Plenary and Invited Speakers
Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D.
Martin Seligman, Ph.D.
David Cooperrider, Ph.D.
Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D.
Tom Rath
Rollin McCraty, Ph.D.
Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.
Carmelo Vazquez, Ph.D.
Carol Ryff, Ph.D.
Kenneth Pargament, Ph.D.
Richie Davidson, Ph.D.
Robert Quinn, Ph.D.
Rhonda Cornum, MD, Ph.D.
John Kim, Ph.D.
Kaiping Peng, Ph.D.
Corey Keyes, Ph.D.
Mihayl Csikszentmihayli, Ph.D.
James O. Pawelski, Ph.D.
Change that Lasts
Positive Psychology: The Cutting Edge in Research and Teaching
Mirror Flourishing: Appreciative Inquiry and the Designing of Positive Institutions
Capitalism, Values, Institutions, and Large Scale Flourishing
Fully Charging Your Work and Life
Heart-Brain Dynamics: The Role of Self-Regulation and Psychophysiological Coherence in Optimal Functioning
Positivity Resonates
Positive Psychology and Clinical Psychology: Emerging Promises and Translational Challenges
Past, Present and Future Perspectives of Eudaimonic Well-being
Sacred Moments: A Hidden Ingredient of Resilience and Change
Well-being: Perspectives from Affective and Contemplative Neuroscience
Turning Organizations Positive: An Invitation to Cultural Surgery
The Power of Optimism (and Gratitude, Good Relationships, Accomplishment…)
Positive Organizational Scholarship: A Professional and Personal Journal
Positive Psychology in China
My Search for Flourishing
Effects and Global Reach of Positive Psychology
The Positive Humanities: A New Approach to Human Flourishing
Change that Lasts
Most personal and organizational change efforts fail. While initial excitement may be high following a workshop or program, more often than not people go back to where they were prior to the intervention. To enjoy change that lasts, that goes beyond the “honeymoon period”, insights must be followed up with actual behaviors and concrete rituals. |
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Positive Psychology: The Cutting Edge in Research and Teaching
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Mirror Flourishing: Appreciative Inquiry and the Designing of Positive Institutions
In this plenary David Cooperrider explores the proposition that the quest for a flourishing earth is
the most significant positive psychology and organization development opportunity of the 21stcentury—and that when people in organizations work toward building a sustainable andflourishing world they too are poised to flourish in ways that elevate innovation, personalexcellence, and workplace well being. Put another way, corporate citizenship “out there” is notonly about serving or satisfying external stakeholders, it is also core to individual flourishinginside the firm. Sustainable value creation and shared wellbeing might well reinforce and workboth ways and thereby raises a far-reaching exploration: what is the link between advancingsustainability for a flourishing Earth, with the interdependent flourishing of the human side ofenterprise? And how might the new scholarship on positive institutions shed light on thisimportant but under-researched dynamic? How, precisely, might an organization’s quest for sustainable value bring out the best not just on the outside—helping to advance a better society orworld—but also bring out the best on the “inside”–in the flourishing of people, the quality oftheir relationships, their health and well-being, their motivation and performance, and theircapacity for growth, resilience, and positive change? Using data from over 3,000 appreciative inquiry interviews into “business as an agent of worldbenefit” David Cooperrider shares a myriad of diverse stories but just one overarchingconclusion: there is nothing that brings out the best in human enterprise faster, more consistently,or powerfully than calling a whole organization to design “bright green” solutions to humanity’s greatest social and environmental challenges. |
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Capitalism, Values, Institutions, and Large Scale Flourishing
The 2015 World Happiness Report shows that almost all of the happiest countries are free-market societies, and almost all of the least happy countries are not. In my talk I’ll discuss the many relationships between capitalism and happiness, and I’ll analyze the intense moralism that often surrounds discussions of capitalism. I’ll suggest that one imperative for international positive psychology in the 21st century is to help countries find their own ways to balance the sometimes-competing needs for dynamism and decency. |
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Fully Charging Your Work and Life
Tom Rath, author of five international bestsellers, will share his latest research |
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Heart-Brain Dynamics: The Role of Self-Regulation and Psychophysiological Coherence in Optimal Functioning
This presentation will provide an overview of a heart-focused approach to self-regulation and energymanagement for building and sustaining resilience. Most of the self-regulation techniques include theintentional activation of a positive emotion and have been shown to provide a wide range of personal,social and organizational benefits, such as lowered health care costs, reductions in staff turnover,mistakes, and improved teamwork, communication and shorter meeting times. The presentation willdiscuss the physiology of heart-brain communication and how the rhythm of heart directly influencesemotional experience and cognitive functioning. It will also discuss how and why heart rate variability(HRV) can be used as an index self-regulatory capacity and how it can also be used to facilitate theacquisition of emotional self-regulation skills and improve cognitive functioning. In addition, research on the “science of what connects us” will be discussed. This includes data showing that the heart radiates a measurable magnetic field which carries emotional state information, and can be detected by the nervoussystems of nearby animals and other people. These section includes data showing that the earth andionosphere generate a symphony of resonant frequencies that are in the same range as those of thehuman heart, autonomic nervous system, and brain. Outcome data will be shown on how changes inthese fields affect human emotions and behaviors as well as some surprising new data indicating that theearth’s magnetic field interconnects humanity at deep and fundamental level. |
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![]() Mihaly Csikszentmihayli, Ph.D. |
Effects and Global Reach of Positive Psychology
I assume we are all more or less agreed as to the goals of Positive Psychology. We are all dedicated to help humanity fulfill its great potential, and direct the evolutionary forces towards a world of peace, prosperity, and continuing psychic complexity. Where we often differ is as to the means for reaching this common goal. So far, a great deal of work has been done to improve the quality of life through mindfulness, gratitude, savoring, and other techniques the individual can learn to use. Also, much has been accomplished at the level of organizations. What we should not forget, however, is that individual and local solutions take place in the wider context of society and culture. If the momentum of the culture as a whole is forcing us in directions that work against our goals, what can Positive Psychology do to steer the future in directions more in line with our ultimate goals? |
Positivity Resonates
Author of Positivity and Love 2.0, Professor Barbara Fredrickson’s most recent research offers an innovative approach to understanding the multiple ways by which positive emotions promote physical health. Most known for her broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, which identifies positive emotions as key drivers of individual and collective resource building, Dr. Fredrickson’s research reveals how positive emotions alter heart health and molecular physiology. Stepping off from this work, she has more recently developed what she has called the upward spiral theory of lifestyle change. This new integrative model positions positive emotions as creating non conscious and increasing motives for wellness behavior, rooted in enduring biological changes. In this presentation, Dr. Fredrickson will describe the origins of and evidence for this new perspective on how positive emotions promote physical health. Implications for how best to promote positive lifestyle changes are illuminated. |
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The Positive Humanities: A New Approach to Human Flourishing
The field of positive psychology was founded nearly twenty years ago when Martin Seligman, along |
Invited Speaker Presentations
Each program track will feature 9-10 presentations including our invited speakers highlighted below: