The contemporary version of the science of positive psychology introduced by Professors Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at the turn of the 21st century (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) rests on the shoulders of some of the earlier pioneers and thought leaders in the discipline and profession of psychology. Most notably, William James and Abraham Maslow introduced the concepts of optimal functioning, self-actualization, and positive psychology decades before the current perspective was launched (see James, 1908; Maslow, 1954). Nevertheless, Seligman and Csikszentimihalyiās vision and call to the next generation of psychological scientists is what led to an explosion of activity worldwide, and the development of a substantial peer-reviewed scientific literature on well-being, excellence, and optimal human functioning over the past two decades (Donaldson et al., 2020a; Donaldson et al., 2020b; Donaldson et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2018).
While there are now more than 50 regional and national positive psychology professional organizations across the world (see Kim et al., 2018), one of the largest professional organizations of positive psychologists in the world today is the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) with several thousand members from more than 70 countries. The IPPA describes positive psychology as a field that focuses on the study and practice of positive emotions, strengths, and virtues that make all individuals, institutions, and communities thrive, and has a three-part mission:
- To promote the science of positive psychology and its research-based applications.
- To facilitate collaboration among researchers, teachers, students, and practitioners of positive psychology around the world and across academic disciplines.
- To share the findings of positive psychology with the broadest possible audience.
The IPPA currently has five divisions, with the largest division of over 1,000 members focused on positive organizational psychology (POP). The IPPA Positive Work and Organizations Divisionās mission is to serve as a bridge between research and practice and facilitate collaboration to increase the incorporation of positive psychology in academic research related to organizations and the practice of positive psychology in the organizational context, thereby positively transforming the way the world works.
Positive Organizational Psychology
Donaldson and Ko (2010) defined POP āas the scientific study of positive subjective experiences and traits in the workplace and positive organizations, and its application to improve the effectiveness and quality of life in organizations.ā They identified two related multidisciplinary streams of scholarship and research, positive organizational behavior (POB; Luthans, 2002) and positive organizational scholarship (POS; Cameron et al., 2003), that greatly contributed to the understanding of POP topics such as positive leadership, positive organizational development and change, positive psychological capital (PsyCap), organizational virtuousness and ethics, well-being at work, work engagement, flow at work, and the like.
Inspired by the new vision for the addition of a positive approach to psychological science, Fred Luthans, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Nebraska, published his seminal work on POB in 2002 (see Donaldson et al., 2020b). He defined POB as āthe study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in todayās workplaceā (Luthans, 2002a, p. 59). He envisioned POB capacities, such as hope, optimism, resiliency, and self-efficacy, as something one can measure, develop, and use to improve performance (see Donaldson et al., 2020b; Warren et al., 2017).
A year later, Cameron et al. (2003) provided an even more expansive vision for POS, which is āconcerned primarily with the study of especially positive outcomes, processes, and attributes of organizations and their membersā (Cameron et al., 2003, p. 4). POS is focused on understanding the drivers of positive behavior in the workplace that would enable organizations to rise to new levels of achievement (Roberts et al., 2005). POS seeks to study organizations characterized by āappreciation, collaboration, virtuousness, vitality, and meaningfulness where creating abundance and human well-being are key indicators of successā (Bernstein, 2003).
Donaldson and Ko (2010) suggested that POP serves as an umbrella term that covers POB, POS, and other related labels (e.g., positive psychology at work) with regard to their research topics, foci, and the level of analysis. More recently, Warren et al. (2017) proposed the umbrella term positive work and organizations (PWO), which encourages integration among POP, POB, and POS. The unifying framework enriches traditional organizational behavior approaches, such as applied organizational psychology, organizational behavior, and management. It also influences technology, hospitality, management, law, and financial planning as a consequence of the growing popularity of the positive perspective in the workplace (Warren et al., 2017). The goal of this book is to understand specific practices, programs, and interventions that can be designed based on the large and growing body of scientific literature to improve work life and organizational effectiveness. We will broadly call these efforts positive organizational psychology interventions (POPIs). We will first briefly review the scientific evidence for positive psychology interventions (PPIs) more generally, and then discuss the effectiveness of POPIs, which are the application of PPIs in the workplace.
Positive Psychology Interventions
Donaldson et al. (under review) recently systematically reviewed and analyzed the findings from 22 meta-analyses and 231 randomize...
