In recent times there has been growing interest in positive psychology as evidenced by the swell in positive psychology graduate programs, undergraduate courses, journals related to the topic, popular book titles on the topic and scholarly publications. Within the positive psychology community there has been an increased emphasis on the socially beneficial side of positive psychological science. At the First World Congress of the International Positive Psychology Association there was a major push to look at positive psychology as a social change mechanism. This volume will bring together thoughts of leaders in positive psychology from 8 countries to capitalize on the push toward social change and flourishing. By releasing this title at a critical time Springer has the opportunity to help frame the agenda for positive psychology as a force for social change.

This seminal work is meant for anyone interested in happiness, strengths, flourishing or positive institutions It introduces Positive Psychology as an unapplied science that can be used to create positive social transformation and enabling institutions. This is a must-have title for academics, especially psychologists, sociologists, economists, and professionals working in the field of Positive Psychology and Well-Being.

1 What People Really Want in Life and Why It Matters:
Contributions from Research on Folk Theories
of the Good Life
Christie Napa Scollon and Laura A. King
Part I Some Cautionary Thoughts
2 Think Before You Think
Nic Marks
3 Socially Responsible Cheermongery: On the Sociocultural
Contexts and Levels of Social Happiness Policies
Neil Thin
Part II Positive Psychology and Public Policy
4 Monitoring Psychosocial Prosperity for Social Change
Ed Diener and Carol Diener
5 Gross National Happiness: A Gift from Bhutan to the World
George W. Burns
6 Ecological Challenges, Materialistic Values,
and Social Change
Tim Kasser
7 Positive Psychology and Public Health
Dora Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir
Part III Positive Psychology and Poverty
8 Positive Psychology and Poverty
Robert Biswas-Diener and Lindsey Patterson
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xiv Contents
9 Strengthening Underprivileged Communities:
Strengths-Based Approaches as a Force
for Positive Social Change in Community Development
P. Alex Linley, Avirupa Bhaduri, Debasish Sen Sharma,
and Reena Govindji
Part IV Positive Psychology and Organizations
10 Creating Positive Social Change Through Building Positive
Organizations: Four Levels of Intervention
Nicky Garcea and P. Alex Linley
11 Organizational Democracy as a Force for Social Change
Traci L. Fenton
Part V Positive Psychology and a Focus on Others
12 Better Living Through Perspective Taking
Sara D. Hodges, Brian A.M. Clark, and Michael W. Myers
13 Investing in Others: Prosocial Spending for (Pro)Social Change
Lara B. Aknin, Gillian M. Sandstrom, Elizabeth W. Dunn,
and Michael I. Norton
Part VI Positive Psychology and Social Change Interventions
14 How Does Coaching Positively Impact Organizational
and Societal Change?
Sunny Stout Rostron
15 PositivePsychotherapy and Social Change
Antonella Delle Fave and Giovanni A. Fava
16 Recreate or Create? Leisure as an Arena
for Recovery and Change
Joar Vittersø
17 Positive Computing
Tomas Sander
Part VII Change theWorld
18 Changing the World: The Science of Transformative Action
Scott Sherman
Editor’s Afterword
Index
Contributors