More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology
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More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology features brand new expert-informed resources for teachers and coaches.
Building on the success of the first volume, More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology is an indispensable resource for instructors and coaches aiming to bring the dynamic field of positive psychology to life. This practical workbook offers 30 innovative activities, organized into five thematic sections, ensuring that you can easily find the perfect exercise to complement your curriculum and captivate your students. Featuring chapters from leading researchers and educators worldwide, this volume includes activities designed to enhance well-being, foster gratitude, cultivate self-compassion, and build resilience. It also explores fresh areas such as the impact of facial expressions, the role of technology and nature in promoting happiness, and critical analyses of positive psychology methods.
Each activity comes with step-by-step instructions, discussion prompts, and supplementary materials to facilitate deep understanding and engagement. The thematic organization allows for easy integration of activities that align with your lecture topics, covering areas such as positive cognitions, social connections, and positive psychology across diverse contexts. Comprehensive support, including background readings and example scripts, ensures seamless implementation in your course. Whether you’re an experienced positive psychology instructor or new to the field, More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology offers a treasure trove of tools and ideas to make your classroom vibrant, interactive, and deeply impactful.
Contributors
Preface
Part I. Living the Research: Positive Psychology Methods, Applications, and Critical Analysis in the Classroom
- Chapter 1. Conversational Pods: Enriching the Learning of Positive Psychology Through Dialogue and Connection
Margarita Tarragona - Chapter 2. Authentic Embodied Positive Emotions: An Experiential Introduction to the Broaden-and-Build Theory
Patty Van Cappellen and Barbara L. Fredrickson - Chapter 3. Duchenne Smiles – Windows to the Soul
Kennon M. Sheldon - Chapter 4. Exploring Language as an Unobtrusive Measure of Positive Psychosocial Characteristics
Peggy L. Kern - Chapter 5. How Can Life Stories Provide Insights for Positive Psychology?
Jordan A. Booker - Chapter 6. Who Can I Trust? Evaluating Sources of Information Related to Happiness
Zachary A. Silver and Laurie R. Santos - Chapter 7. Evaluating Positive Psychology Apps
Justine Bautista and Stephen M. Schueller - Chapter 8. Using Smartphones to Teach About Self-Report Bias and Accuracy in Well-Being Research
Kostadin Kushlev and Hannah Masling
Part II. Changing and Tracking Psychological Well-Being
- Chapter 9. The Virtual Gratitude Visit
Robert A. Emmons - Chapter 10. Awe Outing
Emiliana Simon-Thomas and Dacher Keltner - Chapter 11. Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Predicted and Emotional Responses to the Natural Environment
Jessica E. Desrochers and John M. Zelenski - Chapter 12. The Treasure Chest: An Immersive Guided Imagery Meditation on Sacred Moments
Serena Wong and Kenneth I. Pargament - Chapter 13. Is It Possible to Design and Live a Perfectly Happy Day?
Jaime L. Kurtz - Chapter 14. Uplifts in Daily Life
Patrick Klaiber and Nancy L. Sin - Chapter 15. Learning to Use Your Strengths Daily
Joanne F. Zinger
Part III. Positive Cognitions: Evaluations, Expectancies, and Experiences
- Chapter 16. Whose Life is Meaningful?
Samantha J. Heintzelman - Chapter 17. Engaging in an Activity With Passion: How the Situation Affects our Mindset
Jany St-Cyr, Virginie Paquette, and Robert J. Vallerand - Chapter 18. Flow in Daily Life
Ajit Singh Mann, Patrick Robinson, and Jeanne Nakamura - Chapter 19. Promoting Hope Through Goal Setting
Matthew W. Gallagher
Part IV. Social Connections
- Chapter 20. Self-Compassion
Ashley L. Kuchar and Kristin D. Neff - Chapter 21. Acts of Kindness: The Well-Being Benefits of Prosocial Versus Self-Focused Behaviors
John K. Coffey and S. Katherine Nelson-Coffey - Chapter 22. Increasing Your Interdependent Happiness
Hidefumi Hitokoto and Yukiko Uchida - Chapter 23. Building High Quality Connections
Jane Dutton, Arne Carlsen, and Sally Maitlis - Chapter 24. Identifying Positively Energizing Leaders
Kim Cameron
Part V. Implementing Positive Psychology Across Contexts: Culture, Stress, and Health
- Chapter 25. How Ideal Affect Shapes Judgments of and Responses to Smiles
Elizabeth Blevins and Jeanne Tsai - Chapter 26. Fear of Happiness
Liudmila Titova - Chapter 27. Promoting Positive Psychological Character Strengths in Diverse Meso and Macro Settings
Laura Kohn-Wood, Guerdiana Thelomar, and Brittney R. Davis - Chapter 28. Self-Affirmation for Stress Protection
Kennedy M. Blevins, Sarah D. Pressman, and David K. Sherman - Chapter 29. Using Positive Coping Strategies to Boost Resilience
Emma L. Grisham and Marie P. Cross - Chapter 30. Healthy Foods for Happiness: A Mini-Intervention
Tamlin S. Conner and Jack R. H. Cooper
Sarah D. Pressman, PhD, is a professor of psychological science and associate dean of undergraduate education at the University of California, Irvine. She received her BSc from Mount Allison University in biopsychology, her MS and PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in social, personality, and health psychology, and she completed postdoctoral training in cardiovascular behavioral medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Pressman's expertise is on the interrelations between positive psychological factors, stress, and health, and she has received numerous awards (e.g., from the American Psychological Association Division 38 and the American Psychosomatic Society) for her contributions in these areas. Her work on positive psychology relevant topics has been cited over 9500 times (h-index 35) and has been widely featured in popular outlets like the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, and The New York Times.
She was a contributor to the first book, Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology, and used various activities from the initial book extensively in her own positive psychology courses. Beyond that, she is considered a world expert on the importance of positive emotions for physical well-being and has been invited to speak at dozens of national and international meetings for this purpose. Finally, Dr. Pressman is an award-winning and well-rated instructor with experience teaching thousands of students about positive psychology and related courses over the last dozen years.
Acacia C. Parks, PhD, received her BA in psychology from Reed College and her PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she received training in psychological assessment as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy for mood and anxiety disorders. Her research and practice focuses on self-help methods for increasing well-being via digital technology and books, with an emphasis on self-reported emotional outcomes, but also objective and observable outcomes, such as changes in workplace behavior, physiological indicators, etc.
Her research has helped build the foundations for how to translate scientific well-being interventions to the general public, and her expertise in this area is affirmed by over 5,500 citations of her articles in scientific journals (h-index 23), three edited books, and 10 years of associate editorship at the Journal of Positive Psychology. As lead consultant at Liquid Amber, she is a digital health executive and scientific advisor with deep knowledge of scientific and regulatory strategy in digital therapeutics, as well as clinical product design, including coaching strategy.
Prior to her work in industry, she was an associate professor of psychology at Hiram College, where she taught courses in positive psychology, abnormal psychology, research methodology, and critical writing. For the past 20 years, she has made it her mission to bring evidence-based, destigmatized health care to the public.
Drs. Sarah Pressman and Acacia Parks, award-winning leaders in the field of positive psychology and health, have curated a brilliant, evidence-based resource that gives teachers feasible, engaging, and educational ways to introduce students to the basic tenets of positive psychology. What sets this great book apart is the excellence, thoughtfulness, and diversity of the interventions. There is something for everyone here to help, heal, and lead students to flourishing and to the good life.
—Elaine O’Brien, PhD, MAPP, former Assistant Professor, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; Kinesiologist; coauthor of The Power of Play: Optimize Your Joy Potential; author of Splash Dance: What a Feeling! Aqua Fitness Meets Positive Psychology
Honestly, I’m excited to get my copy; I found so many things I want to use next year! Each chapter is an ideal mix of experiential activities and the scholarship behind them.
—Cynthia L. S. Pury, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
If you’re teaching or giving workshops on well-being, you hope to inspire a room full of people to explore, discover, and learn. This book is the fuel to help you do just that.
—Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, Professor of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA; author of The Upside of Your Dark Side and The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively
Edited by two respected researchers in the field of positive psychology, this activity book provides easy onboarding for those new to the teaching of positive constructs while adding to the repertoire of those who are more seasoned in the field. As the number of classes in positive psychology grows, the need for creative and varied classroom activities grows as well. Pressman and Parks deliver exactly that with this comprehensive and updated resource.
—Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, PhD, Associate Vice President for DEI Academic Initiatives, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology: A Guide for Instructors offers state-of-the-art activities based on the latest evidence-informed theories of the science of positive psychology. As a professor of positive psychology and cofounder of the first PhD and research-based master’s degree programs in positive psychology, I give my absolute highest endorsement of this new volume to anyone teaching positive psychology in a university setting, as well as to those teaching and applying positive psychology in workplaces, schools, communities, therapy and coaching, and health and well-being care settings across the globe.
—Stewart I. Donaldson, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
The field is increasingly crowded with positive psychology textbooks, but More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology stands out from the rest by offering experiments, activities, and exercises that help learners understand how and why positive psychology can be so powerful in their lives. Now with this new work, Pressman and Parks give us even more to love. The activities will be helpful not just for professors but also for researchers and practitioners to take the science of positive psychology beyond the classroom. Indispensable in a world where positivity is so sorely needed.
—Judith T. Moskowitz, PhD, MPH, Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Evanston, IL
The downloadable zip file linked below contains printable versions of the appendices in More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology: A Guide for Instructors for use in the classroom activities described in the book. These appendices are offered for personal use. If you reprint or adapt them for publication, permission is required from the copyright holder. All attached material is © 2025 American Psychological Association unless otherwise noted in the credit line.
The online materials links document is also included as a Word document. It is a comprehensive list of all the end-of-chapter online materials with live links for the activities in Chapters 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 20, 21, and 28.
