23 Jan Happiness and positive psychology – the new cool!
Suddenly, an ‘up’ attitude could be downright cool
Obama fuels a swing toward ‘hip’ optimism
By Colleen Mastony | Tribune reporter
January 22, 2009
On upcoming episodes of the television show “Grey’s Anatomy,” more patients will be surviving. Elsewhere in Hollywood, a powerful movie director says he wants to make positive thinking the newest trend. And a group of academics, sensing a pattern, has launched a study asking Americans how hopeful they’ve felt since the presidential election.
Some say that it’s all part of a Barack Obama-fueled boom in optimism. And it’s a trend that many think could continue.
“I think optimism is going to be the new cool,” said Rick Cleveland, a television writer who has worked on “The West Wing,” ‘six Feet Under” and “Mad Men.” Obama, he said, “can be the torchbearer” for the new positivity.
If you’ve been feeling good about the future, you’re not alone. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last week found that 79 percent of Americans are optimistic about the next four years under Obama.
To read more about how positive psychology, happiness and optimism (all integral parts of our approach to coaching here at The Happiness Institute) are being integrated into politics and TV – click here