family structure.
The present research tested the hypothesis that concepts of gratitude are prototypically organized and explored whether lay concepts of gratitude are broader than researchers' concepts of gratitude. ...In five studies, evidence was found that concepts of gratitude are indeed prototypically organized. In Study 1, participants listed features of gratitude. In Study 2, participants reliably rated the centrality of these features. In Studies 3a and 3b, participants perceived that a hypothetical other was experiencing more gratitude when they read a narrative containing central as opposed to peripheral features. In Study 4, participants remembered more central than peripheral features in gratitude narratives. In Study 5a, participants generated more central than peripheral features when they wrote narratives about a gratitude incident, and in Studies 5a and 5b, participants generated both more specific and more generalized types of gratitude in similar narratives. Throughout, evidence showed that lay conceptions of gratitude are broader than current research definitions.
We proposed that expressing gratitude would increase positive perception of a relationship partner, thereby increasing comfort in expressing relationship concerns, which is a form of relationship ...maintenance. Study 1 (
n
= 159) showed a relationship between naturally occurring expressions of gratitude and comfort in voicing relationship concerns. Study 2 (
n
= 178) provided longitudinal evidence for direction of effects because Time 1 gratitude expression predicted Time 2 comfort in voicing relationship concerns, controlling for baseline comfort in voicing relationship concerns. Study 3 (
n
= 225) showed that expressing gratitude to a friend did increase voicing relationship concerns, compared with positive thought and neutral control conditions. In Study 4 (
n
= 74), we explored the mechanism through a longitudinal, experimental design and found that participants assigned to express gratitude reported higher comfort voicing concerns and more positive perception of partner than did control participants. Moreover, positive perception of partner mediated the relationship between condition and comfort in voicing relationship concerns.
This review focuses on broad themes characterizing marital research in the past decade. In addition to continuing themes, such as a focus on conflict, violence, and impact on physical and mental ...health outcomes, we also address the impact of the Healthy Marriage Initiative on marital research and recent advances in methodology. We highlight an overarching theme that characterizes much of the literature: the importance of context in understanding marital outcomes and the impact of positive marital transactions and marital strengths. Given the increasing diversity of married couples, the attention given to context over the past decade has been timely and appropriate, providing an increasingly solid foundation for future research.
Seeking divine forgiveness (forgiveness by a Supreme Being or Higher Power) is important because the perception of such forgiveness is associated with psychological well-being This paper is the first ...to examine a process model of divine forgiveness in which the decision to pursue such forgiveness initiates the process of seeking it. Two studies investigate the likelihood of seeking divine forgiveness. Study 1 (
= 190) introduces and provides discriminant validity for a unidimensional measure divine forgiveness seeking. Convergent validity is provided by demonstrating that seeking divine forgiveness correlates with reported experiences of divine forgiveness both concurrently and six weeks later. Study 2 (
= 390) provides a confirmatory factor analysis of seeking divine forgiveness scale items identified in Study 1 and replicates the concurrent and temporal association with reported experiences of divine forgiveness using a longer time interval (12 weeks). It also documents associations between a person's image of God, attachment and closeness to God and the likelihood of seeking divine forgiveness. Both studies control for religiosity and Study 2 introduces an additional control for impression management. Together, they provide support for the idea that the decision to pursue divine forgiveness begins the process of seeking such forgiveness. We discuss limitations of the research and outline several paths for additional studies.
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