title: Beyond positive psychology? Toward a contextual view of psychological processes and well-being.
abstract: The field of positive psychology rests on the assumption that certain psychological traits and processes are inherently beneficial for well-being. We review evidence that challenges this assumption. First, we review data from 4 independent longitudinal studies of marriage revealing that 4 ostensibly positive processes-forgiveness, optimistic expectations, positive thoughts, and kindness-can either benefit or harm well-being depending on the context in which they operate. Although all 4 processes predicted better relationship well-being among spouses in healthy marriages, they predicted worse relationship well-being in more troubled marriages. Then, we review evidence from other research that reveals that whether ostensibly positive psychological traits and processes benefit or harm well-being depends on the context of various noninterpersonal domains as well. Finally, we conclude by arguing that any movement to promote well-being may be most successful to the extent that it (a) examines the conditions under which the same traits and processes may promote versus threaten well-being, (b) examines both healthy and unhealthy people, (c) examines well-being over substantial periods of time, and (d) avoids labeling psychological traits and processes as positive or negative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, USA. jmcnulty@utk.edu
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: McNulty
authors.forename: Frank D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Fincham
mesh_terms: D061347:Forgiveness; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011582:Psychological Theory; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*