Positive Psychology is a movement whose theoretical development was built upon a solid empirical framework since its organization and systematization at the turn of the 21st century (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.). In Brazil, studies on prosocial behavior, creativity, well-being, resilience, and other positive traits, states and processes were observed as early as the mid-1990s. Over the last 30 years, the interest in positive human experience (Reppold, Gurgel, & Schiavon, 2015Reppold, C. T., Gurgel, L. G., & Schiavon, C. C. (2015). Research in positive psychology: A systematic literature review. Psico-USF, 20(2), 275-285.) has increased significantly, which translates into the development and adaptation of psychometric measures that boost empirical research in the field (Pires, Nunes, & Nunes, 2015Pires, J. G., Nunes, M. F. O., & Nunes, C. H. S. S. (2015). Instrumentos baseados em Psicologia Positiva no Brasil: uma revisão sistemática. Psico-USF, 20(2), 287-295.). This thematic session aims to present original studies on Positive Psychology in the Brazilian context.
In the first article, the authors Ana Claudia Souza Vazquez, Maurício Pianezolla, and Claudio Simon Hutz discuss a systematic review of the literature on the assessment of psychosocial factors at work. The authors emphasize that although it is still incipient, there is increasing number of studies that identify the protective and health promotion factors and well-being at work. In the organizational context, Carina Isabel Pereira Pessoa, Isabel Dórdio Dimas, Paulo Renato Lourenço, and Teresa Rebelo investigate the influence of transformational leadership on different indicators of perceived effectiveness in teams, and the role of support behaviors in this scenario.
The study and taxonomy of positive traits have also been central to recent research in positive psychology. These studies are of great importance in an area in development and it requires theoretical clarity to ensure the quality of empirical research. In this sense, Ana Paula Porto Noronha and Roberta Ramazotti Ferraz de Campos present a study on the relationship between the forces of character and personality traits.
Some studies have focused on the investigation of validity evidence of psychometric instruments to assess positive traits and states. The study by Priscila Zaia, Tatiana de Cássia Nakano, and Evandro Morais Peixoto presents evidence of the internal structure of the Scale for the Identification of Gifted Characteristics. Finally, Lucas de Francisco Carvalho, Cristian Zanon, Rodolfo Augusto Matteo Ambiel, and Carla Fernanda Ferreira-Rodrigues present the psychometric properties of the Subjective Well-Being Scale, using the rating scale model, a variation of the Rasch model for polytomous items. These captivating studies are part of the thematic session of the journal Estudos de Psicologia, Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas. I wish everyone enjoys the reading.
References
- Pires, J. G., Nunes, M. F. O., & Nunes, C. H. S. S. (2015). Instrumentos baseados em Psicologia Positiva no Brasil: uma revisão sistemática. Psico-USF, 20(2), 287-295.
- Reppold, C. T., Gurgel, L. G., & Schiavon, C. C. (2015). Research in positive psychology: A systematic literature review. Psico-USF, 20(2), 275-285.
- Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Jan-Mar 2018
