More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology

Sarah D. Pressman, PhD, is a professor of psychological science and associate dean of undergraduate education at the University of California, Irvine. She received her BSc from Mount Allison University in biopsychology, her MS and PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in social, personality, and health psychology, and she completed postdoctoral training in cardiovascular behavioral medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Pressman's expertise is on the interrelations between positive psychological factors, stress, and health, and she has received numerous awards (e.g., from the American Psychological Association Division 38 and the American Psychosomatic Society) for her contributions in these areas. Her work on positive psychology relevant topics has been cited over 9500 times (h-index 35) and has been widely featured in popular outlets like the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, and The New York Times. She was a contributor to the first book, Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology, and used various activities from the initial book extensively in her own positive psychology courses. Beyond that, she is considered a world expert on the importance of positive emotions for physical well-being and has been invited to speak at dozens of national and international meetings for this purpose. Finally, Dr. Pressman is an award-winning and well-rated instructor with experience teaching thousands of students about positive psychology and related courses over the last dozen years. Acacia C. Parks, PhD, received her BA in psychology from Reed College and her PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she received training in psychological assessment as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy for mood and anxiety disorders. Her research and practice focuses on self-help methods for increasing well-being via digital technology and books, with an emphasis on self-reported emotional outcomes, but also objective and observable outcomes, such as changes in workplace behavior, physiological indicators, etc. Her research has helped build the foundations for how to translate scientific well-being interventions to the general public, and her expertise in this area is affirmed by over 5,500 citations of her articles in scientific journals (h-index 23), three edited books, and 10 years of associate editorship at the Journal of Positive Psychology. As lead consultant at Liquid Amber, she is a digital health executive and scientific advisor with deep knowledge of scientific and regulatory strategy in digital therapeutics, as well as clinical product design, including coaching strategy. Prior to her work in industry, she was an associate professor of psychology at Hiram College, where she taught courses in positive psychology, abnormal psychology, research methodology, and critical writing. For the past 20 years, she has made it her mission to bring evidence-based, destigmatized health care to the public.

Contributors
Preface

Part I. Living the Research: Positive Psychology Methods, Applications, and Critical Analysis in the Classroom

Chapter 1. Conversational Pods: Enriching the Learning of Positive Psychology Through Dialogue and Connection
Margarita Tarragona

Chapter 2. Authentic Embodied Positive Emotions: An Experiential Introduction to the Broaden-and-Build Theory
Patty Van Cappellen and Barbara L. Fredrickson

Chapter 3. Duchenne Smiles – Windows to the Soul
Kennon M. Sheldon

Chapter 4. Exploring Language as an Unobtrusive Measure of Positive Psychosocial Characteristics
Peggy L. Kern

Chapter 5. How Can Life Stories Provide Insights for Positive Psychology?
Jordan A. Booker

Chapter 6. Who Can I Trust? Evaluating Sources of Information Related to Happiness
Zachary A. Silver and Laurie R. Santos

Chapter 7. Evaluating Positive Psychology Apps
Justine Bautista and Stephen M. Schueller

Chapter 8. Using Smartphones to Teach About Self-Report Bias and Accuracy in Well-Being Research
Kostadin Kushlev and Hannah Masling

Part II. Changing and Tracking Psychological Well-Being

Chapter 9. The Virtual Gratitude Visit
Robert A. Emmons

Chapter 10. Awe Outing
Emiliana Simon-Thomas and Dacher Keltner

Chapter 11. Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Predicted and Emotional Responses to the Natural Environment
Jessica E. Desrochers and John M. Zelenski

Chapter 12. The Treasure Chest: An Immersive Guided Imagery Meditation on Sacred Moments
Serena Wong and Kenneth I. Pargament

Chapter 13. Is It Possible to Design and Live a Perfectly Happy Day?
Jaime L. Kurtz

Chapter 14. Uplifts in Daily Life
Patrick Klaiber and Nancy L. Sin

Chapter 15. Learning to Use Your Strengths Daily
Joanne F. Zinger

Part III. Positive Cognitions: Evaluations, Expectancies, and Expe​riences

Chapter 16. Whose Life is Meaningful?
Samantha J. Heintzelman

Chapter 17. Engaging in an Activity With Passion: How the Situation Affects our Mindset
Jany St-Cyr, Virginie Paquette, and Robert J. Vallerand

Chapter 18. Flow in Daily Life
Ajit Singh Mann, Patrick Robinson, and Jeanne Nakamura

Chapter 19. Promoting Hope Through Goal Setting
Matthew W. Gallagher

Part IV. Social Connections

Chapter 20. Self-Compassion
Ashley L. Kuchar and Kristin D. Neff

Chapter 21. Acts of Kindness: The Well-Being Benefits of Prosocial Versus Self-Focused Behaviors
John K. Coffey and S. Katherine Nelson-Coffey

Chapter 22. Increasing Your Interdependent Happiness
Hidefumi Hitokoto and Yukiko Uchida

Chapter 23. Building High Quality Connections
Jane Dutton, Arne Carlsen, and Sally Maitlis

Chapter 24. Identifying Positively Energizing Leaders
Kim Cameron

Part V. Implementing Positive Psychology Across Contexts: Culture, Stress, and Health

Chapter 25. How Ideal Affect Shapes Judgments of and Responses to Smiles
Elizabeth Blevins and Jeanne Tsai

Chapter 26. Fear of Happiness
Liudmila Titova

Chapter 27. Promoting Positive Psychological Character Strengths in Diverse Meso and Macro Settings
Laura Kohn-Wood, Guerdiana Thelomar, and Brittney R. Davis

Chapter 28. Self-Affirmation for Stress Protection
Kennedy M. Blevins, Sarah D. Pressman, and David K. Sherman

Chapter 29. Using Positive Coping Strategies to Boost Resilience
Emma L. Grisham and Marie P. Cross

Chapter 30. Healthy Foods for Happiness: A Mini-Intervention
Tamlin S. Conner and Jack R. H. Cooper