Seeking Happiness-An Analysis Of The Nanny Diaries From The Perspective Of Positive Psychology

The Nanny Diaries,published in 2002,is one of the top ten super bestsellers in the United States.The authors,Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus,won the New York Times and Amazon list's double champions,and the movie edited and produced based on the novel won 2008 Golden Globe and Oscar Focus Movie.Its translated version was published in China in 2007.This novel satirized upper class of Manhattan society from the viewpoint of nanny and described long-term location of female role and discrimination in male-dominated society.Positive psychology was originally put forward by American psychologist Seligman,which is the theoretical foundation of this paper.There're three levels in the positive psychology:positive subjective experience,positive individual traits and positive social environment.The goal of positive psychology is helping people to acquire a positive life style.This paper analyzes the main character Nanny in the novel of The Nanny Diaries from the perspective of positive psychology.It will not only provide a new direction for the research of this novel but also encourage young people even all people maintain a positive mental attitude.This paper firstly analyzes Nanny's positive subjective experience from the subjective level.Then,it analyzes Nanny's positive individual traits from the individual level.At last,it analyzes the positive social environment around Nanny from the group level.In this thesis,Nanny's positive individual traits are shining.Nanny's experience will inspire many people who are in desperate situation and give them courage to solve their problems and realize their dream.It is intended to point out that the survival pressure of young people is inevitable in contemporary society.Under such pressure,we should not only participate in the competition but also pay more attention to psychological health and promote our sense of happiness to welcome the more brilliant future.Competition is not the purpose of life but the way of seeking happiness.It will provide guidance to improve our sense of well-being.The conclusion of this paper is:the definition of success is not the victory but the satisfaction of subjective well-being.