Traditional psychology reduces distress; positive psychology enhances well-being. Positive psychology isn’t a substitute for traditional psychology. It simply adds another dimension — focusing not only on reducing suffering, but also on building strengths and flourishing. Drawing on rigorous research, it explores wellbeing, life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, optimism and hope, persistence and resilience, and the development of inner strengths.

We usually think of psychology when something goes wrong—like calling a plumber only when pipes burst. Traditional psychology made life-changing progress treating distress, yet there remained a gap: when negative emotions lifted, many felt empty, not flourishing. Positive psychology answered with a preventive, strengths-based lens: cultivating hope, meaning, engagement, good relationships, and accomplishment can lead to better resilience and fewer people suffering.

While the term “positive psychology” rose in the late 1990s, its roots reach back to earlier calls for psychology that improves life, through humanistic and developmental thinkers who studied growth, meaning, and optimal experience.

The pressure to “be happy” often backfires. Positive psychology doesn’t sell shortcuts; it shows that durable happiness emerges from relationships, purpose, positive emotions, and deep engagement. Happiness isn’t a 24/7 target—it’s a by-product of living with meaning, connection, and engagement: it doesn't happen by chasing joy—but by cultivating the conditions where it shows up.

At its core, positive psychology holds that wellbeing is cultivable. Perseverance, optimism, resilience, meaning, and connection can be learned—ideally early—and practiced for life.

Subjective well-being is our inner response — our personal evaluation and emotional experience of our own life. It refers instead to our sense of well-being — a personal feeling best described as: “I’m doing well. I feel well.”