A psychology of human strengths: Fundamental questions and future directions for a positive psychology.

In an era of vaccinations, angioplasty, and gene therapy, is there any need for behavioral change in improving health? Is the role of the clinical, counseling, and health psychologist becoming obsolete? Quite the contrary. As Margaret A. Chesney and Michael H. Antoni demonstrate in Innovative Approaches to Health Psychology, the opportunity for clinical, counseling, and health psychologists to increase the scope of their practice and their contribution to research is more vital than ever. As medicine advances, risky behaviors rise, as does noncompliance with medical regimens and the incidence of more drug-resistant strains of viruses. This fascinating book demonstrates how health psychology has risen to the challenge to find new ways to reach and treat at-risk populations. Using their experiences in responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis over nearly two decades, leading experts in health psychology and clinical psychology illustrate how they identified avenues for intervention and new targets for behavior change and designed new methods to address critical problems. Each chapter presents the theoretical rationale for a host of strategies, empirical validation for the effectiveness with a specific population or presenting problem, and step-by-step procedures for implementation. Experts demonstrate how basic behavioral science principles were used to develop interventions to assist individuals, families, small groups, and communities. They also share valuable lessons in treating chronic pain, sleep disturbance, noncompliance with complex medical regimens, and the miracle cure/quick fix mentality. They describe their successes in tailoring interventions to specific risk populations, such as adolescents, pregnant women, African American women, gay men, and IV drug users. These findings are invaluable in addressing a range of public health concerns, from sexually transmitted diseases to coping with chronic disease. pospsy0001......Page 4 pospsy0002......Page 5 pospsy0003......Page 6 pospsy0004......Page 7 pospsy0005......Page 8 pospsy0006......Page 9 pospsy0007......Page 10 pospsy0008......Page 11 pospsy0009......Page 12 pospsy0010......Page 13 pospsy0011......Page 14 pospsy0012......Page 15 pospsy0013......Page 16 pospsy0014......Page 17 pospsy0015......Page 18 pospsy0016......Page 19 pospsy0017......Page 20 pospsy0018......Page 21 pospsy0019......Page 22 pospsy0020......Page 23 pospsy0021......Page 24 pospsy0022......Page 25 pospsy0023......Page 26 pospsy0024......Page 27 pospsy0025......Page 28 pospsy0026......Page 29 pospsy0027......Page 30 pospsy0028......Page 31 pospsy0029......Page 32 pospsy0030......Page 33 pospsy0031......Page 34 pospsy0032......Page 35 pospsy0033......Page 36 pospsy0034......Page 37 pospsy0035......Page 38 pospsy0036......Page 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pospsy0318......Page 321 pospsy0319......Page 322 pospsy0320......Page 323 pospsy0321......Page 324 pospsy0322......Page 325 This Volume Offers A Wealth Of Intriguing Commentary On Positive Psychology And Its Antecedents. It Is A Must Read For Those Looking For New Ways Of Thinking About Such Topics As Intelligence, Judgment, Volition, Social Behavior, Close Relationships, Development, Aging, And Health As Well As New Applications To Psychotherapy, Education, Organizational Psychology, Gender, Politics, Creativity, And Other Realms Of Life. A Psychology Of Human Strengths : Some Central Issues Of An Emerging Field / Lisa G. Aspinwall And Ursula M. Staudinger -- Human Strengths As The Orchestration Of Wisdom And Selective Optimization With Compensation / Paul B. Baltes And Alexandra M. Freund -- The Human's Greatest Strength : Other Humans / Ellen Berscheid -- Constructive Cognition, Personal Goals, And The Social Embedding Of Personality / Nancy Cantor -- A Conception Of Personality For A Psychology Of Human Strengths : Personality As An Agentic, Self-regulating System / Gian Vittorio Caprara And Daniel Cervone -- Human Aging : Why Is Even Good News Taken As Bad? / Laura L. Carstensen And Susan T. Charles -- Three Human Strengths / Charles S. Carver And Michael F. Scheier -- The Malleability Of Sex Differences In Response To Changing Social Roles / Alice H. Eagly And Amanda B. Diekman -- Toward A Positive Psychology : Social Development And Cultural Contributions / Nancy Eisenberg And Vivian Ota Wang --^ Light And Dark In The Psychology Of Human Strengths : The Example Of Psychogerontology / Rocío Fernández-ballesteros -- Intervention As A Major Tool Of A Psychology Of Human Strengths : Examples From Organizational Change And Innovation / Dieter Frey, Eva Jonas, And Tobias Greitemeyer -- Judgmental Heuristics : Human Strengths Or Human Weaknesses? / Dale Griffin And Daniel Kahneman -- Positive Affect As A Source Of Human Strength / Alice M. Isen -- The Parametric Unimodel Of Human Judgment : A Fanfare To The Common Thinker / Arie W. Kruglanski [and Others] -- Turning Adversity To Advantage : On The Virtues Of The Coactivation Of Positive And Negative Emotions / Jeff T. Larsen [and Others] -- A Holistic Person Approach For Research On Positive Development / David Magnusson And Joseph L. Mahoney -- Harnessing Willpower And Socioemotional Intelligence To Enhance Human Agency Potential / Walter Mischel And Rodolfo Mendoza-denton --^ The Motivational Sources Of Creativity As Viewed From The Paradigm Of Positive Psychology / Jeanne Nakamura And Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi -- Ironies Of The Human Condition : Well-being And Health On The Way To Mortality / Carol D. Ryff And Burton Singer -- Political Symbols And Collective Moral Action / David O. Sears -- Positive Clinical Psychology / Martin E.p. Seligman And Christopher Peterson -- Driven To Despair : Why We Need To Redefine The Concept And Measurement Of Intelligence / Robert J. Sternberg -- The Ecology Of Human Strengths / Daniel Stokols. Edited By Lisa G. Aspinwall And Ursula M. Staudinger. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. In A Psychology of Human Strengths: Fundamental Questions and Future Directions for a Positive Psychology, leading scholars of contemporary psychology set a research agenda for the scientific study of human strengths. Aspinwall and Staudinger feature contributors who bring both supportive and challenging voices to this emerging field to stimulate discourse. In many cases, their findings have turned "established wisdom" on its head. What results is a comprehensive book that provides a forward-looking forum for the discussion of the purpose, pitfalls, and future of the psychology of human strengths. This volume offers commentary on positive psychology and its antecedents. It is a must-read for those looking for new ways of thinking about such topics as intelligence, judgment, volition, social behavior, close relationships, development, aging, and health as well as applications to psychotherapy, education, organizational psychology, gender, politics, creativity, and other realms of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved) This volume sets out a research agenda for the scientific study of human strengths. Scholars in a variety of psychology fields have each directed their attention to positive psychology and focused their work through a lens of human strengths. The results of their findings are intended to provide a forward-looking forum for the discussion of the purpose, pitfalls, and future of the psychology of human strengths. The book contains intriguing and diverse commentaries on historical and contemporary research on human strengths. It should be of interest for those looking for new ways of thinking about such topics as intelligence, judgment, volition, social behaviour, close relationships, development, aging, and health as well as applications to psychotherapy, education, organizational psychology, gender, politics, creativity, and other realms of life. [This book] includes articles that address positive functioning across the lifespan, probing both the positive and the threatening events to which people are exposed and the positive resources they bring to them. It offers an understanding of both internal and environmental resources that contribute to human strengths and shows how even human characteristics once thought to be foibles or liabilities contribute in profound ways to positive human functioning ... This book should be read by both scientists and practitioners who are interested in how science can improve the human condition.-Dust jacket Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City. Presents the findings of studies in human strengths. Addresses positive functioning across the lifespan, probing both the positive and the threatening events. Offers an understanding of internal and environmental resources contributing to human strength. For scientists and practitioners.