A measure of one's capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, along with confidence. It may predict success in sport, education and the workplace. 

Mental Toughness, Grit, Resilience

In Positive Psychology, we learn about the difference between a Growth and a Fixed mindset. A growth mindset is when an individual believes that ability is developed. A fixed mindset is when an individual believes that ability is static. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges, persist in obstacles and learn from criticism. On the other hand, people with a fixed mindset avoid challenges, give up easily, and tend to ignore useful criticism. When researching the benefits of a growth mindset, we can learn and understand more about motivation and successful goal setting.

Growth Versus Fixed Mindset

 What promotes excellence in performance? A researcher studying how sports psychology and positive psychology intersect brought forth this pictural in attempt to answer that question.

Michigan State University

University of Rhode Island

Positive psychology is a field of research that was formally established in 1998 when Martin Seligman, then president of the American Psychological Association, called for a new focus on building human strength and psychological well-being. Often described as the 'science of happiness,' this area of study seeks to identify and promote the qualities that contribute to a more fulfilled life. It represents a significant shift from traditional psychology's emphasis on pathology, faults, and problems, instead concentrating on people's strengths and the factors that enable individuals to lead happy and contented lives.

Positive Psychology

A science that combines kinesiology, physiology, and psychology to research how mental and physical processes affect athletic performance and vice versa

Sport(s) Psychology

Mann, A., &amp; Narula, B. (2017). Positive psychology in sports: An overview. International Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.5958/2321-5771.2017.00017.5 

Positive Psychology in Sports: An Overview

- Expressing kindness
- Gratitude
- Humility
- Awe
- Mindfulness
- Optimism
- Telemedicine / Telehealth 

Interventions Used in Positive Psychology

Positive psychology practices can be implemented beneficially in a number of spaces, such as worksites, schools, and healthcare settings.  It focuses on positive emotions and strengths rather than mentally ill health and its consequences, which can mitigate some of the stigma surrounding mental health.

Utility of Positive Psychology in Promoting Public Mental Health

Health promotion is defined by the increase in control an individual has over their health and also in the ways in which an individual can improve their health. 

Health Promotion 

  - Redirecting focus from Pathology and disorder to positive feelings 
  - Shed light on the ways in which an individual can function optimally 
  - Remove stigma surrounding health (ex. Health isn't exclusively about 
     the absence of illness) 

Major Goals of Positive Psychology on Health 

 - Positive Psychology is promoting the undermining of mainstream psychology
 - Positive Psychology is reinforcing negative views on pathology and mental illness studies
 - Adaptation
 - Goals 
 - Temperament 
 - Heritability
 - Forecasting 
 - Recall biases 
 - accuracy of measurements relating to well-being
 - influence on well-being

Criticisms of Positive Psychology

A subcategory of overall health relating to one's emotional well-being by one's ability to successfully overcome everyday stressors, to realize one's inner potential, and to work in a manner that gives back to the self and to their community.

Mental Health

Flow is a state of deep engagement and absorption in an activity, making the experience intrinsically rewarding. The term itself originated from individuals' spontaneous descriptions of this feeling when an activity was going well. This state is not limited to creative or leisure pursuits but can also be found in work or academic study—essentially any activity that is sufficiently engrossing.

"Flow" in Positive Psychology

 Promoting excellence in performance

Positive affect refers to the experience of pleasurable engagement with one's environment, encompassing feelings like happiness, joy, enthusiasm, alertness, and excitement. This feeling state can manifest in various ways, being brief and momentary, long-lasting, or even a stable, trait-like characteristic of an individual's personality.

Positive Affect

Benefit finding is the process of deriving positive growth from adversity.

Benefit finding

Happiness is conceptualized as an enduring state of mind, often called subjective well-being, that goes beyond temporary positive moods. It encompasses two key aspects: experiencing pleasure and positive emotions in daily life, and a deeper sense of fulfillment derived from using one's skills and talents to enrich both their own life and the lives of others.

Happiness

Positive peace psychology is an emerging subfield that extends the core principles of positive psychology to a global scale. It focuses on applying these principles to address widespread conflict, hatred, and distrust. The ultimate goal of this field is to understand how to overcome oppression and promote well-being and peace within the international community.

Positive Peace Psychology

Positive psychology investigates a range of subjects aimed at understanding and fostering human flourishing. Key areas of study include prosocial behaviors and virtues like altruism, empathy, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, and mindfulness. The field also explores creativity, the role of positive emotions, savoring life's moments, and the connection between psychological states and physical health, such as enhanced immune system functioning.

Topics in Positive Psychology

Located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Waisman Center, the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds is an organization established in 2008 and led by neuroscientist Dr. Richard J. Davidson. It is dedicated to conducting rigorous scientific research on positive mental qualities like kindness and compassion. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop mental health training approaches that help people live happier and healthier lives.

Center for Investigating Healthy Minds

Research on psychological well-being in recent years has focused on the factors that constitute optimal levels of human flourishing and their relationship to physical health, work performance, social relationships, and a range of other outcomes. Mechanisms of self-regulation such as psychotherapy, positive psychology interventions, and contemplative practices have been studied in relation to changes in well-being.

Psychological Well-being

Optimism is the inclination to maintain a positive outlook and expect favorable outcomes. It is often conceptualized as a generalized tendency for one to believe that good things will happen. Another perspective defines optimism as the tendency to view life's difficulties and stressors as temporary and external to oneself.

Optimism

Positive psychology is a field of scientific inquiry that seeks to understand the elements contributing to a better life for everyone. Its goal is to identify the foundations of hope, optimism, happiness, healthy relationships, flow, and authentic personal fulfillment.

The Promise of Positive Psychology

Based on the case study below, contrast the likely primary focus of a psychologist emphasizing the study of pathology and dysfunction with that of a psychologist specializing in building human strength and well-being. What would each professional prioritize in their sessions with the client?

Contrasting Psychological Approaches

Athletes who perform in team sports perceived their relationship with their coach to be less close, less committed, and less complementary than athletes who participate in individual sports.

Coach-Athlete Relationship in Team Sports

Athletes who perform in individual sports perceive their relationship with their coach to be closer, more committed, and more complementary than that of athletes who participate in team sports.

Coach-Athlete Relationship in Individual Sports


To seek advice, information, or behavioral therapy from a sport(s) psychologist on how to improve one's athletic performance via sports psychology.

Sport(s) Psychology Consulting

Recent research  uses imagery (i.e. "maps") to describe and define sport(s) psychology as a field

Mapping Sports Psychology

A state of confidence, absorption, perceptions of control, enhanced motivation, enjoyment, and altered sensory perceptions free of critical thoughts. Actions committed in flow state feel effortless.

Flow State

A state of confidence, absorption, perceptions of control, enhanced motivation, enjoyment, and altered sensory perceptions accompanied by intense critical thoughts.  In clutch state, some report feeling anxiety, effortful concentration, and heightened awareness of the situation's direness.

Clutch State

Athletic performance at the optimum level of an individual's physical abilities, mental capabilities or both. The ultimate purpose of sports psychology is to allow athletes to achieve this.


Peak Performance

A science that handles sports-related of neurological injuries and conditions in athletes.

Sport(s) Neurology

a review of 17 studies found the prevalence of ADHD in athletes age 15-19 was between 4.2% and 8.1% 

Prevalence of ADHD in Teen Athletes

Biological, physical, psychological sociological factors, and stress (causes increased muscle tension and can impair coordination) can increase injury risk and impair recovery

Factors That Increase Risk of Injury in Athletes

Mental exhaustion influenced by athletic performance and/or pressures. Symptoms can include, but aren't limited to; mental block, lack of motivation, irritability, problematic eating habits, and insomnia.

Sports Psychological Fatigue

Treatment and Management Methods Used in Sports Psychology

-this study sought to examine the relations between sports participation, academic achievement, and self efficacy in high school students.

Self Efficacy Influence on Sport and Academic Achievement

Approximately 17.3% of elite athletes experience moderate to severe body image concerns.

Body Image Concern and Eating Disorder Symptoms Among Elite Athletes

Athletic performance factors like endurance, strength, power, flexibility, neuromuscular coordination, psychological qualities, and other crucial aspects of sport, are greatly influenced by genetic components.

Genetic markers can be sorted into the following groups:
- Markers associated with skeletal muscle structure and function
- Markers involved in the inflammatory and repair reactions in skeletal muscle during and after exercise
- Markers involved in blood pressure control
- Markers involved in modulation of oxygen uptake 
- Markers that are regulators of energy metabolism and cellular homeostasis
- Markers encoding factors that control gene expression by rearrangement of chromatin fibers and mRNA stability
- Markers modulating cellular signaling pathways


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