Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology emerged at the beginning of the new millennium as a movement within psychology aimed at enhancing human strengths such as creativity, joy, flow, responsibility, and optimal performance and achievement. Most study of human behavior has focused mainly on what goes wrong in human affairs: aggression, mental disease, failure, and so on. While it is essential to study and contain such pathologies, it is equally important to understand those aspects of human experience that make life worth living.

The School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences (SBOS) at Claremont Graduate University offers the first Ph.D. and M.A. concentrations in the Western United States focused on the Science of Positive Psychology. CGU first leapt into the forefront of research on Positive Psychology in 1999, when the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC) was founded by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The QLRC is a non-profit research institute which conducts research on a wide range of cutting edge issues in positive psychology, and provides a forum for scholars from all across the globe to extend their research and studies in positive psychology.

The SBOS programs in Positive Psychology aim to provide excellent graduate education and to facilitate the production of practical knowledge. Using experience sampling methods as well as more traditional experimental and quasi-experimental designs, surveys, and interviews, our faculty and students focus their research on life-long processes and outcomes of behavior as they affect the quality of life.

A recent article in the Flame magazine discusses recent developments in the program.

 Online Video: "Applying the Science of Positive Psychology to Improve Society"

A rare opportunity to watch leaders in the field of Positive Psychology on our campus was met with rave reviews from a standing-room-only crowd and a live webcast audience around the globe.

Now you may access a free 45-minute preview (or the entire conference for $25) following this link to "Applying the Science of Positive Psychology to Improve Society". An expanded version of the talks is available from Routledge Publishing. Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society by Stewart I. Donaldson, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Jeanne Nakamura

Academic Programs

We are accepting applications now for the Positive Psychology emphasis in these areas:

Positive Psychology in the News

The launching of the first doctoral programs in Positive Psychology has garnered attention in the press.  Follow the link to see some of the public reaction to the programs.

Videos:

National Leaders in Psychology Congratulate SBOS for New Positive Psych Programs 

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi discusses Creativity, Fulfillment, and Flow at recent conference (courtesy of the Exchange Morning Post)

Professors Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura pose
with graduate students in the Positive Psychology program.