From "Negative" To "Positive"

The contradiction of scientific culture and humanistic culture has generated two different kinds of psychology, and thus resulted in the crisis of modern psychology. The mainstream psychology is science-oriented, but it doesn't meet the gap between scientific psychology and humanistic psychology, and doesn't make psychology head for maturity and unite.The former U.S APA president Martin Seligman criticizes the American traditional scientific psychology as "pathology"(disease model) pattern which focus on curing people's damage and overcomes human's shortcomings. It is a typical kind of "negative" psychology. For the purpose of psychology's future and human's destiny, psychologists led by Seligman try to change the "negative" research pattern and push forward an overwhelming campaign of "positive psychology".Positive psychology in contemporary America meets the social demands, keeps pace with the integration trend of scientific psychology and humanistic psychology. It is based on "negative" psychology. Ordinary people become psychology's research object. Positive psychology researches people's positive facets and positive character such as well -being, strength and virtue with scientific method. Its aim is to establish and fulfill positive personality growth pattern, promote individual, society and human race's well - being, and resolve many problems which today's people faces. Positive psychology has changed the negative image of traditional American psychology. It pushes the transformation from negative psychology to positive psychology. Positive psychology represents the latest trend of contemporary scientific psychology and embodies the integration of cognitive psychology and humanistic psychology.This paper examines the rising and development of positive psychology. It also demonstrates the contribution and shortcoming ofpositive psychology compared with negative psychology and humanistic psychology. The author points out that although positive psychology proved to be a value agenda in terms of psychology's personality theory, methodology and practice, it can only be a bridge from negative to positive in psychology because of its residue of traditional psychology's shortcomings.Based on the integration horizon of psychology, only positive psychology overcomes its shortcomings can it lead psychology to a bright and positive future.