Psychology, which is the whole of studies aimed at understanding people and making sense of their behavior, has undergone a change in its historical development. The science of psychology, which evaluates humans as an organism, has moved beyond this approach over time and has begun to consider humans as independent, free and logical creatures. In this change, the psychopathology-centered approach has been replaced by a positive-centered approach. As a continuation of this perspective, the positive psychology approach has emerged and strengthened its existence today by covering different fields of study.
Positive psychology is an approach that examines the situations and elements that enable individuals, groups and institutions to evaluate their existing capacities, positive and strong characteristics in the most effective and efficient way and support their positive development. Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000), one of the founders of Positive Psychology, argue that the purpose of positive psychology is not only to emphasize and correct the negative, but also to reveal the positive, support it and even rebuild society with these positive features.
In line with these approaches that include positive situations and emotions, positive psychology is seen as the science of attitudes and behaviors aimed at improving the quality of life, positive subjective experiences aimed at preventing the problems encountered, positive individual characteristics and positive institutions. However, at the center of positive psychology are the positive aspects of life such as hope, wisdom, creativity, awareness, courage, spirituality and taking responsibility.
Nowadays, it is noteworthy that positive psychology studies on topics such as well-being, subjective well-being, optimism, psychological resilience, hope, meaning of life, life satisfaction, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, gratitude, social interest. However, it is seen that the second wave positive psychology focuses on beliefs and positive values.
Positive psychological approach aims to support human development and lead a meaningful and satisfying life. It tries to understand more deeply the nature of man and the strengths of his personality. human development Considering its ability, it is understood that this approach is promising in improving the quality of life of people, families and societies by trying to find the best for people. When the research conducted for this purpose is examined; It has been shown that positive emotions and values bring success in different areas of life, and that people who are prone to positive emotions achieve a healthier and longer life, as well as a satisfying family life and relationships, and achieve higher income and superior work performance. When viewed from this aspect, it seems that the ultimate goal of the positive psychology approach is to make people's normal life more satisfactory. However, what is positive psychology and a good life? He is looking for meaningful answers to his questions.
Tarhan (2015) states that Positive psychology, which is described as the science of mental health, operates depending on the free will of individuals, goals and values in society. Thus, individuals with self-awareness can evaluate society from a spiritual perspective that is not trapped in the brain-mind ambivalence. Thus, as people mature, their awareness of how the biological, psychological and social issues in their environment affect themselves and their relationships with others begins to increase. In the research conducted by Seligman and Petterson (2004), the basic values and powers of humans were determined by scanning many ancient religious and philosophical traditions.
Second stream Positive psychology takes into account the spiritual dimension of man and cares about values, which has made Positive psychology studies even more meaningful for people looking for meaning in life. Their values and powers have been determined, and especially in recent studies, the spiritual aspects of individuals who have been neglected for years have been emphasized and values and virtues have also been taken into consideration. In addition, the positive psychology of the works written by self-realized and transcendent people in Sufism, which reveal the positive side of humans. There are many values it adds to. For example, in Mevlana's work called Mesnevi, "My brother, you are nothing but thought. What's left is flesh and bones. If you think of roses, you become a rose garden. If you think of thorns, you will become thorns.” We can see the importance of positive thinking and positive psychology in his words.
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