Rather than bypassing suffering, positive psychology investigates the strengths, resources, relationships, and meaning-making capacities that enable individuals and communities to navigate adversity with dignity and resilience (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). It is, fundamentally, a science of whole-person flourishing.
A Science Designed for Balance
When Martin Seligman delivered his 1998 APA Presidential Address, he argued that psychology had become “half-baked” (Seligman, 1999). Over the past half-century, the discipline had made significant progress in diagnosing and treating illnesses, but relatively little in understanding human strengths, virtues, and thriving.
Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman’s Character Strengths and Virtues (2004) emphasized that courage, perseverance, hope, and gratitude are not ornamental qualities of an easy life; these strengths develop and become most meaningful in response to adversity. The founders’ message was clear: flourishing blends both joy and difficulty; it requires psychological realism (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
From the outset, positive psychology advanced a “both/and” perspective: addressing suffering while cultivating the capacities that enable people to flourish in the midst of hardship.
Positive Psychology and the Reality of Suffering
As the field matured, scholars emphasized that flourishing is not the absence of struggle; it is the ability to meet life’s inevitable challenges with meaning, purpose, and adaptive strength (Frankl, 2006; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Research on resilience, meaning-centered coping, and post-traumatic growth demonstrates that loss and hardship can deepen wisdom, relationships, compassion, and identity.
These findings align with longstanding traditions that recognize suffering as an intrinsic part of the human experience, often viewing it as a transformative experience (Jung, 1969).
Positive psychology does not trivialize pain; it seeks to understand how humans move through it.
Why PP 2.0 and 3.0 Were Never Conceptually Necessary
In recent years, labels such as “Positive Psychology 2.0” and “Positive Psychology 3.0” have gained visibility (Wong, 2011). While often well-intended and intellectually stimulating, these terms are sometimes misunderstood as if the original field had not engaged with suffering, human and cultural realities, or existential depth. A closer examination of the literature reveals that this is not the case (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
The “expansions” of PP 2.0 and PP 3.0 largely reiterate ideas already present in positive psychology’s foundations:
- Flourishing includes hardship
- Strengths are revealed under strain
- Meaning is constructed in response to adversity
- Culture and context matter
Peterson and Seligman (2004) articulated that character strengths exist precisely because adversity exists. Early writings stressed that well-being must be understood in relation to both vulnerability and potential (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
Thus, PP 2.0 and PP 3.0 are best viewed as clarifications, not conceptual corrections. Their popularity reflects a misunderstanding of the original project, not deficiencies within it. There was never a conceptual need for PP 2.0 or PP 3.0, only a need for a precise reading of the foundational texts. This clarification does not diminish the scholarship associated with PP 2.0/3.0; instead, it situates it within a field that is already philosophically robust and existentially informed from the outset. The intellectual lineage of positive psychology can be traced back to classical philosophy.
Aristotle and the Fragility of Happiness
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle described eudaimonia, human flourishing, as virtuously navigating a fragile world, where misfortune can challenge even the happiest life (Aristotle, ca. 350 BCE/2009). Adversity tests and reveals character; flourishing demands resilience.
Stoicism: Wisdom Through Adversity
Stoics such as Seneca and Epictetus taught that adversity is inevitable and that wisdom lies in shaping our responses to it (Seneca, ca. 65 CE/2014). Practices like premeditatio malorum trained individuals to face difficulty with composure, cultivating gratitude and ethical clarity.
Faith Traditions and Meaning
World religions similarly present suffering and hope as intertwined:
- Buddhism centers dukkha(suffering) as fundamental yet transformative
- Christianity unites crucifixion, death, resurrection, and hope.
- Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism integrate hardship and blessing
Across cultures and centuries, flourishing has been understood as the integration, rather than the avoidance, of life’s darkest realities.
The Power of Both/And: Integrating Life’s Contradictions
Flourishing depends on the capacity to hold opposites: abundance and scarcity, joy and grief, strength and limitation. This psychological flexibility enhances resilience, creativity, and ethical action.
Individuals and teams who tolerate and learn to leverage paradox demonstrate greater creativity and innovation (Fredrickson, 2001). Benefit-finding, identifying meaning within hardship, is associated with emotional well-being, stronger relationships, better physical health, and more effective coping (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004; Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
This is not forced positivity; it is the practice of facing reality squarely and finding purpose within it.
From Philosophy to Evidence: The Scientific Foundation
Positive psychology builds on ancient insights with empirical rigor. Thousands of peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses demonstrate the value of:
- Strengths-based development (Peterson & Seligman, 2004)
- Psychological capital (hope, efficacy, resilience, optimism) (Diener et al., 2018)
- Gratitude and mindfulness practices (Emmons & McCullough, 2003)
- Meaning-centered interventions (Frankl, 2006; Van Tongeren et al., 2016)
These approaches increase life satisfaction, coping capacity, and social functioning (Ryff, 2014).
Applied Positive Psychology in Organizations
Research shows that organizations applying positive psychology principles experience:
- Higher engagement
- Stronger collaboration
- Healthier cultures
- Better performance and retentionLeaders who acknowledge both challenge and possibility foster psychological safety, trust, and collective resilience.
These outcomes reflect strategic cultivation of human capabilities, not superficial “positivity.”
Suffering + Meaning = Flourishing
Modern existential and clinical psychology reinforces what philosophy and religion have long taught: suffering is not the opposite of flourishing; it is often its catalyst (Frankl, 2006; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Jung likewise emphasized that integrating the “shadow” is essential to becoming whole (Jung, 1969).
Seeing Life Whole
Positive psychology is a science of whole-person flourishing. It integrates ancient wisdom, modern science, and real-world application to explore how humans can build lives of meaning, resilience, and contribution. It never promised a life free from pain, nor did it ever ignore suffering, limitation, or injustice. Rather, it asks how people rise to meet these realities and how strength, compassion, and wisdom can develop through that encounter.
Flourishing requires seeing life as a whole: embracing both joy and sorrow, strength and vulnerability, abundance and scarcity. When we honor the full spectrum of human experience, we cultivate a grounded and courageous form of well-being, one that is deeply realistic, spiritually resonant, and empirically supported. Positive psychology, understood in its fullness, has always been precisely that.
Inquiry / Action
1) Name the Light and the Shadow – Recall a recent experience that held both difficulty and meaning. What strengths emerged in you as you navigated this moment? How did the presence of both challenge and possibility shape the outcome?
2) Notice Where Meaning is Stirring – Where in your life is meaning calling to you today, in work, in relationships, in service, or in quiet? What small step might you take to deepen engagement with that call?
3) Honor the Helpers Within – Which of your character strengths have most supported you through adversity? How might you intentionally further cultivate one of those strengths this week?
4) Practice “Both/And” Awareness – Consider a situation in which you have been holding tension, grief and gratitude, uncertainty and hope, limitation and potential. How might a “both/and” orientation open a new pathway forward?
5) Reframe Suffering into Story – Think of a hardship that has become part of your personal narrative. What values or virtues did it clarify for you? How might sharing that story with someone else offer encouragement or insight?
6) Choose One Small Act of Flourishing – Flourishing is never only an internal experience.
What is one concrete act, a word, a kindness, a boundary, a noticing that you can take today to nourish well-being in yourself or others?
Resources
Character Strengths and Virtues
Christopher Peterson & Martin Seligman
This landmark volume is the foundational scientific handbook of positive psychology. Peterson and Seligman present a comprehensive framework of 24 universal character strengths, including courage, gratitude, hope, and perseverance, organized across six core virtues that draw from both Western and Eastern philosophical traditions. Central to the text is the recognition that these strengths are not ornamental qualities reserved for easy times; instead, they are forged, refined, and revealed as people navigate life’s inevitable adversities. In this way, the work highlights that flourishing is inextricably linked to resilience and moral character.
For practitioners, scholars, and curious readers alike, Character Strengths and Virtues offers essential conceptual grounding, empirical research, and practical tools for understanding whole-person flourishing rooted in realism rather than idealism.
Version 1.0.0
When Life Calls Out to Us: The Love and Lifework of Viktor and Elly Frankl
Haddon Klingberg Jr.
This profoundly moving biography offers an intimate look at the shared life, courage, and spiritual depth of Viktor Frankl, the founder of logotherapy, and his wife, Elly. Drawing on personal interviews and reflections, Klingberg highlights the Frankls’ enduring commitment to meaning, compassion, and service, even amidst profound suffering. The narrative reveals how their relationship animated Frankl’s philosophical and clinical insights, demonstrating that meaning-making is not a purely abstract endeavor but a lived and relational practice.
In weaving together love, tragedy, and ethical devotion, this book vividly reflects the spirit at the heart of positive psychology: flourishing emerges not from the absence of hardship, but from the way individuals approach life with purpose, courage, and hope.
Together, these works deepen understanding of flourishing as a dynamic interplay between strength and struggle, scientifically grounded and profoundly human.
References
Aristotle. (2009). Nicomachean Ethics (W. D. Ross, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published ca. 350 BCE)
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Oishi, S. (2018). Advances and open questions in the science of subjective well-being. Collabra: Psychology, 4(1), 1–49.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389.
Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s search for meaning. Beacon Press. (Original work published 1946)
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. Basic Books.
Jung, C. G. (1969). The structure and dynamics of the psyche. Princeton University Press.
King, L. A., & Hicks, J. A. (2021). The science of meaning in life. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 561–584.
Niemiec, R. M. (2019). Character strengths interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Hogrefe Publishing.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.
Ryff, C. D. (2014). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1999). The president’s address. American Psychologist, 54(8), 559–562.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.
Seneca. (2014). Letters from a Stoic (R. Gummere, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published ca. 65 CE)
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18.
Van Tongeren, D. R., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & Aten, J. D. (2016). Suffering, meaning, and flourishing: Toward an integrated model. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1–13.
Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Toward a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology, 52(2), 69–81.
I’m liking what you wrote, Gordon. I think I told you once that my undergrad degree was in computer science — with a minor in philosophy. There are not many people with that combination. Yes, we have all faced life’s challenges and gained much from surviving them.
Ken: The combination of philosophy and computer science yields a rare blend of practical skill, critical reasoning, and ethical insight, all gifts you brought to our work together at First Data, and powerful tools for thriving in the third period of life. Thanks for following the blogs and for your friendship