Positive Psychology Rules! A Report from IPPA

(June 23, 2009) 

The VIA Institute's chairman, Neal H. Mayerson; trustee, Donna Mayerson; executive director, Deb Pinger; and education director, Ryan M. Niemiec, attended the first World Congress of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) in Philadelphia June 19-21. Here's Dr. Niemiec's report:

IPPA's first World Congress exceeded all expectations and VIA was honored to be a part of it. Initial reports show attendance at 1,750 people from more than 70 nations.  Forty percent of the attendees were from outside the United States.  The Congress ended Sunday, June 21, with final thoughts from IPPA Chair and VIA’s Science Director, Chris Peterson, who said, “The future of positive psychology is you.”

In his opening address, Marty Seligman noted that the VIA Survey of Character has been taken by more than 1 million people and acknowledged the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation for making it free for all takers, worldwide.  This was followed up the next morning by IPPA’s Executive Director James Pawelski, who asked the audience, “How many of you have taken the VIA,” and well over half raised their hands. 

There were a number of impressive presentations – keynotes, invited addresses, workshops, symposia, and posters – addressing an impressive array of topics in positive psychology, ranging from positive health, flourishing, and positive organizational change, to new research on the character strengths relating to courage.

To a standing-room-only crowd, David Cooperrider, the founder of Appreciative Inquiry, revealed his latest thoughts on how the new, redefined, positive business culture can be an agent of change for world peace, the end of acute poverty, and the sustainability of the planet. In his work – which includes working with the United Nations and the Dalai Lama – he asks the question: “What would happen if people, and business, were to meet strength to strength – and hope to hope?”  The universal language of strengths he calls upon is the classification authored by Chris Peterson and Marty Seligman, the VIA Virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence.  The audience responded with a raucous standing ovation.

We enjoyed the many stimulating conversations with individuals enthusiastic about the VIA classification and those learning about it for the first time. It gave us a sense of joy hearing about the impact it has had on individuals’ practice and research.

In preparation for the 2009 VIA Intensives, to be held this fall in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, VIA conducted one-on-one, in-depth video interviews with 16 of the field’s top scholars, researchers, and practitioners. The interviews were strikingly revealing and informative. At the Intensives, participants will learn from:
 
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
David Cooperrider
Ed Diener
Jonathan Haidt
Tayyab Rashid
Neal Mayerson
Anthony Grant
Barbara Fredrickson
Todd Kashdan
Robert Biswas-Diener
Carol Kaufmann
Donna Mayerson
Cynthia Pury
Shelly Gable
Jennifer Fox-Eades
Sonja Lyubomirsky

We hope to see you at these Intensives, at the European Positive Psychology conference in Copenhagen next year, or at IPPA in London in 2011.



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