Positive Psychology in Higher Education

Positive psychology – the scientific study of happiness – is a rapidly burgeoning field, and in no area more so than education. More departments than ever are offering courses in positive psychology, and demand for these courses is consistently high. Graduate programs offering concentrations in positive psychology have appeared at both masters and doctoral level. Educational institutions have expressed interest in using principles of positive psychology to inform institutional structure, faculty development and pedagogy.

Positive psychology has been taught and applied in higher education for almost as long as it has existed as a field, but there is little in the way of published literature that brings all of these developments together. The chapters in this volume represent the use of positive psychology at all levels of higher education – from institutional practices and curricular development to pedagogy and the teaching of positive psychology content itself. This book provides an in-depth look at this exciting area of applied positive psychology which will be relevant to educators and administrators alike.

This book is based on a special issue of The Journal of Positive Psychology.

Acacia C. Parks is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Hiram College, USA. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center, where she began her research program on positive psychological interventions. She is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Positive Psychology, and regularly teaches courses on positive, abnormal and health psychology.