When Did Positive Psychology Emerge?

Kristijan Musek Lešnik
Nov 15, 2025
4 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

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.

A Moment in the Garden

According to his own words, the idea of positive psychology came to Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman in his garden — at a time when he was already a renowned clinical psychologist, author of the theory of learned helplessness, a leading expert on depression, and a co-founder of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Among the roses, his five-year-old daughter tried to get his attention. When he impatiently brushed her off, she asked whether he remembered how much she had nagged him when she was three and four years old. Then she said,

“And if I can stop whining, you can stop being such a grouch.”

Seligman later described this as a turning point. It made him think about the importance of developing good patterns, not merely correcting bad ones. That insight sparked his growing interest in how people can cultivate awareness of their strengths, not just their weaknesses.

Later he coined the term positive psychology, laying the foundations for what he called a new psychology for the 21st century.

Roots That Reach Much Further Back

In truth, the history of positive psychology began long before 1998. A century earlier, John Dewey (1899) had already argued that psychology should focus on understanding human behavior in ways that add value to human life.

He believed that psychology and the work of psychologists should be judged by how much they contribute to the quality of people’s lives and to the development of a thriving society.

However, during the decades that followed, psychology’s attention shifted toward the study and treatment of mental distress, difficulties, and disorders.

This focus was influenced by several historical factors:

Sigmund Freud’s influence: Being the first "influencer" in the field Freud sparked enormous public interest in psychology, creating a kind of cultural hype that brought the field from obscure laboratories into popular salons and everyday conversations. Yet this new fascination came at a cost — psychology’s focus remained largely on illness, neurosis, and suffering.
The times of instability, wars, and suffering (two world wars and the Great Depression): These global crises created an urgent need for psychological support in coping with trauma, loss, and emotional distress. As a result, psychology’s attention became centered on understanding and alleviating suffering — on repairing the harm rather than on building resilience and growth.

The result was a 20th-century psychology largely devoted to reducing human suffering, despite occasional voices calling for a broader, more positive vision.

The Birth of a “New” Psychology...

Then came the year 1998. During his presidential address, Martin E. Seligman stood before the American Psychological Association and made a bold proposal: psychology should expand its focus from repairing what is wrong to understanding what makes life good. His call inspired a wave of new research on strengths, well-being, and human potential. In less than three decades after the term positive psychology was coined, the field has become one of the most dynamic areas of contemporary psychological science.

On the one hand, it generates fresh insights into how positive life skills and personal strengths contribute to happiness, well-being, and both mental and physical health. On the other hand, it develops practical methods and strategies for strengthening these skills and improving the quality of life for individuals and communities alike.

... which actually wasn't totally new.

Even though the shift started less than 30 years ago, the roots of positive psychology can be traced back to many earlier psychologists who explored what makes life worth living long before the term “positive psychology” was coined. Throughout the 20th century, many psychologists emphasized human potential, personal growth, and the pursuit of meaning — ideas that gradually shaped the foundation of today’s positive psychology. Some of the most important people and milestones include:

John Dewey (1899): Emphasized the importance of the quality of experience and the value of life in education and democratic society.
Viktor E. Frankl (1946): Introduced the concept of the search for meaning as a central human motivation (Logotherapy) based on his personal wartime experience in the concentration camps including Auschwitz.
Carl R. Rogers (1951): Described the fully functioning person — an individual who lives authentically, guided by inner experience and self-actualization.
Abraham H. Maslow (1954): actually the first to use the term positive psychology in his 1954 work Motivation and Personality where he wrote a chapter titled “Toward a Positive Psychology”; he also introduced the concept of self-actualization and later self-transcendence as the highest forms of psychological growth.
Marie Jahoda (1958): Defined positive mental health and outlined its key components, such as autonomy, self-acceptance, and environmental mastery.
Gordon W. Allport (1961): Described mature personality (or mature individuality) as a well-integrated, self-aware, and socially responsible person.
Erik H. Erikson (1963): Developed the stages of psychosocial development, emphasizing growth, identity, and integrity throughout life.
George E. Vaillant (1977): Studied positive mental health and adaptive coping mechanisms, highlighting mature defense mechanisms as strengths.
Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan (1985): Formulated Self-Determination Theory, focusing on autonomy, competence, and relatedness as the basis of motivation and well-being.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990): Introduced the concept of flow — a state of deep engagement and optimal experience.
Carol D. Ryff and Burton H. Singer (1996): Proposed the model of psychological well-being, including self-acceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth.
Martin E. P. Seligman (1998): Formally launched positive psychology as a scientific movement focused on strengths, well-being, and human flourishing.