Editorial. The Science of Happiness

Joy and happiness: a simultaneous and evolutionary concept analysis

“…The trend in psychology to explore the positive aspects of life, health and illness (Paquette , Cooper , Csikszentmihalyi ) has important implications for nursing knowledge development. Nursing and other health disciplines have been criticized for their focus on problems, deficits and other negative aspects of the health‐illness experience (Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter , Paquette , Cooper , Sunderland et al . ).…”

Integrative Perspectives.

“…Soon research groups were forming, and scientists from all around the world were studying components of positive psychology. Hundreds of articles appeared in scholarly journals, books were written, and universities began to teach the concepts of enhancing strengths and virtues to students on undergraduate and graduate levels (Paquette, 2006; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). Television programs devoted entire segments to the Happiness Revolution (Good Morning America, October 1999), and popular magazines heralded this approach.…”

“It's the Little Things That Count”: The Value in Receiving Therapeutic Letters

“…The first trend is the positive psychology movement, founded in 1997 by Martin Seligman, a past president of the American Psychological Association. Dissatisfied with care that emphasized deficits, pathology, and maladjustment, Seligman wanted clinical psychiatric care to be more concerned with facilitating happiness and life fulfillment (Paquette, 2006). Recognizing and building on strengths is also a main idea in positive psychology, but one that has received little attention in nursing education.…”