Capitalizing on Positive Technology: An Interview with Lyle Ungar, PhD

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Capitalizing on Positive Technology: An Interview with Lyle Ungar, PhD

In a recent address to students in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, field pioneer Martin Seligman (personal communication, April 23, 2023) commented that if he had an opportunity to do his studies again, he would explore the intersection of positive psychology and artificial intelligence (AI). Seligman is hardly alone in his fascination with AI. For example, just days after its launch in November 2022, consumer-facing AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which in response to prompts can generate humanlike text and conversation, hit one million users (Buchholz, 2023). Two months later, the application soared to 100 million users, and industry estimates suggest that as of last month, the site had 1.8 billion all-time views (Ruby, 2023).

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Crafting OurStory

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Crafting OurStory

African Americans are resilient and strong. 

These six words—the first sentence of my final capstone as a student in the University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program—were a foundation on which I was raised. As I look to my brothers and sisters, my sons and my daughters, my parents and grandparents, my aunties and uncles—only some of whom I’m actually related to—I hear and witness this story again and again. We are a people of cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) and multiple strengths (Hurd, 1995; Littlejohn-Blake & Darlin, 1993; Mattis et al., 2003).

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MAPP 2.0 : A Vision for Our Evolution

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MAPP 2.0 : A Vision for Our Evolution

When I entered the University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program back in 2009, it was because I felt a calling to apply more substance and salience to my work in television. I had recently left a job as a news anchor, and although I found great fulfillment in the work, the substrate left me…wanting. I was using my face and voice to disseminate information that, net-net, made people sick. I didn’t realize this consciously at the time. It took my education in positive psychology and my capstone on positive psychology and the media to crystallize with research most of us now know empirically: Watching the news engenders anxiety (McNaughton, 2001) and depression (Potts & Sanchez, 1993). Until then, however, it was just an instinct. An instinct that turned out to be correct.

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Turning Pain into Fuel for Positive Change

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Turning Pain into Fuel for Positive Change

The morning after a birthday party she threw for me fifteen years ago, I woke up in a hospital emergency room to learn that my girlfriend, Laura, was killed in a drunk-driving crash. Although I had no recollection of driving the car, and we’d planned for her to be our designated driver, I was responsible for her death. A year later, I pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and went to jail to serve a short sentence. There, I unexpectedly found the solitude and stillness to consider a future that would honor Laura’s memory.

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Touch and Positive Psychology

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Touch and Positive Psychology

I knew love before I took my first breath in this life. I am told that my father could not wait to meet me. One of my first memories is walking with my dad, him holding my hand. Little did I know that this large, white, small-town soldier walking through the streets in a northwestern town in the United States at the end of the Vietnam War received disrespectful comments and disgusted stares because he held the hand of a “chink” child. I did not know this because I felt love and safety through the hand of my dad. The world was full of wonder, and I was wonderful. His touch told me so.

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To Design an Ethical Organization, Foster Better Relationships

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To Design an Ethical Organization, Foster Better Relationships

The Gallup organization routinely reminds us that the most productive and engaged employees have a "best friend" at work. What Gallup's researchers don't explain as clearly is how these special relationships are formed and how they translate into work performance. In 2022, I embarked on a fellowship with the Project on Positive Leadership at the University of Louisville to answer these questions by examining relationships from a unique perspective: their ethical underpinnings. 

While many of us don't consciously consider things like ethical alignment or shared values when forming a new relationship, it turns out that moral exemplars do. In fact, the key finding from my MAPP Capstone, Moral Excellence: A Study of How Business Leaders Stay True to Themselves, was that moral exemplars intentionally cultivate relationships that remind them of their values. These special connections, which I refer to as Anchor RelationshipsTM act as a "reinforcing mechanism" reminding exemplars of their moral values when confronted with a conflict of interest. 

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Soaring into Strength: A Lifelong Journey to Help Others

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Soaring into Strength: A Lifelong Journey to Help Others

When Lisa Honig Buksbaum (C’13) was a young girl, she watched her parents rush her younger brother to the emergency room during recurrent asthma attacks. Decades later, while her own son healed from a lengthy illness, she was inspired to launch Soaringwords®, a nonprofit committed to inspiring children, families, adults, seniors, and health care professionals to take active roles in self-healing to experience greater physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Recently, Lisa wrote her memoir, Soaring into Strength: Love Transcends Pain, recounting these and other significant moments in her life to help others discover their own inner strength in the face of illness, loss, and setbacks. In this interview, conducted by the MAPP Magazine editorial team, Lisa shares her motivation for writing this book and opens up about how grace and humor became sources of courage in the most challenging moments of her life.

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Reflections on Two Years of Service to the MAPP Community

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Reflections on Two Years of Service to the MAPP Community

Two years ago, we (Irem Gunay, C’12; Karen Deppa, C’15; and Felix Yerace, C’20) embarked on a journey of leading MAPP Magazine. We took over from the outstanding team of Carolyn Biondi and Courtney Daly, with Kellie Cummings facilitating our efforts as the MAPP Alumni Board Communications Chair. Carolyn, Courtney, and Kellie (all graduates of the MAPP Class of 2019) had positioned the publication for a bright future, and we hoped to build on the foundation they provided us. Over the last two years, we have worked to help grow the publication and position it for even greater success in the future. 

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In Pursuit of Happiness and Supporting the Essence of Democracy: Volunteering as an Election Judge

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In Pursuit of Happiness and Supporting the Essence of Democracy: Volunteering as an Election Judge

The founders of the fledgling government adopted by the United States of America wrote a Declaration of Independence that identified the pursuit of happiness, along with life and liberty, as an “unalienable right.” Indeed, the framers appeared to assert that a new system of government was not only called for, but necessary, in order for happiness to be allowed to germinate and bloom. This government, a representative democracy, applies the rule of law equally to all citizens; protects its citizens’ human rights; requires the active participation of its citizens; and follows a procedure for choosing and replacing its representatives through free and fair elections. Two of these core tenets – active participation of citizens, and the administration of free and fair elections – come together in the voting process. This article addresses how my service as an election judge contributes to my well-being, and the strengths and skills needed for election workers to navigate the fraught environment created by election denialism.

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How Positive Psychology Can Help Us Respond to White Christian Nationalism

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How Positive Psychology Can Help Us Respond to White Christian Nationalism

In August 2017, the United States was shocked to see white supremacist supporters openly advocating for their agenda while carrying torches and chanting anti-Semitic slogans in Charlottesville, Virginia. The physical violence around that demonstration led to the death of a counter protester, Heather Heyer. In the five years since the “Unite the Right” rally there have been many instances of violent white males attacking women and minorities often while issuing political manifestos explicitly endorsing an ideology of White Christian Nationalism (WCN), including the January 6th attack at the US Capitol. While some label this “populism,” this movement is more than that. White Christian Nationalism seeks to end the separation of church and state and envisions the creation of a government under a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible rather than the constitution due to their view on American History. The rise of WCN and the political violence of the movement demands a response. To change hearts and minds requires an affirmative approach drawn from the strengths of positive psychology.

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Using Positive Psychology to Connect in a Polarized World

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Using Positive Psychology to Connect in a Polarized World

The last several years have shown how political polarization has harmed our nation; perhaps most specifically in the damage done to our relationships and social connections. However, positive psychology also has something to offer that can help enhance wellbeing in our communities. While interventions at the micro-level are the focus of much of positive psychology, since its founding positive psychology has also been interested in flourishing at the societal level (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Over the last year I have been able to apply a MAPP Capstone project in Midland, Michigan. In this article I will outline my own personal journey with using positive psychology to help enhance my connections across the political divide, and how our community has also worked to build bonds among individuals with political differences.

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The Saga of the Scrolls: A Story of Hope

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The Saga of the Scrolls: A Story of Hope

Any student or practitioner of Positive Psychology has studied the works of Positive Psychology pioneer Charles R. Snyder, the founder of Hope Theory. Hope Theory suggests that hope is a cognitive skill that helps a person work towards and achieve a goal, and to overcome obstacles, challenges, and adversity that may get in the way of achieving that goal. While studying the theory in the classroom or applying it in the clinic is valuable, experiencing its power in “real life” is one of the contributions that Positive Psychology seeks to make to the world. My story below is one such experience.

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Positive Psychology in Schools - Making Positive Psychology Accessible to All Secondary School Students

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Positive Psychology in Schools - Making Positive Psychology Accessible to All Secondary School Students

After working with students inside and out of the classroom to help them develop as leaders over my career as an educator, I increasingly saw the need to expand my work by helping students use the tools positive psychology has to offer, not only as leaders, but in their personal lives as well. Almost as soon as I was accepted into MAPP, I knew that one of the first actions I wanted to take was to create a positive psychology course at my school. While I want to continue expanding my work in positive education and using positive psychology in leadership contexts, the class I now offer my students has proven valuable to them, and also to other educators in spreading these resources and knowledge.

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Strengths Development in Action

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Strengths Development in Action

On February 28, 2022, a 56-year-old woman in Shanghai went to a fever clinic with fever and other symptoms. On March 1, she became the first case of local infection without a transmission source in the new round of Covid in Shanghai. The following month, the outbreak spiked exponentially. For over two months, Shanghai went through a mandatory lockdown where distant-learning, remote working, group shopping of food and supplies, and frequent Covid testing became the new norm. On April 27th, Beijing also issued a Notice of School Closure and Online Learning due to a new round of Covid outbreak. In both cities, students of all grades completed the entire semester through online learning. Online learning fatigue was real. Emotional stress of the whole family was real. The impact on emotional and social wellbeing for the students was also real. What could positive psychology do to help these kids tap into resilience and develop strengths? The Integrated Development Group (IDG) conducted six summer camps in Shanghai and Beijing over the summer, covering different age groups. This article presents a few highlights.

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Behind the Mic – Two Years of Better Than Fine

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Behind the Mic – Two Years of Better Than Fine

“Have you ever thought about starting a podcast?”

It seems like such an innocuous, even kind, question. When Mika Opp, an Assistant Instructor for the University of Pennsylvania’s Master in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, asked me that little question in December of 2019, I was driving north from New York City, heading home for a holiday party. We were so engrossed in conversation I nearly ran out of gas on the highway, but that moment was a pivot. Many MAPP Alumni have such pivot moments. A moment that someone believes in them more than themselves and sparks a change. This isn’t my only MAPP Memory Gem, but it’s a big one.

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MAPP Alumni Grant Program: We Have Lift Off!

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MAPP Alumni Grant Program: We Have Lift Off!

The MAPP Alumni Grant Program launched in 2017, based on the belief that by investing “seed money” in alumni passion projects, the MAPP Alumni Association could both help move alumni forward and accelerate positive impact in the world. After four years, the MAPP Alumni Board of Directors and the Grant Committee gathered in early 2021 to take a look back at the grant program and the impact it is having within our alumni association and around the world. I have to say, we were positively shocked! And, we would like to share the good news with you here so you can be shocked as well!

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Opportunities for Practitioners in the Positive Psychology of Science

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Opportunities for Practitioners in the Positive Psychology of Science

When I was an undergraduate majoring in chemistry, a guest professor warned our qualitative organic analysis class that chemistry can often be very frustrating. Experiments fail. Results disappoint. My R&D work over more than thirty years indeed brought me much frustration, but also satisfaction. In my many episodes of reflection I’ve pondered the traits, the attitudes and the behaviors that got me and my more prolific peers over obstacles to bring discoveries and inventions that often matter. I strongly suspected that it was more than intelligence or talent, but particular strengths, as well as grit. In this article, I want to take a broader look at opportunities for application of positive psychology in the physical sciences. Acting on those opportunities will first benefit scientists like me who still have a deep desire to build their abilities to do quality work. The eventual outcomes I suggest will be profound at a critical time in view of the urgent need for progress on the pandemic and climate change.

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MAPP16 Capstone Roundup: Well-Being in Focus During COVID-19

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MAPP16 Capstone Roundup: Well-Being in Focus During COVID-19

The journey of the University of Pennsylvania MAPP16 (or Sweet 16 as we call ourselves) was different from the start. The class of 2020-2021 was the first all-remote MAPP program, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To undertake the study of positive psychology during a global crisis was surreal, difficult, and ultimately, an amazing gift. The fear around our own well-being, and the well-being of others, was omnipresent as we watched country after country struggle through the pandemic. We experienced the victory of vaccines being developed and becoming available! Most importantly, well-being took on new meaning for each of us as we shifted our thinking on what it means to flourish and thrive.

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