A growing movement in psychology, called positive psychology, has focused on promoting strengths and well–being rather than simply "fixing" problems after they develop. Given that it is easy for advisers to get caught up in the day–to–day struggles of low budgets and ever increasing student–to–adviser ratios, positive morale in advising centers can be difficult to maintain.

Positive psychology can be best described as a look into "ordinary human strengths and virtues," as well as "optimum human functioning" (Miller & Nickerson, 2008, p. 679). This new science was developed in response to the perceived overemphasis in the field of psychology on the medical model of mental illness, which involves diagnosing what is wrong with people with little consideration of their personal strengths and positive aspects of life. This paper will examine studies of psychological well–being and how the findings can be used to promote well-being among academic advisers.

Positive psychologists have focused considerable attention on defining psychological well–being as a multidimensional construct. In a seminal paper, Diener (1984) defined psychological well–being as a state of frequent positive emotions, infrequent negative emotions, and high life satisfaction. Positive emotions refer to pleasant emotions such as joy and excitement, whereas negative emotions refer to unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety, and sadness. Life satisfaction refers to a cognitive evaluation of the positivity of life overall or with specific aspects of life (e.g., job or family satisfaction). A person with a high level of psychological well–being is thus one who is predominantly experiencing positive emotions and is satisfied with her or his life overall and with specific domains, while experiencing relatively few negative emotions over time.

A good way to think about the determinants of our psychological well–being is to visualize a pie chart. According to Sonja Lyubomirsky (2008), 50 percent of the variation in individual differences in well–being is heritable. This means that as a group, half of our well–being is determined by our genes. Ten percent of our happiness is circumstantial, reflecting the major conditions of our lives, such as our particular jobs, income levels, geographic location, and so forth. Forty percent of our well–being is related to more specific, intentional activities that we engage in on a frequent basis. These activities reflect the 40 percent of our well–being related to meaningful, day–to–day activities over which we have control and that are within our power to change. Although we often assume that changes in psychological well–being at work require major changes in the conditions of our lives (e.g., a change of jobs), the research reviewed below will show that significant changes in well–being can arise from less dramatic changes.

The purpose of this paper is to draw from studies in this new science of positive psychology that demonstrate easy–to–implement, empirically valid interventions that can lead to "happier" academic advisers by virtue of higher psychological well–being. The hope is to focus specifically on easy–to–implement interventions that aim at changing daily experiences to yield a greater sense well–being. By focusing on interventions, we are in essence working on modifying the 40 percent of happiness we have the power to improve.

Monitor Your Thinking About Your Circumstances

Persons' thoughts about their experiences can influence their psychological well–being more than their actual circumstances. How a person views an event can change their emotional reactions (Miller & Nickerson, 2008). The more people can view the positive within themselves and their surroundings, the greater the chance of increasing their sense of well–being.

Numerous studies have shown the importance of the power of positive thinking. If individuals are able to become more cognizant of the positives around them (mostly through personal record keeping) there is a tremendous increase in potential for improvement. For example, a study of Japanese undergraduates showed a positive relationship between well-being and motivation to perform kind activities. Students were asked to keep a "kindness" record log to increase their awareness of the positives in their lives. On a daily basis, they recorded specific events that were positive in their lives or events they took part in that they felt contributed to another's positivity. Students who attained the greatest increases in well–being were the ones who performed and recorded more acts of kindness in their daily lives (Otake, Shimai, Tanaka-Matsumi, Otsui, & Fredrickson, 2006).

Another study that linked becoming aware of daily positives and an increase in well–being was a study from the University of Pennsylvania (Seligman, 2002). This study involved a group of individuals who were clinically depressed and were encouraged to log onto a website and keep a record of daily positives. Each log was meant to represent daily positives, no matter how minute, that occurred within their daily lives. This could be as simple as an individual said hello to them, or they held the door open for a stranger. According to the study, within fifteen days of therapy, the group moved from being severely depressed to "mildly" to "moderately depressed." Ninety–four percent of the participants expressed some form of relief (Lyubomirsky, 2008).

What does all this mean to advisers and how can it be put into practice? Simple. Pay attention to the positive experiences in your life. Keep a gratitude journal or a kindness log. Keep a file with a record of positive occurrences. Think of increasing well–being like going to the gym. If your goal is to become stronger, you have to work at it consistently. It is not going to just happen on its own. Positive psychologists have used the Best Possible Self (BPS) model to explain how working consistently toward goals can increase well–being (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006). Participants in research at the University of Missouri–Columbia were asked to envision themselves having developed and accomplished future goals and journal what they had envisioned. The students who participated in this BPS goals exercise had a significantly greater increase in well–being and enjoyed more lasting effects than the control group. In another study, college students kept at BPS and wrote about their perception of completing their BPS, using one of four topics as the basis of their log. Alternatively, the control group recorded traumatic events in the same fashion. The important finding in this study was that those persons who kept the BPS showed an increase in well–being, even across a three–week time period (King, 2001).

It is possible to put into action the interventions used in the studies above. As an adviser, envision the type of adviser you want to become, what skills you want to hone, and how you want to be perceived. Keep a log, like the subjects in the Japanese and University of Pennsylvania studies, attending to the positive aspects of your work that are helping you to obtain your goals. The visualization of reaching one's goals was seen to prompt motivation and then increase effort to achieve the goal. Such an individualized plan can be another way to create a new perspective on one's job and make things exciting again. Constantly tweaking and adding to one's BPS can increase the motivation for goal attainment, thus adding a multitude of positivity in one's life. The benefit of an increase in psychological well–being is emotional stability. Mills and Huebner (1998) showed that an increase in emotional stability leads to a decrease in burnout. This is certainly a desirable by–product of positivity in the work place.

Perform Intentional Activities

Miller and Nickerson wrote (2008) "...through conscious practice of engaging in activities such as practicing positive thinking, investing in social connections, living in the present, improving health and physical fitness, committing to personal goals and effectively managing stress, hardships and trauma," one can make gains in his or her subjective well–being. These are all intentional activities. Although all of the activities mentioned above can be beneficial, one can pry away the obvious and look at those applicable to the lives of advisers. Advisers have plenty of responsibilities beyond students and their course work. Advisers sit on committees, create curricula, and may even volunteer to help with first–year student move–in. It is important to look at the word "intentional." Did you join a committee because you were told to? If you find yourself in a rut, seek changes of your own making. Put yourself into an experience you want to have and enjoy it. Staw, Sutton, and Pelled (1994) showed that an increase in positive experiences and expressions of positive change resulted in higher occupational performance. As an adviser, if you can focus on the positive moments you have created throughout the day, there may be an increased sense of ownership and control over your well–being.

Another simple but powerful positive psychology intervention involved the identification and increased use of personal strengths in everyday living to enhance overall well–being. Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005) developed an Internet–based intervention strategy in which individuals were encouraged to identify their most valued or signature strengths through the VIA Strengths Inventory (Seligman et al., 2005). After identifying their top five signature strengths, individuals were told to "use one of their strengths in a new and different way every day for one week" (Seligman et al., 2005, p. 416). The benefits of this practice, including greater psychological well–being and less depression, were noteworthy in that they were still evident at a six–month follow up.

"Helper's high" is a term that refers to the "enhanced positive mood or feelings that follow an individual's act of helping (Miller & Nickerson, 2008). It goes without saying that helping others can be very beneficial to both the recipient and the helper. As advisers, helping is our main function. However, once it becomes just a function, it can lose its positive effect. Once the behavior is no longer a compassionate one, it cannot affect one's sense of well–being (Miller & Nickerson, 2008). Fredrickson (2009) called this divide the languish/flourish divide. She writes, "People who flourish highly are happy. But that's not the half of it. Beyond feeling good, they&39re also doing good–adding value to the world." When advising is in full swing, it may be easy to get into the habit of feeling that there is just another student in line with a problem. Such an attitude can have serious negative effects on one's sense of well–being. Try to view each student in your lobby as another chance to help make life easier or lend an understanding ear. Ask a few questions about the student&39s day. If you develop a reasonable level of rapport with each student, you may experience a greater sense of purpose and well–being related to your work. Another strategy might be, if student loads permit, to create a brief but personalized profile of each student as you get to know her or him.

Shape Your Work Environment

Aside from looking at one's self, the way one views her work environment can have an effect on well–being. It has already been said that emotional stability can lead to a decrease in burnout, but what else? You can regard members of your advising center as you would a family. Not everyone needs to get along in perfect harmony, but if you can have that sort of dynamic within the workplace, it can be a positive experience from which all may benefit. There are numerous studies that look at how strong social bonds (e.g., among family, friends, and co–workers) have the potential to increase well–being in members by giving them a sense of being irreplaceable, significant, and worthy of the group. Turner, Barling, and Zacharatos (2002) offered three ways the work place can be designed to promote a better sense of well–being and increase the likelihood of building a more familial structure. The first way is to create responsibilities for employees that match their task identities, skill sets, and level of difficulty. The second is to consciously build teams and work groups in the workplace. This will encourage group cohesiveness and build resources for helping group members. Finally, those in leadership roles should move from more of an authoritative mentality or approach to that of a coach's mentality.

Losada and Heaphy (2004) studied more than sixty businesses to discover what characteristics increased positivity among their employees to build better, more effective units. Similar to an optimum familiar structure, Lasorda concluded that to be an effective unit, the participants must become more positive when moving from self–focused to other– (or group–) focused and open to inquiry rather than self–advocacy. When a group, as a whole, adhered to these actions, three phenomena occurred. First, group cohesiveness increased. Participants felt interconnected with the group. Second, with the decrease in self–advocacy, open–mindedness increased, thus strengthening the group's connectedness even further. Finally, groups became much more resilient. They handled adversity much more effectively and did not languish in negative behavior. Lasorda's discoveries go hand in hand with Turner, Barling, and Zacharatos' (2002) suggestions that advisers seek ways to optimize group positivity to increase well–being within the work place and remember that teams with higher positivity are more flexible and resilient and less likely to become critical or stuck in "self–absorbed advocacy."

In most situations, advisers should have the ability to revamp and rework at least some aspects of the structure and function of their offices. If this is not the case, the development of changes in activities in small, intentional steps may be just as beneficial. Perhaps acknowledging office successes or conducting weekly office meetings in an open forum can bring together everyone in a positive way.

None of these interventions or ideas is meant to reflect a comprehensive overhaul of one's work life. Recent positive psychology research suggests that such major changes may not be necessary. Major changes (e.g., job change, salary increases) are not always essential to increasing well–being in the workplace. Small, individualized daily activities can tip advisers' "positivity ratios" in their favor and lead to lasting results in the development of a more positive work environment and a greater sense of overall well–being. So let's get started!