Positive Psychology Interventions: An Overview.

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Running head: POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS 1
Positive Psychological Interventions: An Overview
Acacia C. Parks and Liudmila Titova
Hiram College, Hiram, OH

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTIONS 2
Positive Psychological Interventions: An Overview
Although positive psychology is a relatively new field, it has created a considerable body
of research on how people can learn happiness. Happiness can be pursued via numerous
pathways – through sensory experiences, using savoring; through social interactions, using
active-constructive responding and gratitude; through cognitive experiences, using optimism
activities. Taken together, these types of techniques are called Positive Psychological
Interventions (PPIs; Parks & Schueller, 2014), and they have been applied in both nondistressed
and clinical populations to promote happiness.
PPIs are fairly new, so there is some inconsistency in the way they are defined by
different researchers. For instance, a definition proposed by Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) stresses
two important factors which describe PPIs: concentration on increasing positivity rather than
decreasing negativity, and long term effects. Bolier et al. (2013) took this definition a step
further, by adding that these activities need to be intentionally based on theories developed by
positive psychology. Thus, following these definitions, certain activities can be excluded from
the realm of PPIs. For instance, a brief mood inductions often use for laboratory experiments
would not fit the category. Although they increase someone’s mood in the moment, they are
lacking a long term component. On the other hand, such activities as regular exercise or healthy
diet, although long term oriented, would not fit either, as they are not based on positive
psychology theories.
Although these definitions give a better understanding of PPIs, they are still not
completely comprehensive. Parks and Biswas-Diener (2013) proposed the most detailed
definition, which expanded on the ones described earlier, and took it a step further. According to
them, an activity has to meet the following criteria to be called a PPI: they need to be addressing

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a “positive psychology construct” and have a body of research evidence supporting their
effectiveness. Thus, a lot of activities could have potentially qualified as PPIs, but they have not
yet obtained enough scientific evidence to support their effectiveness. Parks and Biswas-Diener
(2013) emphasize that this addition of evidence-based piece helps to distinguish PPIs from the
movement of “positive thinking” and its products like The Secret, which are very well-known
and popular, yet have no scientific base behind them.
PPIs are designed to promote positivity in people’s everyday life and by doing so they
help them to cope with the negative events and moods they might experience (Seligman, Rashid,
& Parks, 2006). In this chapter we will examine the theories and research findings that serve as a
foundation to the mechanism underlining PPIs. We will look at the different types of activities
that fall under the PPI “umbrella” and the modalities through which they have been delivered.
Further, we will take a look at what applications they have in clinical practice. Finally, we will
discuss the limitations and difficulties connected to the PPIs as well as future directions.
Can happiness be lastingly changed?
In order to talk about ways to enhance happiness we need to take a step back and see if
happiness levels can actually be changed. Although this used to be a debatable question, recent
research suggest that despite genetics and situational circumstances happiness levels can be
increased (Lyubomirksy, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade (2005)
proposed that despite “happiness set point” (a base-line level which person bounces back to
despite external influences) which all people have set genetically, behaviors people chose to do
play a very important role in the happiness level. A useful analogy is the idea of a weight set
point; if a person is predisposed to obesity, they will likely become obese without effort to offset
the set point. However, with substantial and regular effort, even a person with a strong genetic

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loading for obesity can reach and maintain a normal BMI. With enough effort, behavior can quite
substantially offset genetic predispositions. Similarly, a person who is dispositionally grouchy
can work to improve their daily mood, which with enough sustained practice, eventually
amounts to being a “happy person.” This theory is supported by empirical evidence, as numerous
studies show that people who participate in activities designed to enhance happiness can show
lasting increases in well-being (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005).
Even though happiness can be changed, one might wonder whether individuals will get
used to the activities they are using to improve their mood, eventually reverting to where they
began as the activities lose their potency. The Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model, proposed
by Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2012), explains how to address the problem of hedonic adaptation
(a process which allows people to get used to the stimuli and bring them back to their default
emotional level) and sustain a long-term increase in happiness. This model stresses two key
processes by which adaptation can be prevented. First, it highlights the significance of renewing
one’s appreciation of both circumstantial changes (like a new house or job, which can be easy to
take for granted as one becomes accustomed) and regularly practiced activities (like time spent
with a loved one, which could become monotonous or be new and interesting every time,
depending on one’s outlook). It also suggests keeping realistic expectations – not constantly
aiming to experience more and more positive emotion than one has experienced previously.
Moreover, it stresses that the variety of activities and the element of surprise are essential to
progress – so all else being equal (time and effort spent, etc.), it is better to practice a variety of
different activities rather than repeating the same activity (reaffirmed by Parks et al., 2012), and
to infuse the same activity with new elements (e.g. going out to dinner with one’s spouse but
trying somewhere new each time).

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People differ in the extent to which they adapt to life events, with personality playing a
key role (Boyce & Wood, 2011); it is possible that this may also be true for day to day activities.
Therefore, some individuals may need to take every possible step to prevent hedonic adaptation,
others may avoid hedonic adaptation with little or no effort.
How can happiness be increased?
PPIs can be divided into seven main categories: 1) savoring, 2) gratitude, 3) kindness, 4)
empathy, 5) optimism, 6) strengths, and 7) meaning (Parks & Layous, in press). Each of these
categories is discussed below.
Savoring. The purpose of savoring is to focus attention and awareness on a specific
experience and in so doing, prolong its pleasurable effects (Peterson, 2006). Although
mindfulness meditation itself does not meet the criteria of a PPI, the underlying principle of
savoring is based on its basic activities, which encourage individuals to intentionally and
deliberately process of all the parts of an experience (Kabat-Zinn, 2009). Savoring PPIs can have
different targets; they can range from sensory experiences such as the ones connected to food or
smell to more mental and cognitively oriented stimuli such as memories and other emotional
experiences (Bryant, Smart, & King, 2005). People who practice savoring show more happiness
and life satisfaction, as well as fewer depressive symptoms (Bryant, 2003). There are also several
factors that enhance the savoring process such as concentration on the meaning of the
experience, writing about it, doing it in the presence of other people, integrating humor,
remembering that the activity has a transient nature, and being aware of counterfactuals (Bryant
& Veroff, 2007).
Schueller and Parks (2014) proposed two subcategories of savoring interventions. The
first category includes activities which concentrate on general principles of savoring by teaching

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these principles and encouraging their practice. For instance, in the study done by Schueller
(2010), participants were instructed to reflect on two pleasurable experiences for 2-3 minutes
every day, as well as to try to make them last as long as they could. As an example, this
instructions could be applied to the experience of a favorite food, like a cupcake. A person can
concentrate on different parts which cupcake is made of, paying special attention to the texture
and taste of each one. The experience can be prolonged by recognizing all these parts separately,
and how they combined together. Although the instructions were very simple, participants
practicing savoring in this way showed improvements in the level of well-being after a week
(Schueller, 2010). This type of activity focuses on savoring as a general skill, which can be
practiced in a wide variety of situations.
The second category of savoring activities concentrates on teaching and encouraging to
practice a specific skill or activity. For example, in a “mindful photography” intervention (Kuntz,
2012), participants were instructed to take pictures which would have meaning for them, would
be creative and beautiful. They did that every day for at least 15 minutes, and after just two
weeks they showed more positive emotions then the participants who did not receive specific
instructions regarding their photographs. Another example of a specific savoring skill is active-
constructive responding – a series of behaviors that help a friend or loved one prolong and savor
a piece of good news (Gable et al., 2004). Both examples are savoring skills, but designed to be
used in a very specific set of situations, and to elicit a very specific set of behaviors in response
to those situations.
Gratitude. Gratitude activities strive to evoke feeling of gratitude towards someone or
something outside of oneself, which is responsible for creating positive events or feelings in a
person’s life (Schueller & Parks, 2013). Gratitude PPIs can be concentrated solely on reflection

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or also on the activities motivated by the feeling of gratitude. For example, Emmons &
McCullough (2003)’s classic study had people practice gratitude that was reflection-only – they
kept a journal, and were not asked to share that journal with anyone. The benefits of gratitude in
that study, then, were based only on a person’s self-reflection of gratitude – not on sharing or
conveying the graditude to anyone. Other subsequent studies have replicated and extended the
effects of gratitude journals, finding benefits of gratitude even compared to robust control groups
(Geraghty, Wood, & Hyland, 2010a; Geraghty, Wood, & Hyland, 2010b). While some versions
of gratitude activities stress the importance of elaboration of the reasons why the feeling of
gratitude is present in the described situation, some benefits were shown from just naming the
grateful event (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
Other Gratitude PPIs, however, feature a social component – where gratitude is
contemplated, but also expressed. In a classic gratitude intervention that is both contemplative
and expressive, the “Gratitude Letter”, a person is asked to express gratitude to a particular
individual in significant depth through a written letter (Seligman, 2002). Most variations of this
activity emphasize the importance of delivering the letter to the person it is written about, ideally
in person, read aloud. While it does appear that, as discussed above, just writing a detailed
account of one’s gratitude is beneficial, actually delivering the letter has led to even stronger
effects (Boehm, Lyubomirsky, & Sheldon, 2011; Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon,
2011; Schueller, 2012).
Overall, all these different variations of gratitude PPIs have shown ability to improve
well-being by increasing positive emotions, improving health, and decreasing depressive
symptoms (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). However, it is worth noting that the effects of the
more “social” gratitude activities – those that involve delivering a single, powerful expression

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gratitude – tend to be short-lived, despite their initial often powerful effects. This makes sense, as
a single event is subject to hedonic adaptation (see above) and likely to lose its potency over
time. Variations of the Gratitude Letter/Visit that are more sustainable long-term have been
proposed and used in everyday practice – for example, a person might create a log of the things a
loved one does over a month that one is grateful for, then give a monthly gratitude report.
However, such a variation has not yet been tested empirically, to our knowledge.
Kindness. Kindness activities ask their participants to perform deliberate acts of kindness
towards other people. The acts can vary greatly from buying small gifts and donations to things
which do not involve spending money like helping someone carry a heavy bag. It’s been noted
by research that acting kindly is a common characteristic of happy people, and, moreover,
happiness and kindness often coexist in a circular fashion where one reinforces the other (Aknin,
Dunn, & Norton, 2012; Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008).
An example of a PPI that falls under the kindness category is “prosocial spending”, or
spending money on others (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008). This activity can include such simple
things as buying a sandwich for a homeless on a street, buying a cup of coffee for a colleague, or
donating to charity. Spending money on others, rather than on oneself leads to increase in well-
being (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008). This example illustrates an important exception to
popular belief that “money does not buy happiness”, emphasizing that when it is spent on
kindness it actually does (Howell, Pchelin, & Iyer, 2012).
Activities that promote kindness on a more general level also enhance well-being. For
example, when participants were asked to do kind acts for other people (not necessarily
involving money), participants experienced improved happiness (Lyubomirsky, Tkach, &
Sheldon, 2004). However, they found an important dose-response relationship; when five kind

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acts were performed all in one day as opposed to these acts being spread throughout a week, a
significant increase in well-being was found. There was no benefit, however, to doing one kind
act per day five days a week. The likely explanation for this finding is that most people are
involved in a small amount of kind activities daily, so in order to notice the effect the number of
kind acts has to be increased above and beyond what a person would normally do.
Empathy. Empathy based activities intend to strengthen social connections by promoting
an understanding within the relationship. A great body of research suggests that meaningful
social relationships are essential for happiness (Diener & Seligman, 2002; Myers & Diener,
1995; Peterson, 2006). One of the examples of empathy based PPIs is loving-kindness mediation.
In this activity, by using meditation techniques people create positive feeling and emotions
towards someone else or even themselves. Research found that participating in this activity leads
to improvement in life satisfaction, decrease in depressive symptoms, and also promotes positive
emotions and behaviors in general (Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008).
Other empathy based PPIs which concentrated on perspective taking, which emphasizes
increasing the self-other overlap that exists between two people (Davis et al., 2004). In short, by
attempting to see another person’s perspective well enough to truly understand how they feel,
one might find oneself feeling more similar to the other person (Hodges, Clark, & Myers, 2011).
Extensive literature finds that people who experience self-other overlap with a person experience
stronger social bonds (Galinsky, Ku, & Wang, 2005) are ultimately able to understand the other
person in a way that is more complex and nuanced (Waugh & Fredrickson, 2006). Work on
promoting empathy is closely tied with, and can be used to promote, forgiveness (McCullough,
Root & Cohen, 2006).

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Optimism. Optimism based activities ask people to think about the future in a positive
way and create positive expectations. For instance, one such activity asks people in the lab to
write about how they see themselves in the future in the best possible way for about 10-15
minutes (King, 2001). Although very easy to do, this activity can lead to significant
improvements in subjective well-being, and was also connected to less illness (King, 2001).
Another activity that is similar but typically done outside the lab, called “Life Summary,” was
used by Seligman, Rashid and Parks (2006). In Life Summary, participants write a 1-2 page
summary of their life as they would like it to be relayed via a biography, assuming they lived a
long, fruitful life. They are then asked to examine how they spend their time in everyday life and
to consider whether they might adjust their daily routine to more effectively pursue their ideal
life.
As both of these activities are one-time, difficult to turn into an ongoing routine, Sheldon
and Lyubomirsky (2006) created an optimism activity that is more repeatable. They asked
participants to do a similar activity to those described above, writing out some ideas for what
their best possible self might look like, and then they asked participants to spend 2 weeks after
that thinking back to what they wrote on a regular basis. They found a robust benefit for this
activity both immediately and at follow-up.
Strengths. The activities which fall under the “strengths” category ask people to
recognize, and then either use or develop one’s strengths (Parks & Biswas-Diener, 2013). A study
by Seligman et al. (2005) instructed participants to identify and use one’s strengths, which
resulted in increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms. However, this approach was
questioned by more recent research, as the “identify and use” strategy raised concerns that this
might create an idea of consistency and rigidness of strengths (Biswas-Diener, Kashdan, &

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Minhas, 2011). Indeed, research evidence suggest that concentrating on developing strengths
rather than simply identifying them was found to be more enjoyable by the participants and
resulted left them believing that strengths can be changed and developed (Haidt, 2002; Louis,
2011). When using strengths-based PPIs, which call for applying one’s strengths, it is important
to be careful and make sure that this application is appropriate (Schwartz & Hill, 2006). For
instance, if one identifies honesty as a strength, there are other situation when being honest can
hurt someone’s feelings or stir up a conflict. It is important to also cultivate what Schwartz and
Sharpe (2005) call “practical wisdom” – the ability to use one’s strengths when appropriate and
beneficial.
Meaning. Meaning based PPIs are focused on understanding what brings meaning to
one’s life and often on actions connected to enhancing or achieving this meaning. Research
suggests that having meaning in life is a consistent predictor for happiness and life satisfaction
(Steger, Kashdan, & Oishi, 2008; Steger, Oishi, & Kashdan, 2009). There are several ways that
meaning can be facilitated through PPIs. These types of PPIs include such activities as reflecting
on meaning of one’s profession (Grant, 2008), setting a meaningful goal and planning (Linley,
Nielson, Gillett, & Biswas-Diener, 2010), or just simply reflecting on one’s life in writing
(McAdams, Reynolds, Lewis, Patten, & Bowman, 2001). Meaning-making – specifically,
writing about the positive events that have come out of a negative event – can also be an
important way to cope with negative life events (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000).
Methods of Disseminating PPIs
The easiness and accessibility of PPIs makes them a very useful tool for therapists and
individual happiness seekers alike. Although research suggests that the best results from PPIs
were reached in a therapeutic setting (perhaps due to members of clinical populations having

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greater room to grow due to their distress), self-administered PPIs were still effective in
improving well-being (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009. Both of these modalities of dissemination will
be discussed in turn – first, below, we will cover more self-administered interventions designed
for nonclinical populations, and in the section after, we will discuss clinical uses of PPIs.
Book-Based Interventions. One of the most simple and inexpensive methods of self-
administered psychological help are self-help books. A substantive self-help book that contains
specific techniques for improving one’s psychological state has great potential to help the well-
being of an entire population. A study by Parks and Szanto (2013) examined effectiveness of two
such self-help books increasing well-being of incoming college freshmen. Students were
randomly assigned to receive either The How of Happiness book by Sonja Lyubomirsky (2008),
a positive psychology-based book which describes many of earlier discussed PPIs, or Control
Your Depression, a book based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy principles (Lewinsohn, Muñoz,
Youngren, & Zeiss, 1992). Both showed to be effective at decreasing depressive symptoms.
However, the positive psychology self-book led to higher levels of life satisfaction, and students
reported that they found activities from that book more enjoyable and meaningful. These
findings suggest that a book-based mode of dissemination has potential for delivering PPIs to the
general public.
Classrooms. Another way of making PPIs accessible is through a course. Recently, more
and more college courses on positive psychology either have a component of self-help embedded
in a course (Magyar-Moe, 2011) or even solely concentrate on self-help and well-being (Parks,
2013). Even though the main goal of such courses is usually to teach the theoretical prospective
behind PPIs, they often have a practical component which teaches the students the skills that can
be useful for future self-management of their well-being (Biswas-Diener & Patterson, 2011). An

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emerging type of widely-accessible free online courses (MOOCs) can be especially valuable for
making PPIs more attainable for general public, as these courses attract a more diverse group of
people compared to traditional college courses.
Technology. Self-help books and college courses are effective, but often time consuming,
which could present a problem for a lot of people. Technology based interventions – another
popular and quickly growing method of PPIs’ delivery – addresses this problem. Internet sites
and smart phone applications are easy tools to deliver the interventions as well as track the
progress they generate (Schueller & Parks, 2013). Some PPIs-based websites concentrate just on
one activity. For instance, Gratitude Bucket by Zach Prager and Thnk4.org by the Greater Good
Foundation are both designed to promote gratitude. Some other websites, however, include a
wide range of different PPIs. One of such websites – Daily Challenge – was also examined by
researchers who accessed its efficacy. Cobb and Poirier (2014) found that people who used
activities from the website showed more well-being than control group. Empirical research also
supports the effectiveness of cell-phone applications based on PPIs, as users of Live Happy
iPhone app, based on works of Sonja Lyubomirsky, experienced benefits in their happiness level
(Parks, Della Porta, Pierce, Zilca, & Lyubomirsky, 2012). Other interventions such as Happify
contain both web- and smartphone-based components, allowing users to choose whichever
modality best suits them, or to switch as they like (Ben-Kiki, Leidner, & Parks, 2013).
PPIs in Clinical Practice
Thus far, the use of PPIs was mostly described amongst the healthy individuals in the
general population. However, PPIs can also become a useful tool in a process of prevention of
some disorders, as well as in helping those already diagnosed in a process of recovery. Well-
being becomes of especially high importance and high concern for individuals suffering from

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mental disorders, and enhancing it can be an essential element on the road to recovery. A more
detailed description of how PPIs have been used effectively in clinical settings can be found in
Parks et al. (2015) – but an overview of some of those applications is presented below.
A recent study examined a role PPIs can play to help individuals diagnosed with
schizophrenia (Meyer, Johnson, Parks, Iwanski, & Penn, 2012). They included PPIs as a part of a
larger intervention – Positive Living, which was designed to make psychological improvements
for those with schizophrenia. The program was heavily based off of Parks and Seligman (2007)’s
group PPI, with the addition of a mindfulness activity. The program showed to be effective in
improving well-being, clinical functioning, savoring, and hope. Most impressively, they also
reported improvements in symptoms of schizophrenia after completing Positive Living. This
improvement was seen right after the intervention, as well as three months later. Implementation
of PPIs with more traditional methods for treatment of schizophrenia (CBT, psychoeducation,
social skills training, etc.) could enhance the progress to recovery for the diagnosed individuals.
PPIs have been implemented in the smoking cessation programs (Kahler et al., 2014).
Kahler and colleagues (2014) designed a Positive Psychotherapy for Smoking Cessation (PPT-
S), which was based on original Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) protocol designed by Parks and
Seligman (2007). The purpose of PPT-S is to enhance well-being levels of individuals before and
during their attempt to quit smoking. Although the results of this study are only preliminary, they
give an optimistic view regarding efficacy of PPT-S. The mood of the participants remained
stable through the quitting stage, despite the fact that they reported increase in depressive
symptoms right before the intervention. Unfortunately, the absence of control group in this study
does not allow to heavily rely on this results, but it is still a good start for future research in this
area.

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In addition to providing a useful adjunct to standard treatments in cases of clinical
disorders, PPIs have implications when it comes to physical health related clinical practice as
well. A study by Hausmann, Parks, Youk, and Kwoh (2014) found that PPIs lead to a long term
decrease in pain levels. This study was administered online and targeted general public, and not
those suffering from chronic pain. However, it led the Hausmann and colleagues to develop a
special program for veterans who suffer from chronic pain due to arthritis – Staying Positive
with Arthritis. Although research regarding efficacy of this program is still in progress, it looks
promising as it was specifically tailored to suit veterans through feedback from the patients
themselves and consideration of previous research regarding PPIs efficacy.
Interestingly, research suggests that use of PPIs can serve as preventive factor in
developing mental disorders (Layous, Chancellor, & Lyubomirsky, 2014; Lyubomirsky &
Layous, 2013). The combination of enhanced well-being and a number of strategies developed
though PPIs could allow for mitigation of such risk factors for mental disorders as rumination
and loneliness; moreover, PPIs help offset other possible environmental triggers through skills
they develop (Layous, Chancellor, & Lyubomirsky, 2014).
Concerns and Limitations
Thus far we explained the mechanism behind PPIs, and discussed all the main types and
methods of their deliver. Although PPIs have shown to be effective and easy to administer, there
are certain concerns and limitations as well. They range from concerns regarding motivation and
personal fit to a lot broader issues such as valuing happiness and cultural differences. Here we
will acknowledge all of these caveats in greater detail.
Motivation and Person-Activity Fit. When it comes to self-administered interventions,
motivation is always a great concern. Certain events or feelings might push people into

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downloading a mobile application, buying a book, or signing up for class. However, over time
the motivation that got them there in the first place might drop. Indeed, research shows that only
a small percent of those who have downloaded Live Happy app used it enough times that any
conclusion could be made regarding improvements in their mood (Parks et al., 2012). Other
research also suggests that an immense number of those who sign up for Internet based
interventions drop out without even going through the first assignment (Christensen, Griffiths,
Groves, & Korten, 2006). Therefore, if researchers want the interventions they develop to be
used by consumers or clients, they must pay attention not only to the quality of the intervention’s
content, but to the extent to which the intervention will keep people engaged.
One key approach to improving user adherence and motivation is a consideration of
person-activity fit. In other words: not all PPI-users are the same and different types of users
might need different types of approaches to benefit optimally. The significance of this issue has
been emphasized by many researchers. For instance, Parks et al. (2012) found that happiness
seekers (people who actively try to find ways to make them happier) can be divided into two
distinct subgroups: one subgroup includes people who are already fairly happy, and another
subgroup comprised of people whose well-being levels are close to level of clinically depressed.
Lumping everyone together and assuming that all users or clients have uniform needs is not an
ideal approach.
Other research also showed that personality differences (Senf & Liau, 2013; Sergeant &
Mongrain, 2011), personal preference for activity (Schueller, 2010), and level of motivation
(Lyubomirsky et al., 2011) are all very important to the efficacy of PPIs. Moreover, a number of
other factors such as culture, age, and opinion about PPIs was recognized as possible moderators
of PPIs effectiveness (Layous & Lyubomirsky, 2014). It is worthwhile, therefore, to pay careful

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attention to person-activity fit and to look at whether a given intervention is appropriate for the
particular individual considering it.
Expectations and Attitudes. The expectations a person has about completing a PPI can
greatly impact the extent to which they benefit from it. For example, a study by Sheldon and
colleagues (2010) found that the extent to which a person values happiness is an important factor
in succeeding in becoming happier. They found that people who had more positive view about
happiness showed more improvement, and were more likely to sustain the obtained improvement
over time. The study suggests that two key components are important for successful intervention:
willingness or desire to become happier, and an appropriate tool to reach that goal. Similarly,
Parks and Szanto (2013) found that those who valued happiness tried harder and as a result,
benefited more from a PPI.
But is valuing happiness always good? A recent study raised a new concern for happiness
research and the role attitudes toward happiness plays in it. Mauss, Tamir, Anderson and Savino
(2011) found a surprising paradox – people who valued happiness more actually showed less
happiness and more depressive symptoms. However, subsequent studies showed that it is
actually very important how happiness valuation is measured. While Mauss and colleagues’
(2011) scale is worded in a very extreme language, there other scales which set a more neutral
tone. It’s been found that the paradoxical effect is not present at all when a different measure of
attitudes towards happiness is used (Titova & Parks, 2014). Participants who valued happiness
highly on a different scale introduced by Ferguson and Sheldon (2013) showed more positive
emotions after a positive mood induction task, than participants who valued happiness less. On
the other hand, completely opposite trend was observed for participants who showed high
valuation of happiness according to Mauss and colleages’ (2011) scale. Even more interestingly,

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even using Mauss’s scale, some pilot data in our lab has found that valuing happiness is, indeed,
problematic if a person is given an ineffective way to become happier. The person becomes
frustrated at their inability to achieve their goal and reports more negative affect. However, a
person who values happiness and is given an effective way to pursue it benefits more than
someone who does not value happiness. So context is relevant – valuing happiness is a problem
if one does not know how to become happier. If one does know how to become happier, valuing
happiness is an asset.
Cultural Considerations. Cultural differences play a very important role when it comes to
happiness. Understanding of what it is to be happy, for example, varies greatly across cultures.
Lu & Gilmour (2004) compared how people in United States and people in China defined this
concept. While Chinese participants found happiness to be more about connecting with other
people and the environment, Americans saw it more as achievements of goals and personal
growth. Moreover, hedonistic and material values were highly important for people in United
States in their view of happiness, while people from China did not find them important. Another
study looked beliefs about the controllability of happiness. Oishi, Grahan, Kesebir, & Galinha
(2013) found that in many countries happiness is attributed to the luck or faith and overall has an
accidental characteristic, while in the United States the belief is more common that happiness is
within an individual’s control. Other research also pointed out that some cultures exhibit a “fear
of happiness” or certain amount of hesitation towards open pursuit of happiness, for fear that
welcoming happiness intentionally might later cause a retaliatory negative event to occur and
balance things out (Joshanloo, 2013; Lyubomirsky, 2000).
Having different definitions of well-being is connected to methods of achieving
happiness, what in turn has an implication when trying to design and administer an effective PPI.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTIONS 19
To examine cross-cultural differences in the level of happiness in response to positive
psychology interventions, Boehm, Lyubomirsky and Sheldon (2011) compared two distinct
cultural groups: Asian-Americans and Anglo-Americans. They found that overall Anglo-
Americans had significantly more improvement than Asian-Americans regardless of what kind
of activity were they assigned to, although no difference was observed in control groups.
However, Asian-Americans were more susceptible to gratitude rather than optimism activity.
These results suggest that cultural mindset plays important role in effectiveness of strategies
designed to improve happiness.
In a different study Layous, Lee, Choi and Lyubomirsky (2013) continue to examine
cross-cultural differences in the level of happiness in response to PPIs. However, this time they
compared Americans and South Koreans. The activities Layous and colleagues (2013) used were
gratitude and kindness. The results indicated that overall Americans had significantly more
improvement than South-Korean from both activities, which could be attributed to the higher
level of effort reported by American participants. Both groups showed improvement in their level
of well-being from kindness activity, while Americans benefited more from gratitude activity
than did South Koreans. This difference could be explained by the fact that in Asian cultures
positive feeling of gratitude can be accompanied with negative feelings such as guilt (Layous et
al., 2013). Moreover, cultural background was also noted to be very important in connection to
the effectiveness of PPIs in the meta-analyses of 51 different studies (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
Most of the research on PPIs that has been done so far took place in Western countries
and did not assess cultural differences. However, these few studies which considered these
differences along with other theoretical and empirical knowledge about cultural differences

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTIONS 20
connected to happiness suggest that while some PPIs work equally well universally, some only
suitable for Western cultures.
Closing Remarks
In this chapter, we have defined a PPI, we have described the different types of PPIs, and
we have provided an overview of the modalities by which PPIs have been disseminated, both to
the general public, and to clinical populations. Lastly, we have discussed some key caveats to
keep in mind when using PPIs – namely, the person’s beliefs about happiness, and their cultural
background.
The amount of attention we dedicated to the caveats conveys, we hope, the importance of
thinking critically when using PPIs, or any intervention approach, in clinical or coaching
practice. Yes, PPIs are appealing to many clients, and yes, meta-analyses have found them useful
on the whole. However, there are subpopulations – certain cultural groups, certain personality
types, and so on – for whom certain PPIs are not useful, or maybe even harmful. One should not
be applying PPIs universally, to every person who walks in the door, without consideration of
who that person is and whether they would benefit. PPIs are useful, but like any technique, have
their time and their place.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTIONS 21
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