23 Oct Happiness & Positive Psychology at the Movies
from Positive Psychology News Daily
Derrick Carpenter, MAPP, is currently a research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania studying perceptual learning and mathematics education. Full bio.
I often find there are certain themes or ideas that – although previously unexplored – all of a sudden come to my attention over and over again until they cannot be ignored. During the course of my positive psychology education, many such ideas crossed my path. And among them was the film Groundhog Day. I had never seen the film, but I kept hearing that the 1993 classic was an exemplar of positive psychology tenets. So a few weeks back I decided to give in to my curiosity. Bill Murray’s character, a sarcastic and surly local weatherman, keeps waking up to live the same day over again. As the film progresses and Murray’s character learns that he has ultimate control over how happy he will be in his never-ending purgatory, he transforms his attitude and eventually becomes the kind-hearted town hero. I loved the film so much I watched it again the next night.
BOOK REVIEW: Positive Psychology at the Movies by Ryan M. Niemiec and Danny Wedding (Hogrefe & Huber, 2008)
To read the fully review – click here