Positive and United: A Case Study of Using Positive Psychology to Fight COVID-19 Together

• In Event: Peaceful Solutions to Challenges of Pandemic: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives From the East to the West

Abstract

Perspectives and Purpose
COVID-19 has created a tremendous challenge worldwide. In addition to the damage caused by the virus itself, the pandemic has caused the psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, depression, and other health issues. Traditional psychology often utilizes the “disease model” that focuses on mental illness exclusively and treats it as a disease with the goal of relieving the “pain” or getting rid of the “disease.”
Unlike the “disease model,” positive psychology promotes a positive “strength model” which uncovers people’s strengths and promotes their positive functioning and optimal well-being (Peterson, 2006). Research shows that simply getting rid of the negative does not guarantee the positive. Similarly, getting rid of anxiety, stress, and depression does not ensure happiness or wellbeing (Haidt, 2006; Lyubomirsky, 2007; Seligman, 2002). A substantial body of research suggests that interventions that build the positive states alleviate depression and anxiety (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
This paper introduces a program called “The Global Forum Series” initiated by an NGO organization. Guided by the principles of positive psychology, the theme of The Global Forum Series is “Love, Unity, Peace, Hope—For the Betterment of the Global Village”. This program invited 18 speakers from both the U.S. and China, organized 16 talks on the topics of “love, unity, peace, and hope,” involved over 50 volunteers from 8 countries (China, the U.S., Canada, Korea, Spain, Portugal, England, and Costa Rica). The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze, and theorize the implementation of this program. This program successfully shifted participants’ attention away from the stress, anxiety, depression, and violence caused by COVID-19, enabled them to utilize their strengths and expertise to promote positive functioning and optimal well-being, and united people of diverse backgrounds to collaborate with each other and fight the pandemic together.
Significance
This program provided an alternative solution to the challenges and difficulties caused by COVID-19. Unlike traditional psychology that focuses on problems and tries to solve them, this program successfully shifted people’s attention away from problems by guiding their attention to positive topics like love, unity, peace, and hope. By engaging participants from multiple countries, cultures, languages, and backgrounds in meaningful on-going conversations on issues relevant to the COVID-19 in a safe, respectful, trusting, and caring environment, this program raised participants’ awareness as well as deepened their understanding of the concepts of love, unity, peace, and hope, helping unify people in this difficult time of pandemic and improving their wellbeing.
References
Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. New York: Basic Books.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Seligman, M.E.P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A.C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61, 774–788.
Seligman, M.E.P., Steen, T.A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410– 421.

Authors

• Dengting Boyanton, Sino-American Educational Research Association

• Kaiping Peng, Tsinghua University