6th World Congress on Positive Psychology
Lab staff members (Dmitry Leontiev, Martin F. Lynch, Tamara O. Gordeeva, Sergei Ishanov) took part in the 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology in Melbourne (Australia), July 18-21, 2019. About 1600 participants from 50 countries were registered at the congress.
The program of the event included over 100 world-class scientific speakers (Martin Seligman, Roy Baumeister, Sonya Lubomirski, Jonathan Haidt, Barbara Fredrickson, Robert Vallerand, Jeanne Nakamura, Itai Ivtzan, Ryan M. Niemiec etc.), many submitted workshops, as well as a wide variety of scientific topics for discussion in symposiums, talks and podiums (psychological well-being, positive emotions, applied positive psychology, leadership and organizational climate, positive education, meaning, flow, character strengths, positive psychology in health care etc.).
Tamara O. Gordeeva made a presentation «Linking Optimistic Attributional Style to Academic Performance: Meta-analysis Shows that Attributions of Positive Events matter most» at the symposium «Positive Education from Early Years to Undergrads». In the study, an optimistic attributional style for positive events most reliably predicted student academic achievement, including boosted achievement over time.
The Symposium «Positive Dimensions of Being Alone: New Conceptual and Empirical Developments» was presented by Lab Staff Members: Dmitry Leontiev «Experiences Associated with Social and Lonely Conditions», Martin F. Lynch «The Dispositional and Situational Correlates of Positive Solitude», and Sergei Ishanov «Qualitative Descriptions of Positive Experiences of Solitude». Dmitry’s report (co-authored with Alexandra Gervits) confirmed the hypotheses about the connection between general loneliness and frustration of basic psychological needs, dependence on communication predicts positive experiences in a company and negative experiences in a lonely state, as well as positive solitude predicts positive experiences in a lonely state. Presentation of Martin F. Lynch (co-authored with Jungmin Lee) is dedicated to the results of the adaptation of «Differential Test of Aloneness». Composite scores for positive solitude were associated with Big Five traits (negatively with extraversion, positively with agreeableness and openness), and positively with reflection (on the rumination scale) and with trait autonomy. Positive solitude was associated with more internal motivation for solitude and with low-arousal positive affect. Positive solitude was unrelated with the well-being dimensions assessed by the mental health continuum. In the study of Sergei Ishanov (co-authored with Evgeny Osin) presented a qualitative study of positive (productive) solitude. On the basis of conducting 31 interviews and using the phenomenological interpretative analysis, the following preliminary results of 14 topics of positive solitude were discovered: the internal impulse (intention) to solitude; attunement to self / awareness of self; autonomy / experience of freedom; creativity; restoration of psychological resources; rhythms of solitude; a sense of relatedness with others; one can cope with negative experiences etc.
Dmitry Leontiev also presented the report “Flow in the 3D Space of Optimality” at the symposium “The Nature and Benefits of Flow in Work, School, and Daily Life”. Three dimensions of optimality (pleasure, meaning, effortful control) describe 8 types of different experiences (including experiencing flow) and explain why a person finds experience specifically rewarding. The model allows for obtaining new data in the flow theory.
The World Congress on Positive Psychology is one of the main events in contemporary psychological science. The congress provides a unique platform for exchanging ideas and creating international contacts. The next 7th World Congress on Positive Psychology will be held in Vancouver (Canada) in 2021.