ABSTRACT
As I listened to a series of papers on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military personnel at a recent annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), it occurred to me that the clinical researchers were focusing on only what Peterson and Seligman (2004) refer to as the “negative psychology” approach to the problem. The researchers had carefully and systematically identified a host of negative personality traits, dispositions, and behaviors that served as predictors of PTSD, and of progressive symptoms following disengagement from combat. The message seemed to be that soldiers at risk for PTSD could be identified, to some extent at least, based on pre-deployment adjustment or, more often, screened and treated after deployments. In short, a reactive approach focused on treating “ill” behavior was stressed. While this is certainly important, I was struck by the notion that this approach seemed only half-way complete. Perhaps researchers should work equally diligently to identify positive traits, dispositions, and behaviors that predict successful adaptation to and subsequent adjustment following the stresses of a combat deployment. This latter approach is congruent with the emerging field of positive psychology, and represents a radical departure from the negative psychology paradigm that characterized the first hundred years of the discipline (Peterson, 2006). The purpose of this chapter is to review positive psychology and explore its potential for empowering soldiers or others involved in dangerous, life-threatening work to not simply survive the experience psychologically and emotionally intact, but to gain meaning and purpose from the experience itself.
