25 Jan Political candidates and the complexity of optimism – positive psychology applied to Obama
Among political strategists, it’s an article of faith that the most optimistic candidate wins the election. This assumption isn”t based on focus-group hoodoo, but the work of the renowned psychologist Martin Seligman and his then-colleague Harold Zullow, who in 1990 systematically analyzed 84 years” worth of acceptance speeches of the major presidential candidates for their party’s nominations. In 18 out of 22 instances, the man with the cheerier message carried the day.
To read more about how, in simple terms, a realistically positive approach such as that advocated by positive psychologists, can lead to happiness and success – click here