William Compton

Thomson-Wadsworth
276 pages. $23.00.

Reviewed by Kennon M. Sheldon

Although positive psychology has made large strides in the few years since its inception, it is still in the process of defining itself. Is it really a new area of scientific inquiry, or is it just ‘old wine in new bottles?’ Does it offer a genuinely novel definition and conception of human nature, or is it mainly a marketing tool, a label which ultimately adds little to what we were already doing before it came along? Can any researcher become a positive psychologist, simply by declaring him/herself to be one, or simply by labelling his/her explanatory constructs in positive (rather than negative) terms? If so, perhaps positive psychology is just a fad, or a biased set of naming conventions. Furthermore, what, exactly, should count as a ‘positive’ phenomenon? Although the remediation of depression and the alleviation of trauma are certainly positive outcomes, these topics would not typically come under the positive psychology umbrella -- why not? Because of lingering questions such as these, some researchers are still on the fence about the significance, value, and staying power of positive psychology (see Lazarus, 2003; Ryff, 2003; Tennen & Affleck, 2003).

This explains why the recent appearance of two positive psychology textbooks is of such potential importance. In any field, but perhaps especially in new and emerging fields, introductory textbooks can play a crucial role. First, textbooks define the basic assumptions and approaches of the field. What is the field about, and what is it trying to do? Second, by their organisation, textbooks help crystallise a set of discrete subdisciplines within that field. What are the basic topics and phenomena of the field? Third, textbooks produce a short-list of the leading theories in the field, focusing at the writer’s discretion upon just a few of the theoretical perspectives available (although considerable omission is of course necessary). Such decisions help to crystallise the field, for both established researchers and for the emerging new generation of researchers.

To illustrate the conundrums faced by initial textbook writers within a new field, consider chapter titles and topics. How should they be partitioned and organised? In a positive psychology textbook, should there be chapters on emotions, cognitions, traits, selves, and cultures? Beliefs, attitudes, motives, and goals? Intelligences, skills, strengths, and competencies? Micro-system, meso-system, and macro-system? Should chapters focus on major theories of personality and social psychology (i.e. Big 5 theory, terror-management theory, self-determination theory), or upon nested functional systems (as addressed by Carver and Scheier’s control theory, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, Ford’s developmental systems theory), or upon distinct domains and roles within life (i.e. child, parent, friend, life-partner, and worker)? Should chapters focus on distinct positive outcomes to be understood (i.e. happiness, creativity, longevity, relationship quality), or upon the positive processes thought to lead to these outcomes (i.e. genius, well-being interventions, positive coping)? Should ‘negative’ topics (i.e. depression, self-handicapping, personal conflict) be entirely excluded from the book, or should such topics be incorporated after all, to lend a necessary balance to the discussion? Again, the textbook writer decides all this.

Interestingly, both Carr’s Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths (2004) and Compton’s An Introduction to Positive Psychology (2005) take a similar approach to organising the field. To illustrate: Carr’s book has nine chapters, which in order concern happiness; flow; hope and optimism; emotional intelligence; giftedness, creativity and wisdom; positive traits and motives; positive self; positive relationships; and positive change. Compton’s 12- chapter book has an introductory chapter, followed by chapters on emotions and motivation; subjective well-being; leisure, optimal experience, and peak performance; love and well-being; wellness, health psychology, and positive coping; excellence, aesthetics, creativity, and genius; thriving and flourishing; well-being interventions; religion, spirituality, and well-being; work, community, culture, and well-being; and a look towards the future.

Obviously, Compton’s chapter titles are wordier than Carr’s (as is true of the entire book; more on this below). Still, both authors decided to focus their chapters on various positive phenomena, grouped primarily by semantic similarity (i.e. creativity, aesthetics, and genius are grouped together; hope and optimism are grouped together) rather than by conceptual scheme. Although this approach is some ways a reasonable one, it may also reinforce an image of positive psychology as a mere smorgasbord of unconnected topics, most of which were already being investigated before it came along. Furthermore, this approach tends to segregate topics that might better be considered together (i.e. subjective well-being, thriving/ flourishing, and wellness/positive coping are considered separately in three different chapters of Compton’s book, despite their apparent conceptual overlap). Finally, by ignoring ‘the negative’ (i.e, by not making at least some connections to psychopathology and clinical psychology), both books may ignore important aspects of life without which ‘the positive could not exist’ (Tennen & Affleck, 2003).

Overall, Carr’s text is more open to the smorgasbord critique than Compton’s, as it may be guilty of considerable oversimplification (as Carr himself suggests in his foreword). No introductory chapter is provided, and there is no real attempt to characterise positive psychology as a movement within a historical context. A typical chapter visits many different concepts and terms, devoting only a single brief paragraph or two to many of them (although many sections are considerably longer). New concepts are often introduced in isolation, without being discussed in terms of the concepts immediately preceding. Thus, many possible connections are left out or ignored.

Still, Carr's book does a good job in its short descriptions -- they are clear and accurate depictions of the theories being discussed. Also, the chapter summaries do a good job of beginning to tie things together. The controversies’ section at the end of each chapter aptly (if sometimes telegraphically) describes major debates within that topic area, such as those concerning skill-vs.-trait models of emotional intelligence, the effects of rewards upon intrinsic motivation, and the proper definition of well-being. Thus, armed with this book and a teacher receptive to questions, a curious young student could learn a large amount about psychology. Students not ready or able to question so deeply could still take away many potentially useful chunks of information, because of the book’s easily digestible format. Together, these features suggest that Carr’s book may be the better choice for high school or lower-division classes. Notably, however, it could also serve as a useful glossary of terms and concepts for upper-level students and researchers.

In contrast, Compton’s book is written at a considerably higher level. There is an introductory chapter that nicely introduces positive psychology, locating it within a historical context and showing ‘why it is necessary’ (Sheldon & King, 2001). Throughout the book, thoughtful connections are drawn to past movements and zeitgeists within psychology, and the words of many past thinkers are shown to have contemporary relevance (i.e. Allport, Dewey, James, Mead). Compton also provides numerous stories and anecdotes that help to bring the topics to life. Thus, for the most part, the book is more fun to read. Furthermore, Compton is more serious about comparing and integrating the various theories and topics discussed. As new concepts are introduced they are discussed in terms of the previous concepts, enabling the reader to weave the ideas together. In addition, many more complex questions and issues are entertained. For example, in his chapter 12, Compton provides a discussion of system perspectives upon positive functioning, showing why the many superficially different topics that characterise positive psychology may have to be considered together for an adequate accounting. This kind of systems thinking can help combat the ‘topic-ism’ or smorgasbord approach that seemingly pervades the new field (Sheldon, 2004).

Of course there is also a risk to including much history, subtlety, and complexity within an introductory textbook - simply, that it may be too much too soon for beginning students. Indeed, Compton’s book is quite wordy throughout, and in some places teeters on pedantry. Furthermore, it is not always easy to follow the thread that is being developed. Overall, however, the book does a fine job of introducing positive psychology in a thoughtful and integrative way. Together, these features suggest that Compton’s book is probably better for upper-division or even graduate-level classes. However, it could also serve as a stimulating text in a lower-level course consisting of able and motivated students.

The suggestion that the Carr text is more suitable for young or beginning students, and that the Compton text is more suitable for older or more advanced students, is reinforced by some differences in pedagogical tools. Carr begins each chapter with an outline, and also a set of learning objectives; in contrast, Compton introduces each chapter only with a quote. Thus, Carr may do a better job of preparing inexperienced students to learn. Still, the books are quite similar in their end-ofchapter resources; both provide chapter summaries, terms/glossaries, references for further reading, and exercises/questions for personal exploration. Compton also provides web resources at the end of each chapter, whereas Carr does not. However, a noteworthy feature of the Carr text is that it presents many contemporary scales and measures throughout the book, with complete items and instructions to the participant. Although too little guidance is provided to the beginning student about how to use, score, and interpret these scales, the measures themselves could be a valuable resource for more advanced students and beginning researchers.

In conclusion, both of these textbooks do a reasonably good job of introducing the field of positive psychology, to somewhat different audiences. Both may suffer from a ‘smorgasbord’ problem, in which the presentation is organised around unconnected topic-areas instead of being organised around connected theories, systems, hierarchies, or life-domains. However, in this aspect, the two texts are little different from the emerging field as a whole, in which researchers are still jostling to get their preferred phenomena positioned within the positive psychology pantheon. Compton’s book does a better job of pointing to the kind of integrative new thinking that needs to be done in order to get beyond such topicism, whereas Carr’s book does a better job of distilling the field into digestible chunks for the new student.

Kennon M. Sheldon
University of Missouri-Columbia

Note: This book review was originally published in the January, 2006, edition of the , 53-55. Reproduced by kind permission of Kennon M. Sheldon and Taylor and Francis.

References

Lazarus, R.S. (2003). Does the positive psychology movement have legs? Psychological Inquiry, 14(2), 93-109.

Ryff, C. D. (2003). Corners of myopia in the positive psychology parade. Psychological Inquiry, 14(2), 153-159.

Sheldon, K.M. (2004). Optimal human being: An integrated multi-level perspective. Hillsdale, NJ:Erlbaum.

Sheldon, K.M. & King, L.K. (2001). Why positive psychology is necessary. American Psychologist, 56, 216-217.

Tennen, H. & Affleck, G. (2003). While accentuating the positive, don’t eliminate the negative or Mr. in-between. Psychological Inquiry, 14(2), 163-169.