Scientific insights from Middlesex University Dubai Psychology Conference

Have you ever wondered why some people stay positive in times of hardship, whether money really does buy you happiness? Now the science of psychology, traditionally interested in explaining those who are ‘mad, bad or sad’, has turned its attention to the more positive side of humanity. Recently, the positive emotions of joy and happiness have come into the spotlight with some surprising findings. As asserted by Dr Mark Coulson of Middlesex University London at the annual psychology conference held at their Dubai campus, when it comes to happiness the predominant viewpoint of money and fame are found to carry very little weight – largely because they have self perpetuating cycle: As the well known saying illustrates, ‘you can never be too rich or too famous’, these ideals have no end point thus aiming for them is futile as actual achievement of them is impossible. Scientific studies show that for true, lasting happiness the answer is far less expensive: focusing on the positive, working with your strengths, and using gratitude and kindness to enrich social interactions. In fact your mood can even be increased simply by making a smile shape with your mouth!

This new positive perspective in psychology was heralded by Dr Martin Seligman (University of Pennsylvania), who previously spent a career investigating the negative disorders of sadness and depression, but realized that if psychology was to have a real impact on humanity it needed to change its focus to enhancing lives above and beyond ‘just normal’. He begun to research concepts often belittled by science such as compassion, resilience, optimism, integrity and of course happiness. Importantly, this scientific understanding of why some people seem quicker to recover from traumatic life events than others has enabled development of a therapeutic technique to enhance individual resilience and let many others benefit from this ability.

This line of research has spawned a new professional field of ‘positive psychology’ which aims to apply the basic tenets of optimism, resilience, and (most centrally) individual strengths to directly influence performance in organizational, individual and clinical settings. Using a blend of psychometrics, coaching and counseling techniques, positive psychologists aim to identify and foster a person’s strengths and overall well being which in turn will bring satisfaction, motivation and happiness. This is in stark contrast to traditional methods of identifying weaknesses and trying to improve them which is much harder and can be demotivating for the individual.

Breon Michel, a Dubai-based positive psychologist speaking at the Middlesex University Dubai conference, says that the new positive psychology can have powerful effects not only for adults but also in teenagers and children. Figures have suggested that only 42% of children believe they can achieve their goals which directly affects their ability to succeed academically, socially and emotionally. This can be illustrated by the so called ‘generation X’ phenomena of young people seemingly uninterested and unmotivated in life. To combat this, Breon identifies a child’s unique set of strengths and uses this to build both self confidence and the internal drive to get the most from life. In doing this the child’s thought patterns change to enable them to achieve greater success and well being.

Dr Annie Crookes, who coordinates the psychology programmes at Middlesex University Dubai, believes that positive psychology it more than just individual coaching and is having a real impact at an organizational and institutional level. Dr Crookes suggests that there are implications for another modern day phenomena, employee boredom. Beyond the acute breakdown of stress-related employee ‘burnout’ there is a recognition in psychology of the more gradual process of boredom related dissatisfaction leading to stress. This has been denoted as ‘brownout’ and may be harder for managers to identify. Boredom is seen to significantly increase employee absence and work output which in turn decreases profits. Among other lines of research, positive psychology shows that by identifying strategies focused on employee strengths you significantly improve individual and team performance. By accentuating the positive, employees are more open to change, engaged with the organisation and overall job satisfaction is increased. Thus, positive psychology principles are being introduced into Human Resources and organizational Psychology practices.

So this new dynamic field of research and professional services has shown that human virtues and strengths are a very real tool for improving performance and achievement. And, amidst the very real financial crisis and uncertainty affecting us all, the science of positive psychology tells us that real happiness is far less expensive than you think.