ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the background that has led to the establishment of positive psychology, defining its aims, contours and remit. It offers an overview of its development and concludes by discussing its possible trajectories, and addressing some of its common misconceptions and critique. Alongside the exhilaration of its trailblazing activity and rapid growth, and the existential movement between the desire to carve its own space and the contradictory pull to assimilate into other applied psychology disciplines, some challenges emerged. While M. E. Seligman acknowledged the outstanding progress and success that psychology in healing mental illness and broken lives, he noted that the field has been sidetracked: “Psychology is just the study of weakness and damage, it is also the study of strengths and virtues. Fortunately, many researchers and practitioners welcomed this opportunity to engage with the healthy side of human psychology, and since then research activity, teaching and practice have blossomed.
