use of positive psychology in the workplace

workplace - relevant

• help employees return to work with a healthy mindset and wellbeing

workplace - relevant: netterstrom et al

• 198 employed patients on sick leave split intro three groups

• mindfulness intervention group, psychotherapy sessions and control group put on a waitlist

• compared to control, both intervention and treatment showed greater improvement in stress symptoms

• higher rate of P’s in mindfulness group returned to work (67%) compared to 36% in treatment and 24% in control

• therefore, encourage sick leave employees to return, relives work load on others

workplace - relevant: ethical implications

• forcing people to engage in something they don’t like

• could cause more harm or stress 

• compared to what they were already experiencing

workplace - not relevant

• too easy for cooporation to exploit their power and not choose anything helpful

workplace - not relevant: chris tamdiji

• ‘corporations look for quick fixes’

• mindfulness requires time and patience

• prioritising quick money rather than investing in long term solutions such as making work conditions healthier

• interventions offered often unregulated

• therefore, corporations prioritise profit over wellbeing

workplace - not relevant: ethical implications

• pp can be dangerous

• encouraging avoiding negative emotions

• cause people to ignore unpleasant things going on in life

education - relevant

evidence to show that it can reduce symptoms that are detrimental to educational performance in students

education - relevant: uni of cambridge

• 616 students randomised into two different groups

• both groups offered support at the uni counselling service

• half also offered mindfulness skills for students course

• p’s encouraged to meditate at home for 8 minutes per day

• course led to lower distress scores during exam terms compared with students who had regular support

• therefore, structured, skill-based approaches can improve traditional services and positively impact MH during stress periods e.g. exams

education - relevant: population vailidty

• lacks pv as all p’s from uni of cambridge

• all from similar age group and demographic

• findings of study can’t be easily generalised to other populations such as different uni students

education - not relevant

does not take into account different factors that affect wellbeing

education - not relevant: ford et al

• survey of 85 schools, showing that MH challenge in young people persists

• 33% of young people reported signif. socio-emtio-behav. problems and depressive symptoms

• found that certain groups more likely to report problems: girls, older teenagers, those living in areas of poverty

• therefore, ignores systematic issues that contribute to student’s mental health challenges which cannot be treated by promoting optimism

education - not relevant: ecological validity

• conducted in schools

• findings more accurate compared to if conducted in different environment such as a lab

health - relevant

can give ill people a sense of hope and positive mindset

health - relevant: cerezo et al

• 175 breast cancer women assigned to experimental group with intervention or waitlist group w/o intervention

• group intervention used, improving psychological strengths

• self esteem, well-being and happiness were assessed before and after intervention

• experi. group showed higher scores on all the study variables after the intervention

• participants showed improvement in resilience, optimism and happiness

health - relevant: ethical implications

• negative ethical implications

• mindfulness only helps psychological issues

• cannot help treat terminal illness such as cancer

• gives false hope, using mindfulness as coping mechanism

health - not relevant

• not relevant in terms of healthcare as it causes small improvements in wellbeing

health - not relevant: boiler et al

• lit search using 39 studies about self help, group training and indvi. therapy

• mean diff. for SWB was 0.34, 0.20 for psychological wellbeing, 0.23 for PP interventions

• variables effected impact on depression

• interventions more effective if longer duration, if recruitment was via referral or hospital, if study design was of low quality

• therefore, research shows it has little effect on wellbeing

health - not relevant: social implications

• positive social implications

• if children are taught about mindfulness at young age

• increased chances of being well-rounded adults with better well-being

pp in the workplace conclusion

• view that pp is more relevant than other approaches is unclear

• evidence of being effective, improving wellbeing

• however, pp only helps with mental wellbeing

• any psychological illnesses are unaffected by it

• therefore, should still be used but limits should be known