What are the main contributions of positive psychology when it comes to understanding emotions and subjective well-being?

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Positive psychology's most useful contribution has been to focus more attention of positive topics. At the time the movement began, people's typical (pleasant) experience was largely neglected by mainstream psychology. This is most evident when it comes to emotions. The classic theories were developed to explain unpleasant emotions, and an early focus on facial expressions meant that pleasant emotions were mostly ignored. Today, the list of positive emotions roughly equals that of negative emotions.

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Moreover, considering positive emotions more deeply has challenged old theories and definitions of emotion. The broaden and build model has provided space to study the varieties and purposes of positive emotions. Although some work related to the model has required revision (Fredrickson, 2013), the core idea that positive emotions broaden cognition and build resources has been exceptionally generative.

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More importantly, our knowledge about subjective well-being has exploded since the positive psychology movement began, and it had a pretty good head start even then. In particular, the Gallup World Poll has provided amazing data-representative samples of planet Earth across many years-and thereby provided useful information about the societal characteristics that contribute to well-being. Governments are increasingly interested in tracking national well-being, and in crafting policy to promote it. Mixing positive psychology with politics carries some risk, but findings seem to support policies that can appeal across ideologies. Happiness tracks freedom, clean environments, wealth and social supports. In addition, positive psychology has made a strong start in developing techniques (interventions) that can meaningfully boost well-being over time. That said, plenty of work remains for researchers and practitioners to further hone our knowledge of what works best and for whom.

What Are the Main Contributions of Positive Psychology When It