Positive Psychology is a field of study that is generating more attention as it relates to social media engagement. What is positive psychology? What is the connection to social media? In this interactive session Lisa will lead the audience through a process to understanding how to improve their use of social media, and ultimately the results it can generate for HR.

1. Use Positive Psychology to
Enhance Your Social Media
Presence
Social HR Camp #SHRC13 #Toronto
Lisa Sansom, LVS Consulting
@LVSConsulting
info@lvsconsulting.com

2. Positive Psychology




Study of people at their best
Science of what makes life worth living
Flourishing
Seligman – “modern father of the field”


No claims to have invented the field
MAPP program at U Penn / IPPA / CPPA
www.lvsconsulting.com
2

3. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
3

4. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
4

5. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
5

6. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
6

7. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
7

8. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
8

9. Research done by

Citation:


http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna
l.pone.0073791
Authors:
H. Andrew Schwartz, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, Margaret L. Kern, Lukasz Dziurzynski, Stephanie M. Ramones, Megha Agrawal, Martin E. P. Seligman
Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
H. Andrew Schwartz, Megha Agrawal, Achal Shah, Lyle H. Ungar
Computer & Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell
The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

700 million words, 75,000 participants

To read more (non-academic):
http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/10/02/study_most_popular_facebo
ok_keywords_by_age_gender_and_personality.html
www.lvsconsulting.com
9

10. Find a partner…



Think about something good that has
happened to you recently, something that
really made you smile – a positive story that
you would like to share with your partner.
Choose with your partner who is A and who
is B.
Now… Person A – hide your eyes…
www.lvsconsulting.com
10

11. Person B – secret instructions

Person B: in the first round, after Person A
has shared some good news, respond by
pointing out all the things that could go wrong
or problems with the news that the person
might not have thought of already.
www.lvsconsulting.com
11

12. Share your story
www.lvsconsulting.com
12

13. Observations?





What did you notice?
What happened to the conversation?
What happened to your emotional mood?
How much do you trust / like your partner
right now?
Other observations?
www.lvsconsulting.com
13

14. Switch roles

Person B – hide your eyes
www.lvsconsulting.com
14

15. Person A

Celebrate the good news – ask them lots of
questions about it. Encourage them relive it
and enjoy it with them.
www.lvsconsulting.com
15

16. Share your story….
www.lvsconsulting.com
16

17. The real focus of Positive Psychology?

“Other people matter.”


Chris Peterson
“Love. Full stop.”

George Vaillant
www.lvsconsulting.com

18. Emotions are contagious
www.lvsconsulting.com
18

19. Christakis & Fowler

We found that social networks have clusters of happy
and unhappy people within them that reach out to three
degrees of separation. A person's happiness is related to
the happiness of their friends, their friends' friends, and
their friends' friends' friends—that is, to people well
beyond their social horizon. We found that happy people
tend to be located in the center of their social networks
and to be located in large clusters of other happy people.
And we found that each additional happy friend
increases a person's probability of being happy by about
9%.
www.lvsconsulting.com
19

20. To learn more:



http://edge.org/conversation/social-networks-and-happiness
http://neuroanthropology.net/2009/09/12/catching-happinesschristakis-and-fowler-and-the-social-contagion-of-behaviors/
http://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_
of_social_networks.html
www.lvsconsulting.com
20

21. Positivity Ratio 3:1


Barbara Fredrickson
Broaden & Build theory





Work with Marcial Losada


Positive emotions signal safety
Future-oriented
Encourage learning, openness
Undo the effects of negative emotions
High-Performing Teams
3:1 for flourishing

John & Julie Gottman: 5:1 in close relationships
www.lvsconsulting.com
21

22. www.lvsconsulting.com
22

23. Seed your network with positivity





Words tell us something about YOU
Are you the sort of person we want to
connect with?
Are you sharing and spreading good news?
Are you spreading positivity?
Does your social media presence smile and
invite others in?
www.lvsconsulting.com
23

24. Overall – increase PERMA

Positive Emotions


Engagement


Refer positively to other people, express appreciation (friends,
y’all)
Meaning


Refer to activities where “flow” occurs (sports, workout, beach)
Relationships


Use positive emotional words (grateful, blessed, praise, great,
happy, chillin’, fun)
Link the transactional to the bigger meaning (God, weekend,
beautiful, greatness)
Achievement / accomplishment

Grit, self-efficacy, goals, growth mindset (success)
www.lvsconsulting.com

25. What can Facebook tell us?
www.lvsconsulting.com
25

26. Resources – web

www.authentichappiness.org – Seligman


www.positivepsychologycanada.com – CPPA



Free daily newsletter – written by MAPP alum
http://www.centerforpos.org – POS


Canadian Positive Psychology Association
Newsletter, webinars, conference 2014 (Ottawa)
http://positivepsychologynews.com – PPND


Lots of assessments – all free
Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship
www.lvsconsulting.com

My own irregular blog
www.lvsconsulting.com
26