What Is Positive Psychology?

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Praise can enhance motivation, optimism, and self-esteem in recipients.

Positive comments often yield better results than criticism, especially in writing and teaching.

Encouraging positivity doesn’t mean ignoring genuine feelings or challenges.

Relatively recent research shows that both gratitude and hope have positive effects on the human body as well as the mind and soul. I’ve read that gratitude has neurological benefits, and hope can improve symptoms and daily functioning in those with chronic illness. I’d like to add my own modest, personally observed contribution to the positive psychology discussion: What about positive talking?

I’m convinced that positive talking (i.e., praising) can have all sorts of personal benefits for the people on the receiving end, including creating motivation and contributing to optimism and self-esteem. And I’m also convinced that criticizing or telling people what they’re doing wrong or should do differently can have a negative effect.

I first noticed the benefits of positive talking (i.e., the power of praise) while teaching writing classes. I’ve learned that praise actually gets better results than........

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