Positive Psychology and Psychology

¶ … Canadian Psychology entitled "Expanding Opportunities for Diversity in Positive Psychology" presents the results of a systematic review of literature. The review of literature covers the years between 1998 and 2014, spanning the bulk of the duration of the field of positive psychology. The purpose of the systematic review was to examine how issues related to race, class, and gender were addressed in literature on positive psychology because of what the authors claim to be a widespread perception of the field ignoring these relevant issues. Findings of the systematic review of literature were varied, and included an underrepresentation of female authors of peer-reviewed articles in the field of positive psychology in spite of an over-representation of female participants in empirical research. Additionally, Rao & Donaldson (2015) found that discussions about gender, race, or ethnicity issues are nearly absent from positive psychology literature altogether. The bulk of research in positive psychology is also focused on white subjects. Responding to the results, Rao & Donaldson (2015) note that by redefining and reframing positive psychology, it may be possible to move the field forward to becoming more relevant to a broader community.

Positive psychology itself was a response to mainstream approaches in the field of psychology. Instead of focusing on what was wrong with a person or group of people, such as personality disorder, mood disorder, neurosis or dysfunction, positive psychologists offered a way to focus instead on an individual's strengths and how the person can capitalize on those strengths in order to achieve specific goals such as well-being. Positive psychology is a social science but a multidisciplinary one with the potential to be influential in changing the schemas and worldviews dominating different disciplines. This is why Rao & Donaldson (2015) urge positive psychologists to become more inclusive in their approach and to welcome discussions about race, class, gender, and power intersectionality. In fact, it could even be considered ironic that positive psychology has avoided frank discussions of intersectionality given the ability of the field to positively influence public policy in health care, poverty alleviation, and even environmental sustainability (Rao & Donaldson, 2015).

Gender issues are addressed in a specific section of the Rao & Donaldson (2015) systematic review of literature. The three main concerns regarding gender bias in positive psychology research included research design, authorship, and selection of research topic. Research design issues included the biased selection of participants with females being overrepresented in recent literature. Authorship issues refer directly to the lack of female primary researchers or authors in positive psychology research. The issue of gender in research topics refers to research questions that are androcentric and not as focused on women's perceptions of themselves or others, or women's specific research concerns.