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Positive Psychology Specialization Project: Design Your Life for Well-being

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Positive Psychology Specialization Project: Design Your Life for Well-being

This course is part of Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization

Instructor: Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.

39,417 already enrolled

Included with

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

925 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

925 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

What you'll learn

Identify your five signature strengths
Describe the character strengths that promote well-being
Craft a positive intervention using a signature strength
Share your work by writing a post-intervention assessment

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

8 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

You are encouraged to take the first four courses of the Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization before starting this course and completing the Specialization Project. This course, taught by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman brings all the key concepts from the first four courses to practice as you develop and test a new positive intervention for an audience of your choice. You identify opportunities in your daily life to increase the wellbeing by using knowledge you developed in the first four courses of the Specialization. In this final project, you evaluate the efficacy of a positive intervention based on subjective and objective measures. Then, you compare how empirical and non-empirically-based positive interventions can be applied to influence a person's wellbeing. Lastly, you reflect on how the fundamental elements of research methods are important in the everyday application of positive psychology.

Module details

Module 1 of the Positive Psychology Capstone reviews the VIA Character Strengths Classification and in particular asks the learner to identify his or her five signature strengths and assess if they are authentic.

What's included

9 videos1 reading2 assignments1 peer review

9 videosTotal 29 minutes

1.1 Course Overview1 minute
1.2 Module 1 Overview1 minute
1.3 Assignment: Taking the VIA or reviewing your results1 minute
1.4 Interview: Paul Rozin on Character Strengths8 minutes
1.5 James Pawelski's Review of Via Character Strengths9 minutes
1.6 Signature Strengths2 minutes
1.7 Disappointment in your Signature Strength1 minute
1.8 Does the strength seem to fit you?1 minute
1.9 How can you tell if the strength is authentically you?5 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Chris Peterson: What makes life worth living10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Practice Quiz 130 minutes
Character Strengths30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Character strengths. Who are you at your best? Do your signature strengths seem genuinely you?120 minutes

Module 2 presents Chris Peterson's unfinished theory on mental illness. Specifically his belief that the absence of strengths, the excess of strengths, and the opposite of strengths might define 72 conditions of character weakness, and that these shortcomings might be a better framework than the DSM which uses a checklist of symptoms.

What's included

5 videos2 readings2 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

5 videosTotal 17 minutes

2.1 Module 2 Overview1 minute
2.2 Peterson’s Theory6 minutes
2.3 Assessment of Peterson’s 24 Absence and Opposite of Strengths4 minutes
2.5 Contrasting Strengths Versus DSM2 minutes
2.6 Using Character Strength in a Challenge3 minutes

2 readingsTotal 20 minutes

Chris Peterson’s Unfinished Masterwork: The Real Mental Illnesses10 minutes
Which Character Strengths are most Predictive of Well-Being?10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Practice Quiz30 minutes
Excess, Absence, and Opposite in Character Strengths30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

72 deviations from strength. Can you spot your own deviance?60 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Definitions10 minutes

Module 3 has the learner target an area for remediation from among Peterson's inventory of 72 deviant strengths and craft a positive intervention using a signature strength.

What's included

5 videos2 readings2 assignments1 peer review

5 videosTotal 27 minutes

3.1 Module 3 Overview1 minute
3.2 Interview: Picking what works best for you from strengths banquet6 minutes
3.3 Deliberate Practice11 minutes
3.4 Laying the Foundation: Defining Measurement and Testing Happiness and Flourishing3 minutes
3.5 What is a Positive Intervention?5 minutes

2 readingsTotal 20 minutes

Articles on Research Methods10 minutes
PERMA overview Well-Being Theory10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Practice quiz on research methods and picking from strengths30 minutes
PERMA, Positive Interventions, Research Methods30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Designing your Positive Intervention120 minutes

Module 4 has the learner put the positive intervention into action, assess and the share the results, and finally reduce the positive intervention to writing so it can be shared.

What's included

8 videos2 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

8 videosTotal 20 minutes

4.1 Module 4 Overview1 minute
4.2 Trying the Positive Intervention3 minutes
4.3 Aristotelian Balance2 minutes
4.4 Interview: Using Strengths8 minutes
4.5 Using Signature Strengths Instead of Weakness2 minutes
4.6 Using Signature Strengths over time to Increase Happiness1 minute
4.7 Assignment: Retaking the PERMA and the PANAS assessment1 minute
4.8 Closing Thoughts3 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Practice quiz on Positive Interventions30 minutes
Positive Interventions, Strengths30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Assessing the Positive Intervention and the post intervention assessment.60 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Using the Peterson strength Excess, strength Absence, and strength Opposite categories10 minutes

Earn a career certificate

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(138 ratings)

Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

2 Courses156,282 learners

Offered by

University of Pennsylvania

Learner reviews

5 stars
85.52%
4 stars
10.36%
3 stars
2.48%
2 stars
1.07%
1 star
0.53%

Showing 3 of 925

Reviewed on Mar 10, 2018

A thought provoking workshop. How mental illness can be the lack, opposite or excess of our strengths. I enjoyed delving more into strengths and also having to come up with a positive intervention.

Reviewed on Oct 1, 2019

Please next time for the peer assessment, make the peer-review 5/5 or something. 2 is quite a low number. And some people can be quite prejudiced with their response

Reviewed on Aug 26, 2017

The full specialization was amazing! I have learnt a lot, I have flourished, I have got a lot of inspirations for my private and work life. Thank you.

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