ABSTRACT
Positive psychology is a movement to widen the focus of psychology that came to prominence in the late 1990s. Traditional psychology concerned itself with human development and function, with a particular emphasis on the abnormal—the causes and treatment of mental illness and dysfunction. The aim of positive psychology is to call attention to human strengths, virtues and optimal experience; the factors that give rise to them; and how to foster the highest human capacities. In this chapter, we will consider three specific theories and approaches from positive psychology that are of particular practical value in fostering organizational change: Self-Determination Theory, Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Deviance.
