The field of positive psychology was formally established in 1998, when it was announced by Martin Seligman as part of his agenda and a key focus in his role as the president of the American Psychological Association (APA). As a distinct field of psychology, it is concerned with the enhancement of psychological wellbeing, happiness, and human flourishing. It offered a paradigm shift away from the traditional and more reactionary approaches to psychology that were concerned with pathology and curing human suffering. Instead, it sought to remedy a gap in psychology, exploring the pathways to positive psychological wellbeing and the prevention of psychological disorder. In pursuit of these goals, positive psychology has focused on the role that the cultivation of ‘virtues’ and ‘character strengths’ play in enhancing psychological wellbeing, developing a classification known as the ‘Values-In-Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths’.
The mutual and overlapping concern and interest of both positive psychology and religion in the subject of ‘virtue’ and its role in human life has thus attracted wider study into their relationship. The VIA classification, furthermore, recognises ‘transcendence’ and ‘spirituality’ as pathways to wellbeing, thus attracting inquiry into how positive psychology, which adopts an empirical approach to its study, engages with these concepts through a scientific lens.
This paper examines the conceptualizations of ‘virtue’ which emerge in literature drawn from positive psychology and the Bahá’í Faith, exploring the relationship between the two approaches. While positive psychology draws upon a range of religious and philosophical approaches to inform its classification of virtues and strengths, it has not yet drawn upon or been studied in relation to the Bahá’í Faith.
This paper considers how the approaches may complement and inform one another as distinct bodies of knowledge, contrasting the ways in which their respective empirical and theological frameworks shape the concepts of virtue which emerge. It further highlights the syncretic and ‘integrative’ approach of positive psychology (which integrates specific aspects of religion) with the ‘inclusive’ approach of the Bahá’í Faith (based upon the principle of the oneness of religion). In turn, it considers the unique potential for future dialogue between the approaches.
This paper examines conceptualizations of ‘virtue’ which emerge in literature drawn from positive psychology and the Bahá’í Faith, exploring the relationship between the two approaches. While positive psychology draws upon a range of religious and philosophical approaches to inform its classification of virtues and strengths (known as the ‘Values-In-Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths’), it has not yet drawn upon or been studied in relation to the Bahá’í Faith.
This paper considers how the approaches may complement and inform one another as distinct bodies of knowledge, contrasting the ways in which their respective empirical and theological frameworks shape the concepts of virtue which emerge. It further highlights the syncretic and ‘integrative’ approach of positive psychology (which integrates specific aspects of religion) with the ‘inclusive’ approach of the Bahá’í Faith (based upon the principle of the oneness of religion). In turn, it considers the unique potential for future dialogue between the approaches.