positive psychology series
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In this series, we’ll hear from Ann C. Reeves about aspects of Positive Psychology. This month, she continues with the “A” of the Positive Psychology acronym, PERMA-V.
Accomplishment/ Achievement
The A in Positive Psychology by Ann C. Reeves
P
ositive Psychology (PP) is the scientific study of optimal human functioning, and its research encompassing neurobehavioral, cognitive behavioral and physiological science. The acronym used in PP is PERMA-V. A stands for Achievement or Accomplishment, another doorway to achieve greater positivity, wholeness and deep contentment. While accomplishment and achievement are synonyms, there are subtle differences, so both terms are included. Accomplishment includes the concepts of skill, talent and completion—perhaps a more internal process than Achievement, where success may be more external. Can you remember a time when you feel you accomplished something? It may be as easy as cleaning out an old, cluttered closet, deciding to go to graduate school or losing those 20 pounds. Accomplishment and Achievement are often private matters—no one needs to know what we have achieved except for us, to feel good about ourselves. It is also true that public achievement is an ego booster, but not necessary to gain some positivity. Researchers Edward Deci and Richard Ryan developed the self-determination theory, positing that intrinsic motivation to achieve is dependent on three basic needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Locus of control is a term that refers to the degree to which an individual feels a sense of agency in regard to their life. 24
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eNaturalAwakenings.com
An internal locus of control is the belief that whatever we do has a direct effect on the outcomes in our life. Success and failure results from our own actions, so that when we fail, we try to improve. An external locus of control is the belief that forces outside us affect our choices and our future. Thus, when something doesn’t work out, they tend to blame others rather than look at their own behavior. Persons with an internal locus of control have been found to develop greater cognitive flexibility, more creativity, an enhanced depth of processing, added positivity and greater physical and psychological well-being. These beliefs can be related to our upbringing and social environment. Three conditions in parenting style are seen to encourage autonomy, and therefore self-determination, in our children. These styles are: providing choices in everyday life, offering informational feedback rather than criticism as a disciplinary technique and promoting a feeling of unconditional relatedness without disapproval, in order to encourage safe exploration by the child. Parenting that produces decisionmaking through control, power and guilt undermines true self-determination and autonomy. Motivation is weakened when parents threaten negative consequences rather than asking a child to consider what other behaviors they might have tried. A child’s sense of intrinsic autonomy is enhanced when their performance is evaluated in a descriptive manner such as “I saw you working so hard,” “Look at the interesting way you drew that part,” or “You did it!” Evaluations of behavior or some kind of effort as either “good” or “bad” undermines autonomy. Self-esteem is not the same as self-efficacy. The former is about feeling good about oneself, often influenced by the presence or lack of praise by teachers and parents. Self-efficacy is more adaptive to ultimately gaining a sense of accomplishment. One can think, “I feel good about my strengths. I know I can do this with hard work.” Such beliefs are related to another topic in positive psychology—a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. Accompanied by a growth mindset, self-efficacy has been found to be positively correlated with the achievement
