Some changes coming!!! Over the next year you will notice a change in both research and focus for The Greatness Project. Scott will be attending the University of Pennsylvania for a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. We believe this specialized area will have much to say in the pursuit of greatness. You will notice some of the research present beginning with this article. Enjoy.
Scott and Jan
Are You Flourishing? August 2007
Think about your typical day. Are you functioning at a high level? Are you happy and satisfied with what you’re doing? Do you enjoy creativity? Are you willing to be flexible in various areas of your life? When you experience difficulties, do you bounce back quickly? If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, then you are flourishing. If you have some doubt, or wish to flourish more in your life and your work, read on.
Flourishing is defined as living “within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth and resilience.” This simple definition is the springboard for an article by Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada, “Positive Affect and The Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing” (American Psychologist, Oct. 2005). Their work on flourishing can inform the way we speak to each other, who we connect with and perhaps even our self talk.
Fredrickson and Losada contrast flourishing with “languishing” which they understand as “people who describe their lives as ‘hollow’ or ‘empty.’” Citing research indicating that only 20% of U.S. adults, flourish, they advocate embracing the mental, physical, and organizational benefits of flourishing. They focused their research on how positive affect leads to flourishing. In practical, empirical terms this means receiving enough positive comments, interactions, and successes to overcome the negative affect we experience each day.
Whenever we’ve asked individuals how many positive comments or responses they receive in a day, they usually answer “zero.” And yet, while receiving little or no positive affect they’re expected to perform at tremendously high levels. Even without reading the research, we know maintaining high performance without affirmation is very difficult to do. Marriages experience the same challenges and predictability. When researchers coded the positive and negative comments couples made to each other, there was a direct relation between how many positive comments the couples shared per day and marital longevity. So, if there’s evidence that positive affect leads to flourishing, can we employ positive affect to flourish in our lives?
The answer is yes and no. We cannot create flourishing if the positive affect is faked. As humans, we can see right through insincere positive affect. What does work in our favor is the fact that the various components of positive affect—positive thinking, acting and feeling—can stimulate one another. Positive thinking can trigger positive acting and/or feeling and visa versa. This reality alone allows us to create dynamics where the more positive affect can be experienced the more negative affect can be overcome. For example, if in your work you deliberately offer positive affect by praising good work and focusing on the good things going on during the day, you can create an environment in which everyone can flourish, leading to short and long term success.
But real life dictates that occasionally we may have to say something negative to someone else. How we express that negativity can have a great deal to do with the impact it will have. If the negativity is time-limited, with realistic feedback focused on a specific situation, it will not substantially affect the individual adversely. However, when the negative affect is constant, unfocused and universal (e.g. “you always do the wrong thing”) then it will hamper individuals from flourishing.
What kind of day would you prefer? One that involves flourishing or languishing? Each of us has the opportunity to foster flourishing by creating opportunities to experience positive affect throughout our day. We can do this by the way we speak to each other, our choices of associates, and how we think about our work and ourselves. As Fredrickson and Losada summarize, “Human flourishing is optimal functioning…” Isn’t that what we want every day?
The Greatness ProjectTM is researched and written by:
Scott Asalone & Jan Sparrow
Copyright © ASGMC, Inc. 2007
Some questions to consider at the end of each day as you reflect on “flourishing.”
1. Where/when was I happy, satisfied, and functioning at a high level today?
2. When did I allow myself to think and act differently? When was I flexible?
3. What did I do for myself today? How did I endeavor to expand/reinforce my social network today?
4. How did I respond to adversity today?