Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Notes on Early Positive Psychology (Psychofortology)

Abstract

Psychofortology is an alternative designation for positive psychology, and fortology (Latin fortis = strong) an antonym for pathology. The strengths paradigm has ancient origins. In this article brief reviews are presented of contributions made during the first eight decades of the twentieth century by mainly psychologists and psychiatrists. Among the most outstanding were James, Jung, Allport, Murray, Rogers, Frankl, Maslow, Csikszentmihalyi and Antonovsky; in all, some 40 forerunners are mentioned. By way of integration, their concepts are classified in terms of J. M. Digman's (1997) higher order personality factors a (socialisation process) and ß (personal growth), as well as spirituality/religiousness. A preponderance of the personal growth category was noticeable, particularly from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. The relative neglect of socialisation and interdependencies deserves to be remedied in fortological theory and research.

Lest we forget that industrial and organisational psychology is psychology

“…It is prominently used in organizational development but it is equally popular with community psychology, social work, and other sub-disciplines. As far as psychology and IOP are concerned, AI is taking its position in a long tradition of a strengths paradigm to which psychologists and psychiatrists like James, Jung, Allport, Murray, Rogers, Frankl, and Maslow have all contributed, but which started blossoming forth during the late 1970s and 80s, really to flourish since 2000 (Strümpfer, 2005). It is clearly a "non-sectarian" philosophy and methodology, with a tap root in psychology but other roots in related disciplines too.…”

On Baking a Cake: The Phenomenological Method in Positive Psychology

“…By taking a leap off the shoulders of giants (see Hawking, 2003;Strümpfer, 2005), positive psychology has had a significant impact on the field of psychology and has undoubtedly achieved significant gains in its attempt to better bake the positive half of the psychology cake. Many of these gains may justifiably be ascribed to the specific positivistic methodology employed by positive psychology.…”

“…In considering what this lack of "methodological and epistemological pluralism" (Robbins & Friedman, 2008, p. 113) may mean for the field of positive psychology, it is useful to consider Strümpfer's (2005) perspective on the debate, given his emphasis on the significance of the inference of Hawkings's (2003, p. xiii) comment on Newton's acknowledgement that his achievements had been facilitated by "standing on the shoulders of giants": "Maybe Newton should have said, 'I used the shoulders of giants as a springboard'". The inspired philosophical, epistemological and methodological leap taken by positive psychology has undoubtedly positioned it as a distinct field within the broader field of psychology (see Waterman, 2013).…”

Full issue

“…Myers (2009) points out that the holistic approach in wellness research includes the integration of physical, psychological and spiritual aspects and thereby focuses on the body, mind and spirit connection. Research on holistic wellness from a positive psychology perspective has generally gained interest since the 1950s (Coetzee & Viviers, 2007;Roscoe, 2009;Strümpfer, 2005) and has become a field of research in organisational psychology, leadership and management research (Mayer 2011;Mayer & Van Zyl, 2013).…”