title: August Wilson

text: In 1968, along with his friend Rob Penny, Wilson co-founded the Black Horizon Theater in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. Wilson's first play, "Recycling", was performed for audiences in small theaters, schools and public housing community centers for 50 cents a ticket. Among these early efforts was "Jitney", which he revised more than two decades later as part of his 10-play cycle on 20th-century Pittsburgh. He had no directing experience. He recalled: "Someone had looked around and said, 'Who's going to be the director?' I said, 'I will.' I said that because I knew my way around the library. So I went to look for a book on how to direct a play. I found one called "The Fundamentals of Play Directing" and checked it out."


title: August Wilson

text: In 1976, Vernell Lillie, who had founded the Kuntu Repertory Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh two years earlier, directed Wilson's "The Homecoming". That same year Wilson saw Athol Fugard's "Sizwe Banzi is Dead", staged at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, the first time he attended professionally produced drama. Wilson, Penny, and poet Maisha Baton then founded the Kuntu Writers Workshop to bring African-American writers together and to assist them in publication and production. Both organizations remain active.


title: August Wilson

text: In 1978 Wilson moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, at the suggestion of his friend, director Claude Purdy, who helped him secure a job writing educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. In 1980 he received a fellowship for The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. He quit the Museum in 1981, but continued writing plays. For three years, he was a part-time cook for the Little Brothers of the Poor. Wilson had a long association with the Penumbra Theatre Company of St. Paul, which premiered some of his plays. He wrote "Fullerton Street", which has been unproduced and unpublished, in 1980. It follows the Joe Louis/Billy Conn fight in 1941 and the loss of values attendant on the Great Migration to the urban North.


title: August Wilson

text: Throughout the 1980s, Wilson wrote the majority of his work including "Jitney" (1982), "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (1984), "Fences" (1985), "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" (1986), and "The Piano Lesson" (1987).


title: August Wilson

text: In 1987, St. Paul's mayor George Latimer named May 27 "August Wilson Day". He was honored because he is the only person from Minnesota to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.


title: August Wilson

text: In 1990 Wilson left St. Paul after getting divorced and moved to Seattle. There he developed a relationship with Seattle Repertory Theatre, which produced his entire 10-play cycle and his one-man show "How I Learned What I Learned."


title: August Wilson

text: Though he was a writer dedicated to writing for theater, a Hollywood studio proposed filming Wilson's play "Fences". He insisted that a Black director be hired for the film, saying: "I declined a White director not on the basis of race but on the basis of culture. White directors are not qualified for the job. The job requires someone who shares the specifics of the culture of Black Americans." The film remained unmade until 2016, when Denzel Washington directed the film "Fences", starring Washington and Viola Davis. It earned Wilson a posthumous Oscar nomination.


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson received many honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Humanities from the University of Pittsburgh, of which he was a trustee from 1992 until 1995.


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson maintained a strong voice in the progress and development of the (then) contemporary Black theater, undoubtedly taking influences from the examples of his youth, such as those displayed during the Black Arts Movement. One of the most notable examples of Wilson's strong opinions and critiques of what was Black theater's state in the 1990s, was the "On Cultural Power: The August Wilson/Robert Brustein Discussion" where Wilson argued for a completely Black theater with all positions filled by Blacks. Conversely, he argued that Black actors should not play roles not specifically Black (e.g., no Black Hamlet). Brustein heatedly took an opposing view.


title: August Wilson

text: In 2005, Wilson's final installment in his ten-part series "The Century Cycle", titled "Radio Golf", opened. It was first performed in 2005 by the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut and had its Broadway premiere in 2007 at the Cort Theatre. It would become known as Wilson's final work.


title: August Wilson

text: While the work of August Wilson is not formally recognized within the literary canon of the Black Arts Movement, he was certainly a product of its mission, helping to co-found the Black Horizon Theatre in his hometown of Pittsburgh in 1968. Situated in Pittsburgh's Hill District, a historically and predominantly Black neighborhood, the Black Horizon Theatre became a cultural hub of Black creativity and community building. As a playwright of what is considered the Post–Black Arts Movement, August Wilson inherited the spirit of BAM, producing plays that celebrated the history and poetic sensibilities of Black people. His iconic Century Cycle successfully tracked and synthesized the experiences of Black America in the 20th Century, using each historical decade, from 1904 to 1997, to document the physical, emotional, mental, and political strivings of Black life in the wake of emancipation.


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson's best-known plays are "Fences" (1985) (which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award), "The Piano Lesson" (1990) (a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone".


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson stated that he was most influenced by "the four Bs": blues music, the Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, the playwright Amiri Baraka and the painter Romare Bearden. He went on to add writers Ed Bullins and James Baldwin to the list. He noted:


title: August Wilson

text: Like Bearden, Wilson worked with collage techniques in writing: "I try to make my plays the equal of his canvases. In creating plays I often use the image of a stewing pot in which I toss various things that I'm going to make use of—a black cat, a garden, a bicycle, a man with a scar on his face, a pregnant woman, a man with a gun." On the meaning of his work, Wilson stated:


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle", also often referred to as his "Century Cycle", consists of ten plays—nine of which are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District (the other being set in Chicago), an African-American neighborhood that takes on a mythic literary significance like Thomas Hardy's Wessex, William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, or Irish playwright Brian Friel's Ballybeg. The plays are each set in a different decade and aim to sketch the Black experience in the 20th century and "raise consciousness through theater" and echo "the poetry in the everyday language of Black America". His writing of the Black experience always featured strong female characters and sometimes included elements of the supernatural. In his book, he wrote "My mother's a very strong, principled woman. My female characters . . . come in a large part from my mother"


title: August Wilson

text: As for the elements of the supernatural, Wilson often featured some form of superstition or old tradition in plays that came down to supernatural roots. One of his plays well known for featuring this is "The Piano Lesson". In the play, the piano is used and releases spirits of the ancestors. Wilson wanted to create such an event in the play that the audience was left to decide what was real or not. He was fascinated by the power of theater as a medium where a community at large could come together to bear witness to events and currents unfolding.


title: August Wilson

text: Although the plays of the cycle are not strictly connected to the degree of a serial story, some characters appear (at various ages) in more than one of the cycle's plays. Children of characters in earlier plays may appear in later plays. The character most frequently mentioned in the cycle is Aunt Ester, a "washer of souls". She is reported to be 285 years old in "Gem of the Ocean", which takes place in her home at 1839 Wylie Avenue, and 349 in "Two Trains Running". She dies in 1985, during the events of "King Hedley II". Much of the action of "Radio Golf" revolves around the plan to demolish and redevelop that house, some years after her death. Aunt Ester is a symbolic and recurring figure that represents the African-American struggle. She is "not literally three centuries old but a succession of folk priestesses... [s]he embodies a weighty history of tragedy and triumph". The plays often include an "apparently" mentally impaired oracular character (different in each play)—for example, Hedley Sr. in "Seven Guitars", Gabriel in "Fences", Stool Pigeon in "King Hedley II", or Hambone in "Two Trains Running".


title: August Wilson

text: Chicago's Goodman Theatre was the first theater in the world to produce the entire 10-play cycle, in productions which spanned from 1986 to 2007. Two of the Goodman's productions—"Seven Guitars" and "Gem of the Ocean"—were world premieres.


title: August Wilson

text: Israel Hicks produced the entire 10-play cycle from 1990 to 2009 for the Denver Center Theatre Company.


title: August Wilson

text: Geva Theatre Center produced all 10 plays in decade order from 2007 to 2011 as "August Wilson's American Century". The Huntington Theatre Company of Boston has produced all 10 plays, finishing in 2012. During Wilson's life he worked closely with The Huntington to produce the later plays. Pittsburgh Public Theater was the first theater company in Pittsburgh to produce the entire Century Cycle, including the world premiere of "King Hedley II" to open the O'Reilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh.


title: August Wilson

text: TAG – The Actors' Group, in Honolulu, Hawaii, produced all 10 plays in the cycle starting in 2004 with "Two Trains Running" and culminating in 2015 with "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom". All shows were Hawaii premieres, all were extremely successful at the box office and garnered many local theatre awards for the actors and the organization. The Black Rep in St. Louis and the Anthony Bean Community Theater in New Orleans have also presented the complete cycle.


title: August Wilson

text: In the years after Wilson's death the 10-play cycle has been referred to as "The August Wilson Century Cycle" and as "The American Century Cycle".


title: August Wilson

text: Two years before his death in 2005, August Wilson wrote and performed an unpublished one-man play entitled "How I Learned What I Learned" about the power of art and the power of possibility. This was produced at New York's Signature Theatre and directed by Todd Kreidler, Wilson's friend and protégé. "How I Learned" explores his days as a struggling young writer in Pittsburgh's Hill District and how the neighborhood and its people inspired his cycle of plays about the African-American experience.


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson was married three times. His first marriage was to Brenda Burton from 1969 to 1972. They had one daughter, Sakina Ansari, born 1970. In 1981, he married Judy Oliver, a social worker; they divorced in 1990. He married again in 1994 and was survived by his third wife, costume designer Constanza Romero, whom he met on the set of "The Piano Lesson". They had a daughter, Azula Carmen Wilson. Wilson also was survived by siblings Freda Ellis, Linda Jean Kittel, Donna Conley, Barbara Jean Wilson, Edwin Kittel and Richard Kittel.


title: August Wilson

text: Wilson reported that he had been diagnosed with liver cancer in June 2005 and been given three to five months to live. He died on October 2, 2005, at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and was interred at Greenwood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, on October 8, 2005, aged 60. He reportedly requested a "Black funeral" at Saint Paul Cathedral, but this was not granted by the archdiocese. A memorial service was instead held at the University of Pittsburgh.


title: August Wilson

text: The childhood home of Wilson and his six siblings, at 1727 Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh, was declared a historic landmark by the State of Pennsylvania on May 30, 2007. On February 26, 2008, Pittsburgh City Council placed the house on the List of City of Pittsburgh historic designations. On April 30, 2013, the August Wilson House was added to the National Register of Historic Places.


title: August Wilson

text: In Pittsburgh, there is an August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The center includes a permanent exhibition on Wilson's life in Pittsburgh's Hill District, "August Wilson: A Writer's Landscape."


title: August Wilson

text: On October 16, 2005, fourteen days after Wilson's death, the Virginia Theatre in New York City's Broadway Theater District was renamed the August Wilson Theatre. It is the first Broadway theatre to bear the name of an African-American. The theatre has run many shows, including "Jersey Boys", "Groundhog Day", and "Mean Girls".


title: August Wilson

text: In Seattle, Washington, along the south side of the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the vacated Republican Street between Warren Avenue N. and 2nd Avenue N. on the Seattle Center grounds has been renamed August Wilson Way.


title: August Wilson

text: In September 2016, an existing community park near his childhood home was renovated and renamed August Wilson Park.


title: August Wilson

text: In 2020, the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh acquired Wilson's literary papers and materials to establish the August Wilson Archive.


title: August Wilson

text: In 2021, the United States Postal Service honored Wilson with a Forever stamp featuring him as part of the Black Heritage series of stamps. It was designed by Ethel Kessler with art from Tim O'Brien.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Born in Mexico City, Herrera made his television debut in "Clase 406" in 2002. In the same year, his made film debut in "Amar te duele" and won a MTV Movie Awards Mexico. In 2004, he achieved international stardom playing the protagonist Miguel Arango in the Mexican telenovela "Rebelde", which spanned the pop musical group RBD (2004–09). Herrera was one of the six lead singers in the group, which was successful in Latin America, USA and Europe, was nominated twice to the Latin Grammy Award and sold more than 10 million albums worldwide. In 2009, he starred in the Venezuelan film "Venezzia", the Mexican series "Mujeres Asesinas" and the Mexican telenovela "Camaleones".


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2014, Herrera played the lead role in the political satire comedy film "The Perfect Dictatorship". From 2015 to 2018, he sensitively portrayed art lecturer, Hernando Fuentes, secret boyfriend of actor Lito Rodriguez, in the American drama series "Sense8" on Netflix. He played Father Tomas on the American horror series "The Exorcist" (2016–17). He co-starred in the American drama series "Queen of the South" (2018–19). Herrera portrayed Ignacio de la Torre y Mier in "Dance of the 41" (2020) and received acclaim for his performance, winning the Ariel Award for Best Actor. In 2022, he co-starred as cartel lieutenant Javi Elizondro in the final season of the Netflix crime drama series "Ozark".


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Alfonso Herrera Rodríguez was born in Mexico City. He has an older brother, Alejandro and a younger brother, Oscar. He attended the Edron Academy, alongside Gael García Bernal and Ximena Sariñana and graduated in 2002. Herrera originally wanted to become a pilot and was going to move to San Antonio, Texas, to enroll in an aviation school. He changed his mind and decided to enroll at the Centro de Educación Artística run by Latin American media giant Televisa.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Following his completion at the Centro de Educación Artística, Herrera began working professionally in theater. He performed in "Las Brujas de Salem" (2001), "Como matar a un ruiseñor" (2001) and "Antigona" (2001).


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2002, he was cast in the film "Amar te duele", directed by Fernando Sariñana, and from there moved into television, working in the telenovela "Clase 406", alongside Dulce María, Anahí, and Christian Chávez, who later became his bandmates in RBD. When he starred in the soap opera "Clase 406", Herrera participated in the soundtrack together with the cast in the songs "De Donde Vienes... A Donde Vas...?", "Corazón de Ángel", "Por Ti", "Shala La La" and "Grito" from the album "Clase 406 - El Siguiente Paso ...!" (2003).


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2004, he participated in the episode "Tres Lágrimas" of the Mexican series "Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real" and he was cast as one of the main characters in "Rebelde", a Mexican remake of the hit Argentine novela "Rebelde Way". Herrera played Miguel Arango, a teenager who moves to Mexico City to avenge his father's death. "Rebelde" was a hit worldwide and had over 400 episodes, lasting from 2004 to 2006.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Following the success of "Rebelde", in 2007, Televisa released "", which starred the members of RBD. The characters of the sitcom were not based on the band's characters in "Rebelde", but intended to be similar to the actors' real personalities. "" was the first Mexican show shot entirely in High Definition. The show ran from March 14, 2007 – June 13, 2007, and only lasted 13 episodes.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2007, Herrera began filming "Volverte a Ver" with Ximena Herrera. It was released in December 2008. The movie was filmed in Mexico and Argentina. In 2008, he also starred in the play "The Pillowman", replacing actor Kuno Becker. To date, RBD has made 9 studio albums, including albums in Spanish, Portuguese and English. They have sold over 15 million albums worldwide, and have toured across Mexico, South America, Serbia, Romania, the United States, and Spain.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Poncho wrote the song "Si No Estas Aqui" on the fifth studio album by the Mexican band RBD, "Empezar Desde Cero" (2007). On August 15, 2008, RBD released a message telling fans that they had decided to split up. They went on one final tour, Gira del Adiós World Tour, which ended in early 2009. In a November 2008 interview with "Open" magazine, Herrera said he has no intention of having a solo singing career after RBD and that he does not see himself as a singer. Herrera gave voice to the main character in the animated film "Igor" (2008). From September to December 2008, Poncho starred in the Mexican series "Terminales", playing a man who was diagnosed with a terminal illness.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2009, he began filming "Venezzia" in Venezuela, alongside Ruddy Rodríguez. On May 21, 2009, it was announced that Herrera would star alongside Spanish Mexican singer/actress Belinda Peregrín in Televisa's latest novela, "Camaleones". Herrera played Sebastián, a man who pretends to be a professor and steals expensive art work in order to protect his jailed father. On August 6, 2009, he also guest-starred in an episode of "Mujeres Asesinas", "Soledad, Cautiva", alongside his "Rebelde" co-star Angelique Boyer.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Poncho was part of the cast of the third season of the series "Tiempo Final" in the episode "El Billete" in 2009. Herrera also worked alongside actors Plutaco Haza, Paola Núñez, Sergio Klainer, Guillermo Larrea, Jana Raluy, and Raúl Vallejo on the Spanish version of "Rain Man", known in Spanish as "Cuando los hermanos se encuentran".


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: Besides "Rain Man", 2011 has brought up new projects for Herrera. He worked on a television series called "El Equipo" produced by Pedro Torres where he played a federal policeman named Fermín Pérez. This series has been compared to the television series "CSI" and was aired in Mexico as well as the United States. Alfonso is currently filming a television series called "El Diez" where he will play a soccer player named 'Chava Espinoza'. This series will be aired soon on ESPN Deportes; which is available on the United States as well as some Latin American countries. On August 19, 2011, "Así es la Suerte" was premiered. He played the revolutionary Aquiles Serdán in the Mexican series "El Encanto del Águila" (2011).


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2013, Herrera starred with Paz Vega in the Mexican horror film "Espectro". He entered the third season of the Colombian series "El Capo" (2014) as Niño Malo, for this character, he was nominated for the TVyNovelas Award for best supporting actor in the series and starred in the Mexican film "Perfect Obedience". Still in 2014, he was the protagonist of the controversial Mexican film "The Perfect Dictatorship".


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: He also was in the Netflix original series "Sense8" (2015–18), where he starred as Hernando Fuentes the boyfriend of Lito Rodriguez, played by Miguel Ángel Silvestre. They are a gay couple who are not open about their relationship due to the fact that Lito is a big Mexican movie star. Once his secret is out Hernando and Lito struggle to persevere through it. In 2015, he starred in the Mexican series "El Dandy". In 2016, Herrera gave life to Ramón Mercader in the film "The Chosen".


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: He played Ramón Mercader in the Mexican-Spanish drama "The Chosen" (2016). Between 2016 and 2017, Herrera participated in two episodes of the Mexican series "Drunk History", played Che Guevara and again reprised the role of Aquiles Serdán. Herrera starred Father Tomas in Fox's American horror series "The Exorcist" (2016–2017). He joined the recurring cast of the third season of the American series "Queen of the South" (2018) and in the fourth became part of the main cast along with the Brazilian actress Alice Braga. He played Leon in the Mexican series "" in 2019.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2020, he participated as himself in the episode "Romcom" in the Mexican series "How to Survive Being Single" by Amazon Prime Video. Also in 2020, Herrera starred in David Pablos's movie "Dance of the 41", playing Ignacio de la Torre y Mier, the gay son-in-law of the President of Mexico. For his performance "Dance of the 41", he won the Ariel Award for Best Actor.


title: Alfonso Herrera

text: In 2002, Herrera started dating actress and singer Dulce María; they met during the filming of the soap opera "Clase 406", and the relationship ended in 2005.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims to improve quality of life." It is a field of study that has been growing steadily throughout the years as individuals and researchers look for common ground on better well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. It is a reaction against past practices, which have tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. It builds on the humanistic movement by Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, James Bugental, and Carl Rogers, which encourages an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and positivity, thus creating the foundation for what is now known as positive psychology.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology focuses on eudaimonia, an Ancient Greek term for "the good life" and the concept for reflection on the factors that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life. Positive psychologists often use the terms subjective well-being and happiness interchangeably.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychologists have suggested a number of factors may contribute to happiness and subjective well-being. For example, social ties with a spouse, family, friends, colleagues, and wider networks; membership in clubs or social organizations; physical exercise; and the practice of meditation. Spirituality can also be considered a factor that leads to increased individual happiness and well-being. Spiritual practice and religious commitment is a topic researchers have been studying as another possible source for increased well-being and an added part of positive psychology. Happiness may rise with increasing financial income, though it may plateau or even fall when no further gains are made or after a certain cut-off amount.


title: Positive psychology

text: Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi define positive psychology as "the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life."


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology is concerned with eudaimonia, a Greek word meaning "good spirit". It is considered an essential element for the pursuit of happiness and a good life. It emphasizes cherishing that which holds the greatest value in life and other such factors that contribute the most to having a good life. While not attempting a strict definition of what makes up a good life, positive psychologists agree that one must be happy, engaged, and meaningful with their experiences. Martin Seligman referred to "the good life" as using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology complements, without intending to replace the traditional fields of psychology. Emphasizing the study of positive human development, could enhance our application and understanding in other fields. More specifically, those which are more clinical and scientific-based. Since they may produce a limited perspective and understanding. Positive psychology has also placed a significant emphasis on fostering positive self-esteem and self-image. Although positive psychologists, with a less humanist direction, focus less on such topics.


title: Positive psychology

text: The basic premise of positive psychology is that human beings are often driven by the future more than the past. It also suggests that any combination of positive experiences/emotions, past or present, lead to a pleasant, happy life. Another aspect of this may come from our views outside of our own lives. Author of "Grit", Angela Duckworth, might view this as having a prosocial purpose, which could have a positive psychological effect on our lives. Seligman identified other possible goals: families and schools that allow children to grow, workplaces that aim for satisfaction and high productivity, and teaching others about positive psychology. Psychologist Daniel Gilbert has also written extensively on the effects of time perception and happiness.


title: Positive psychology

text: Those who practice positive psychology attempt psychological interventions that foster positive attitudes toward one's subjective experiences, individual traits, and life events. The goal is to minimize pathological thoughts that may arise in a hopeless mindset and to develop a sense of optimism toward life. Positive psychologists seek to encourage acceptance of one's past, excitement and optimism about one's future experiences, and a sense of contentment and well-being in the present.


title: Positive psychology

text: According to Seligman and Peterson, positive psychology addresses three issues: positive emotions, positive individual traits, Positive Psychology Center positive institutions. Positive emotions are concerned with being content with one's past, being happy in the present and having hope for the future. Positive individual traits focus on one's strengths and virtues. Finally, positive institutions are based on strengths to better a community of people.


title: Positive psychology

text: According to Peterson, positive psychologists are concerned with four topics: positive experiences, enduring psychological traits, positive relationships, and positive institutions. He also states that topics of interest to researchers in the field are states of pleasure or flow, values, strengths, virtues, talents, as well as the ways that these can be promoted by social systems and institutions.


title: Positive psychology

text: While the formal discipline of positive psychology has only existed since 2000, the concepts that form the basis of it have been the subject of empirical study since at least the 1980s, and present in religious and philosophical discourse for thousands of years. It has been influenced by humanistic as well as psychodynamic approaches to treatment. Predating the use of the term “positive psychology”, researchers within the field of psychology had been focusing on topics that would now be included under this new denomination.


title: Positive psychology

text: The term positive psychology dates back at least to 1954, when Maslow's first edition of "Motivation and Personality" was published with a final chapter titled "Toward a Positive Psychology." In the second edition published in 1970, he removed that chapter, saying in the preface that "a positive psychology is at least available today though not very widely." There have been indications that psychologists since the 1950s have been increasingly focused on the promotion of mental health rather than merely treating mental illness. From the beginning of psychology, the field has addressed the human experience using the "Disease Model," specifically studying and identifying the dysfunction of an individual.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology grew as an important field of study within psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. In the first sentence of his book "Authentic Happiness", Seligman claimed: "for the last half century psychology has been consumed with a single topic only – mental illness," expanding on Maslow's comments. He urged psychologists to continue the earlier missions of psychology of nurturing talent and improving normal life.


title: Positive psychology

text: The first positive psychology summit took place in 1999. The First International Conference on Positive Psychology took place in 2002. More attention was given by the general public in 2006 when, using the same framework, a course at Harvard University became particularly popular. In June 2009, the First World Congress on Positive Psychology took place at the University of Pennsylvania.


title: Positive psychology

text: The field of positive psychology today is most advanced in the United States and Western Europe. Even though positive psychology offers a new approach to the study of positive emotions and behavior, the ideas, theories, research, and motivation to study the positive side of human behavior is as old as humanity.


title: Positive psychology

text: Several humanistic psychologists, most notably Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Erich Fromm, developed theories and practices pertaining to human happiness and flourishing. More recently, positive psychologists have found empirical support for the humanistic theories of flourishing. In addition, positive psychology has moved ahead in a variety of new directions.


title: Positive psychology

text: In 1984, Diener published his tripartite model of subjective well-being, positing "three distinct but often related components of wellbeing: frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and cognitive evaluations such as life satisfaction." In this model, cognitive, affective and contextual factors contribute to subjective well-being. According to Diener and Suh, subjective well-being is "based on the idea that how each person thinks and feels about his or her life is important."


title: Positive psychology

text: Carol Ryff's Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being was initially published in 1989, and additional testing of its factors was published in 1995. It postulates six factors which are key for well-being, namely self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others.


title: Positive psychology

text: According to Corey Keyes, who collaborated with Carol Ryff and uses the term flourishing as a central concept, mental well-being has three components, namely hedonic (c.q. subjective or emotional), psychological, and social well-being. Hedonic well-being concerns emotional aspects of well-being, whereas psychological and social well-being, c.q. eudaimonic well-being, concerns skills, abilities, and optimal functioning. This tripartite model of mental well-being has received extensive empirical support across cultures.


title: Positive psychology

text: While the formal title "positive psychology" has only been in common use since around 2000, the concepts that form the basis of this field have been present in religious and philosophical discourse for thousands of years. The field of psychology predating the use of the term positive psychology has seen researchers who focused primarily on topics that would now be included under the umbrella of positive psychology. Some view positive psychology as a meeting of Eastern thought, such as Buddhism, and Western psychodynamic approaches. The historical roots of positive psychology are found in the teachings of Aristotle, whose Nicomachean Ethics teach the cultivation of moral virtue as the means of attaining happiness and well-being, which he referred to as eudaimonia.


title: Positive psychology

text: There is no accepted "gold standard" theory in positive psychology. However, the work of Seligman is regularly quoted. So too the work of Csikszentmihalyi and older models of well-being, such as Carol Ryff's Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being and Diener's tripartite model of subjective well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: In "Authentic Happiness" (2002) Seligman proposed three kinds of a happy life that can be investigated:


title: Positive psychology

text: In "Flourish" (2011) Seligman argued that the last category of his proposed three kinds of a happy life, "meaningful life," can be considered as 3 different categories. The resulting summary for this theory is Seligman's PERMA acronym: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and Accomplishments. It is a mnemonic for the five elements of Martin Seligman's well-being theory:


title: Positive psychology

text: The development of the "Character Strengths and Virtues" (CSV) handbook (2004) represented the first attempt by Seligman and Peterson to identify and classify positive psychological traits of human beings. Much like the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) of general psychology, the CSV provided a theoretical framework to assist in understanding strengths and virtues and for developing practical applications for positive psychology. This manual identified 6 classes of virtues (i.e., "core virtues"), underlying 24 measurable character strengths.


title: Positive psychology

text: The CSV suggested these 6 virtues have a historical basis in the vast majority of cultures; in addition, these virtues and strengths can lead to increased happiness when built upon. Notwithstanding numerous cautions and caveats, this suggestion of universality hints threefold: 1) The study of positive human qualities broadens the scope of psychological research to include mental wellness, 2) the leaders of the positive psychology movement are challenging moral relativism, suggesting people are "evolutionarily predisposed" toward certain virtues, and 3) virtue has a biological basis.


title: Positive psychology

text: Recent research challenged the need for 6 virtues. Instead, researchers suggested the 24 strengths are more accurately grouped into just 3 or 4 categories: Intellectual Strengths, Interpersonal Strengths, and Temperance Strengths, or alternatively, Interpersonal Strengths, Fortitude, Vitality, and Cautiousness. These strengths, and their classifications, have emerged independently elsewhere in literature on values. Paul Thagard described examples, which included Jeff Shrager's workshops to discover the habits of highly creative people. Some research indicates that well-being effects that appear to be due to spirituality are actually better described as due to virtue.


title: Positive psychology

text: In the 1970s, Hungarian-American psychologist Csikszentmihalyi began studying "flow", a state of absorption where one's abilities are well-matched to the demands at-hand. It is what he often calls and refers to as "optimal experience". Flow is characterized by intense concentration, loss of self-awareness, a feeling of being perfectly challenged (neither bored nor overwhelmed), and a sense that "time is flying." Flow is intrinsically rewarding; it can also assist in the achievement of goals (e.g., winning a game) or improving skills (e.g., becoming a better chess player). Anyone can experience flow and it can be felt in different domains, such as play, creativity, and work. Flow is achieved when the challenge of the situation meets one's personal abilities. A mismatch of challenge for someone of low skills results in a state of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed; insufficient challenge for someone highly skilled, results in boredom. A good example of this would be an adult reading a children's book. They would not feel challenged enough to be engaged or motivated in the reading. Csikszentmihalyi created a organized explanation of this using various combinations of challenge and skills to predict psychological states. These four states included following:


title: Positive psychology

text: So the adult reading the children's book, as mentioned above, would most likely be in the relaxation state. The adult has no need to fear or worry that the task will be more than they could possibly handle. Challenge is a well founded explanation for how one enters the flow state and employ intense concentration. However, it does not stop there. There may be other underlying factors contributing. For example, one must be intrinsically motivated to participate in the activity/challenge. If the individual is not interested in the task, then there is no possibility of being absorbed into the flow state.


title: Positive psychology

text: Flow can be extremely beneficial when it comes to parenting children. When flow is enhanced between parents and their children, the parents are more capable of thriving in their role as a parent. A parenting style that is positively oriented will also result in children that experience lower levels of stress and overall improve the child's well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: It is also beneficial in a school-setting. There are innumerable examples of interventions or studies that have taken place with flow in school. The desire for most teachers, parents (etc.) is that the students become more engaged and interested in the classroom. Many may jump to the conclusion that students struggle and therefore only need help understand. That is the obstacle the students face. However, the true obstacle in the way learning is that they are not engaged enough. The design of the education system did not and was not able to account for such needs. One school implemented a program called PASS. They acknowledged that students needed more challenge and individual advancement; they referred to this as sport culture. This PASS program integrated an elective class where students could immerse themselves into. Such activities included, self-paced learning, mastery-based learning, performance learning, and so on.


title: Positive psychology

text: Flow is also beneficial in our general well-being. It is a positive and intrinsically motivating experience. It is known to "produce intense feelings of enjoyment". That is why it can improve our lives by making them happier and more meaningful. This can eventually lead to positive affect in the long run. This is because Csikszentmihalyi discovered that our personal growth and development generates happiness. That is why flow is positive experience because it promotes that opportunity for personal development.


title: Positive psychology

text: In positive psychology there can be several misunderstandings on what clinicians and individuals define as positive. In certain instances, it can be said that positive qualities, such as optimism, can be detrimental to health, and therefore appear as a negative quality. Alternatively, negative processes, such as anxiety, can be conducive to health and stability and thus would appear as a positive quality. Due to this short-coming from the initial wave of positive psychology, there has since been a second wave that has further identified and characterized "positive" and "negative" complexes through the use of critical and dialectical thinking. Researchers in 2016 chose to identify these characteristics via two complexes: post-traumatic growth and love as well as optimism vs pessimism.


title: Positive psychology

text: Topical and methodological development has expanded the field of positive psychology. These advances have enabled the field of positive psychology to grow beyond its core theories and methods. Positive psychology is now a global area of study, with various national indices tracking citizens' happiness ratings.


title: Positive psychology

text: Research in positive psychology, well-being, eudaimonia and happiness, and the theories of Diener, Ryff, Keyes and Seligman cover a broad range of topics including "the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life." A meta-analysis on 49 studies in 2009 showed that Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI) produced improvements in well-being and lower depression levels, the PPIs studied included writing gratitude letters, learning optimistic thinking, replaying positive life experiences and socializing with others. In a later meta-analysis of 39 studies with 6,139 participants in 2012, the outcomes were positive. Three to six months after a PPI the effects for subjective well-being and psychological well-being were still significant. However the positive effect was weaker than in the 2009 meta analysis, the authors concluded that this was because they only used higher quality studies. The PPIs they considered included counting blessings, kindness practices, making personal goals, showing gratitude and focusing on personal strengths. Another review of PPIs published in 2018 found that over 78% of intervention studies were conducted in Western countries.


title: Positive psychology

text: In the textbook "Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness", authors Compton and Hoffman give the "Top Down Predictors" of well-being as high self esteem, optimism, self efficacy, a sense of meaning in life and positive relationships with others. The personality traits most associated with well being are extraversion, agreeability and low levels of neuroticism.


title: Positive psychology

text: In a study published in 2020, students were enrolled in a positive psychology course that focused on improving happiness and well-being through teaching about positive psychology. The participants answer questions pertaining to the 5 categories known as PERMA. At the end of the semester those same students reported significantly higher scores in all categories (p <.001) minus engagement which was significant at p < .05. One of the aims of this study was to make it rewarding for positive psychology interventions to stay in the participants lives. The authors stated, “Not only do students learn and get credit, there is also a good chance that many will reap the benefits in what is most important to them—their health, happiness, and well-being.”


title: Positive psychology

text: Quantitative methods in positive psychology include p-technique factor analysis, dynamic factor analysis, interindividual differences and structural equation modeling, spectral analysis and item response models, dynamic systems analysis, latent growth analysis, latent-class models, hierarchical linear modeling, measurement invariance, experimental methods, behavior genetics, and integration of quantitative and qualitative approaches.


title: Positive psychology

text: In a 2012 "Journal of Positive Psychology" article published by Grant J. Rich, the usage of qualitative methodology to study positive psychology is explored and considered. Author Rich addresses the popularity of quantitative methods in studying the empirical questions that positive psychology presents. He argues that there is an "overemphasis" on quantitative methods and suggests implementing qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews, observations, fieldwork, creative artwork, and focus groups. Rich states that qualitative approaches are valuable approaches to studying positive psychology. He writes that usage of qualitative methods will further promote the "flourishing of positive psychology" and encourages such practice.


title: Positive psychology

text: Changing happiness levels through interventions is a further methodological advancement in the study of positive psychology. Enhancing happiness through behavioral interventions has been the focus of various academic and scientific psychological publications. Happiness-enhancing interventions include expressing kindness, gratitude, optimism, humility, awe, and mindfulness.


title: Positive psychology

text: In 2005, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Kennon M. Sheldon, and David Schkade co-authored an academic paper published in the "Review of General Psychology". In their research, they created a behavioral experiment using two 6-week interventions. One intervention studied was the performance of acts of kindness. The other was focused on gratitude and emphasized the counting of one's blessings. The study participants who went through the behavioral interventions reported higher levels of happiness and well-being than those who did not participate in either intervention. The paper provides experimental support for the effect of gratitude and kindness on enhancing subjective well-being and happiness.


title: Positive psychology

text: Further research conducted by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Rene Dickerhoof, Julia K. Boehm, and Kennon M. Sheldon, published in 2011 in the academic journal "Emotion", found that the interventions of expressing optimism and expressing gratitude enhanced subjective well-being in participants who took part in the intervention for 8 months. The researchers concluded that interventions are "most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention." The article provides support that when individuals enthusiastically take part in behavioral interventions, such as expression of optimism and gratitude, they may be engaging in an approach to increase happiness and subjective well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: In 2014, Elliott Kruse, Joseph Chancellor, Peter M. Ruberton, and Sonja Lyubomirsky published an academic article in the journal "Social Psychology and Personality Science." In their research, they study the interaction effects between gratitude and humility through behavior interventions. The interventions they studied were writing a gratitude letter and writing a 14-day diary. In both interventions, Kruse et al. found that gratitude and humility are connected and are "mutually reinforcing." The article also discusses how gratitude, and its associated humility, may lead to more positive emotional states and subjective well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: Researchers Melanie Rudd, Kathleen D. Vohs, and Jennifer Aaker conducted a series of experiments that showed a positive effect of awe on subjective well-being, publishing their results in 2012 in the academic journal "Psychological Science". Their research found that individuals who felt awe also reported feeling higher availability of time, more preference for experiential expenditures than material expenditures, and greater life satisfaction. Experiences that heighten awe may lead to higher levels of life satisfaction and, in turn, higher levels of happiness and subjective well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: Mindfulness interventions may also increase happiness. In a "Mindfulness" article published in 2011 by Torbjörn Josefsson, Pernilla Larsman, Anders G. Broberg, and Lars-Gunnar Lundh, it was found that meditation improves subjective well-being for individuals who mindfully meditate. The researchers note that being mindful in meditation includes awareness and observation of one's meditation practice, with non-reaction and non-judgmental sentiments during meditation.


title: Positive psychology

text: The creation of various national indices of happiness have broadened and expanded the field of positive psychology to a global scale.


title: Positive psychology

text: In a January 2000 academic article published in "American Psychologist", psychologist Ed Diener proposed and argued for the creation of a national happiness index in the United States. Such an index would provide measurements of happiness, or subjective well-being, within the United States and across many other countries in the world. Diener argued that national indices would be helpful markers or indicators of population happiness, providing a sense of current ratings and a tracker of happiness across time. Diener proposed that the national index include various sub-measurements of subjective well-being, including "pleasant affect, unpleasant affect, life satisfaction, fulfillment, and more specific states such as stress, affection, trust, and joy."


title: Positive psychology

text: In 2012, the first World Happiness Report was published. The World Happiness Report was initiated by the UN General Assembly in June 2011, which passed the Bhutanese Resolution. The Bhutanese Resolution called for nations across the world to "give more importance to happiness and well-being in determining how to achieve and measure social and economic development." The data for the World Happiness Reports is collected in partnership with the Gallup World Poll's life evaluations and annual happiness rankings. The World Happiness Report bases its national rankings on how happy constituents self-report and believe themselves to be.


title: Positive psychology

text: The first World Happiness Report, published in 2012, is a 170-page report that details the state of world happiness, the causes of happiness and misery, policy implications from happiness reports, and three case studies of subjective well-being for 1) Bhutan and its Gross National Happiness index, 2) the U.K. Office for National Statistics Experience, and 3) happiness in the member countries within the OECD. The World Happiness Report published in 2020 is the 8th publication in the series of reports. It is the first World Happiness Report to include happiness rankings of cities across the world, in addition to rankings of 156 countries. The city of Helsinki, Finland was reported as the city with the highest subjective well-being ranking, and the country of Finland was reported as the country with the highest subjective well-being ranking for the third year in a row. The 2020 report provides insights on happiness based on environmental conditions, social conditions, urban-rural happiness differentials, and sustainable development. It also provides overview and possible explanations for why Nordic countries have consistently ranked in the top ten happiest countries in the World Happiness Report since 2013. Possible explanations include Nordic countries' high-quality government benefits and protections to its citizens, including welfare benefits and well-operated democratic institutions, as well as social connections, bonding, and trust.


title: Positive psychology

text: Additional national well-being indices and reported statistics include the Gallup Global Emotions Report, Gallup Sharecare Well-Being Index, Global Happiness Council's Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report, Happy Planet Index, Indigo Wellness Index, OECD Better Life Index, and UN Human Development Reports.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology has influenced a variety of other academic fields of study and scholarship. It has been applied to various other areas of scholarship, most notably organizational behavior, education and psychiatry.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), also referred to as Positive Organizational Behavior (POB), began as a direct application of positive psychology to the field of organizational behavior. One of the first times the term was officially defined and published was in 2003, in the text "Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline" edited by University of Michigan Ross School of Business professors Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert E. Quinn. In the first chapter of the text, Cameron, Dutton, and Quinn promote "the best of the human condition," such as goodness, compassion, resilience, and positive human potential, as an organizational goal as important as financial organizational success. The goal of POS is to study the factors that create positive work experiences and successful, people-oriented organizational outcomes.


title: Positive psychology

text: A large collection of POS research is contained in the 2011 volume "The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship," edited by University of Michigan Ross School of Business Professors Kim S. Cameron and Gretchen M. Spreitzer. This 1076-page volume encompasses nine sections and 79 chapters spanning various topics. Major topics include positive human resource practices, positive organizational practices, and positive leadership and change. Much of the volume expands upon and applies core concepts of positive psychology to the workplace context, covering areas such as positive individual attributes, positive emotions, strengths and virtues, and positive relationships. A further definition of POS, as written by editors Cameron and Spreitzer:Positive organizational scholarship rigorously seeks to understand what represents the best of the human condition based on scholarly research and theory. Just as positive psychology focuses on exploring optimal individual psychological states rather than pathological ones, organizational scholarship focuses attention on the generative dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster resiliency in employees, enable healing and restoration, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance. POS emphasizes what elevates individuals and organizations (in addition to what challenges them), what goes right in organizations (in addition to what goes wrong), what is life-giving (in addition to what is problematic or life-depleting), what is experienced as good (in addition to what is objectionable), and what is inspiring (in addition to what is difficult or arduous).


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology has influenced psychiatry by providing additional therapeutic and cognitive behavior shifts, including well-being therapy, positive psychotherapy, and practicing an integration of positive psychology in therapeutic practice.


title: Positive psychology

text: In an 2015 academic article published in "Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation", Mills and Kreutzer argue for the principles of positive psychology to be implemented to assist those recovering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). They make the case that TBI rehabilitation practices rely on the betterment of the individual through engaging in everyday practices, a practice significantly related to tenets of positive psychology. Their proposal to connect positive psychology with TBI vocational rehabilitation (VR) also looks at happiness and its correlation with improvements in mental health, including increased confidence and productivity, as well as others. While the authors point out that empirical evidence for positive psychology is limited, they clarify that positive psychology's focus on small successes, optimism and prosocial behavior is promising for improvements in the social and emotional well-being of TBI patients.


title: Positive psychology

text: The study of positive psychology has been translated into various popular media outlets, including books and films, and has been an influencing factor in the wellness industry.


title: Positive psychology

text: There have been several popular psychology books written by positive psychologists for a general audience.


title: Positive psychology

text: Ilona Boniwell, in her book "Positive Psychology in a Nutshell", provided a summary of the current research. According to Boniwell, well-being is related to optimism, extraversion, social connections (i.e., close friendships), being married, having engaging work, religion or spirituality, leisure, good sleep and exercise, social class (through lifestyle differences and better coping methods) and subjective health (what you think about your health). Boniwell further writes that well-being is not related to age, physical attractiveness, money (once basic needs are met), gender (women are more often depressed but also more often joyful), educational level, having children (although they add meaning to life), moving to a sunnier climate, crime prevention, housing and objective health (what doctors say).


title: Positive psychology

text: Sonja Lyubomirsky, in her book "The How of Happiness", provides advice and guidance on how to improve happiness. According to "The How of Happiness," individuals should create new habits, seek out new emotions, use variety and timing to prevent hedonic adaptation, and enlist others to motivate and support during the creation of those new habits. Lyubomirsky gives 12 happiness activities, including savoring life, learning to forgive, and living in the present.


title: Positive psychology

text: "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert is another popular book that shares positive psychology research findings for a general readership audience. Gilbert presents research suggesting that individuals are often poor at predicting what will make them happy in the future and that individuals are prone to misevaluating the causes of their happiness. He also notes that the subjectivity of subjective well-being and happiness often is the most difficult challenge to overcome in predicting future happiness, noting that our future selves may have different subjective perspectives on life than our current selves.


title: Positive psychology

text: Coverage of positive psychology has entered the film industry. Similarly, films have provided the basis of new research within positive psychology.


title: Positive psychology

text: Happy (2011 film) is a full-length documentary film covering overviewing the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience. It also highlights various case studies on happiness across diverse cultures and geographies. The film features interviews with notable positive psychologists and scholars, including Daniel Gilbert, Ed Diener, Sonja Lyubomirsky, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.


title: Positive psychology

text: The Positive Psychology News website includes a section on annual Positive Psychology Movie Awards. The Positive Psychology Movie Awards ranks a short list of feature films of 2009, 2014, and annually between 2016 and 2018 that feature powerful messages of positive psychology. The rankings are according to the website's author, Ryan Niemiec, Psy.D, who is a psychologist, coach, and education director of the VIA Institute on Character. The Positive Psychology Movie Awards presents separate awards for categories including: Best Positive Psychology Film, Award for Positive Relationships, Award for Meaning, Award for Achievement, Award for Mindfulness, Award for Happiness, Signature Strengths Use, among others.


title: Positive psychology

text: Further research done on positive psychology as represented in feature films has been done in association with the VIA Institute. Contemporary and popular films that promote or represent character strengths are the basis for various academic articles.


title: Positive psychology

text: The growing popularity and attention given to positive psychology research has influenced industry growth, development, and consumption of products and services meant to cater to wellness and well-being.


title: Positive psychology

text: According to the Global Wellness Institute, as of 2018, the global wellness economy is valued at $4.5 trillion and the wellness industry represents 5.3% of global economic output. Key sectors of the wellness industry include workplace wellness, fitness and mind-body, personal care, and wellness lifestyle.


title: Positive psychology

text: Highlighting happiness and well-being has been a strategy harnessed by various companies in their marketing strategies. Food and beverage companies such as Coca-Cola and Pocky, whose motto is "Share happiness!", emphasize happiness in their commercials, branding, and descriptions. CEOs at retail companies such as Zappos have profited by publishing books detailing their deliverance of happiness, while Amazon's logo features a dimpled smile.


title: Positive psychology

text: Positive psychology has been criticized in many different aspects from its conception continuing into the present day.


title: Positive psychology

text: In 1988, psychologists Shelley E. Taylor and Jonathan D. Brown co-authored a "Psychological Bulletin" article that coined the phrase positive illusions. Positive illusions are the cognitive processes individuals engage in when self-aggrandizing or self-enhancing. They are the unrealistically positive or self-affirming attitudes that individuals hold of themselves, their position, or their environment. In essence, positive illusions are attitudes of extreme optimism that endure even in the face of facts and real conditions. Taylor and Brown suggested that positive illusions protect individuals from negative feedback that they might receive, and this, in turn, preserves their psychological adaptation and subjective well-being. However, later research has found that engaging in positive illusions and related attitudes has led to psychological maladaptive conditions. These conditions include poorer social relationships, expressions of narcissism, and negative workplace outcomes, thus reducing the positive effects that positive illusions have on subjective well-being, overall happiness, and life satisfaction.


title: Positive psychology

text: Kirk Schneider, editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, has said that positive psychology fails to explain past heinous behaviors such as those perpetrated by the Nazi party, Stalinist marches and Klan gatherings, to identify but a few. He also pointed to a body of research showing high positivity correlates with positive illusion, which effectively distorts reality. The extent of the downfall of high positivity or flourishing is one could become incapable of psychological growth, unable to self-reflect, and tend to hold racial biases. By contrast, negativity, sometimes evidenced in mild to moderate depression, is correlated with less distortion of reality. Therefore, Schneider argues, negativity might play an important role within the dynamics of human flourishing. To illustrate, conflict engagement and acknowledgement of appropriate negativity, including certain negative emotions like guilt, might better promote flourishing. Overall, Schneider provided perspective: "perhaps genuine happiness is not something you aim at, but is...a by-product of a life well lived – and a life well lived does not settle on the programmed or neatly calibrated."


title: Positive psychology

text: In 2003, Ian Sample, writing for "The Guardian", noted that, "Positive psychologists also stand accused of burying their heads in the sand and ignoring that depressed, even merely unhappy people, have real problems that need dealing with." He also quoted Steven Wolin, a clinical psychiatrist at George Washington University, as saying that the study of positive psychology is just a reiteration of older ways of thinking, and that there is not much scientific research to support the efficacy of this method. Gable responds to criticism on their Pollyanna view on the world by saying that they are just bringing a balance to a side of psychology that is glaringly understudied. To defend his point, Gable points to the imbalances favoring research into negative psychological well-being in cognitive psychology, health psychology, and social psychology.


title: Positive psychology

text: Martin Jack has also maintained that positive psychology is not unique in its optimistic approach to looking at optimal emotional well-being, stating that other forms of psychology, such as counseling and educational psychology, are also interested in positive human fulfillment. He goes on to mention that, while positive psychology has pushed for schools to be more student-centered and able to foster positive self-images in children, he worries that a lack of focus on self-control may prevent children from making full contributions to society. If positive psychology is not implemented correctly, it can cause more harm than good. This is the case, for example, when interventions in school are coercive (in the sense of being imposed on everyone without regard for the individual child's reason for negativity) and fail to take each student's context into account.


title: Positive psychology

text: Barbara S. Held, a professor at Bowdoin College, argued that while positive psychology makes contributions to the field of psychology, it has its faults. She offered insight into topics including the negative side effects of positive psychology, negativity within the positive psychology movement, and the current division in the field of psychology caused by differing opinions of psychologists on positive psychology. In addition, she noted the movement's lack of consistency regarding the role of negativity. She also raised issues with the simplistic approach taken by some psychologists in the application of positive psychology. A "one size fits all" approach is arguably not beneficial to the advancement of the field of positive psychology; she suggested a need for individual differences to be incorporated into its application. By teaching young people that being confident and optimistic leads to success, when they are unsuccessful they will begin to believe it is because they are insecure or pessimistic. This could lead them to believe that any negative internal thought or feeling they may experience is damaging to their happiness and should be steered clear of completely.


title: Positive psychology

text: A recent critical response to the field of positive psychology is that around toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is the phenomenon in which individuals do not fully acknowledge, process, or manage the entire spectrum of human emotion, including anger and sadness. This genre of criticism against positive psychology argues that the field of positive psychology places too much importance on "upbeat thinking, while shunting challenging and difficult experiences to the side." Individuals who engage in a constant chase for positive experiences or states of high subjective well-being may be inadvertently stigmatizing negative emotional conditions, such as depression, or may be suppressing natural emotional responses, such as sadness, regret, or stress. Furthermore, by not allowing negative emotional states to be experienced, or by suppressing and hiding negative emotional responses, individuals may experience harmful physical, cardiovascular and respiratory consequences. Proponents of combating toxic positivity advocate allowing oneself to accept and fully experience negative emotional states.


title: Positive psychology

text: Richard Lazarus, who was well known in psychology for his Cognitive-Motivational-Relational theory of emotions, has thoroughly critiqued positive psychology's methodological and philosophical components. He holds that giving more detail and insight into the positive is not bad, but not at the expense of the negative aspect because the two (positive and negative) are inseparable. The first methodological issue noted is positive psychology's use of correlational and cross-sectional research designs to indicate causality between the movement's ideas and healthy lives; there could be other factors not researched and time differences that account for healthier lives that the researchers do not account for. Secondly, he considers that emotions cannot be categorized dichotomously into positive and negative; by nature, emotions are subjective and rich in social/relational meaning. Additionally, he claims that emotions are fluid, meaning that the context they appear in changes over time. He states that "all emotions have the potential of being either one or the other, or both, on different occasions, and even on the same occasion when an emotion is experienced by different persons" The third issue is the neglect of individual differences in most social science research. Many research designs focus on the statistical significance of the groups while overlooking differences among individuals. Lazarus's final methodological complaint is social science researchers' tendency to not adequately define and measure emotions. Most assessments are quick checklists and do not provide adequate debriefing. Many researchers do not differentiate between fluid emotional states and relatively stable personality traits.


title: Positive psychology

text: Lazarus further holds that positive psychology claims to be new and innovative although the majority of research on stress and coping theory make much of the same claims as positive psychology. The movement attempts to uplift and reinforce the positive aspects of one's life, but everyone in life experiences stress and hardship. Coping through these events should not be looked at as adapting to failures, but should be regarded as successfully navigating stress, but the movement doesn't hold that perspective.


title: Positive psychology

text: The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program was established in 2008 by then-Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George W. Casey, Jr., in an effort to address the increasing rates of drug abuse, family violence, PTSD, and suicide among soldiers. The Army contracted with Martin Seligman's Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania to supply a program closely based on the center's Penn Resiliency Program, which was designed for 10- to 14-year-old children. Although Seligman proposed starting with a small-scale pilot-test, General Casey insisted on immediately rolling out the CSF to the entire Army. Interviewed for the journal "Monitor on Psychology" of the American Psychological Association, Seligman said that "This is the largest study—1.1 million soldiers—psychology has ever been involved in." According to journalist Jesse Singal, "It would become one of the largest mental-health interventions geared at a single population in the history of humanity, and possibly the most expensive."


title: Positive psychology

text: Some psychologists have criticized the CSF for various reasons. Nicholas J. L. Brown wrote that "The idea that techniques that have demonstrated, at best, marginal effects in reducing depressive symptoms in school-age children could also prevent the onset of a condition that is associated with some of the most extreme situations with which humans can be confronted is a remarkable one that does not seem to be backed up by empirical evidence."


title: Positive psychology

text: Stephen Soldz of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis cited Seligman's acknowledgment that the CSF is a gigantic study rather than a program based on proven techniques, and questioned the ethics of requiring soldiers to participate in research without informed consent. Soldz also criticized the CSF training for trying to build up-beat attitudes toward combat: "Might soldiers who have been trained to resiliently view combat as a growth opportunity be more likely to ignore or under-estimate real dangers, thereby placing themselves, their comrades, or civilians at heightened risk of harm?"


title: Positive psychology

text: In 2021 the Chronicle of Higher Education carried a debate between Singal and Seligman about whether, with the CSF well into its second decade, there was any solid evidence of its effectiveness. Singal cited studies that, he said, failed to find any measurable benefits in such positive psychology techniques, and he criticized the Army's own reports as methodologically unsound and lacking peer review. Seligman said that Singal had misinterpreted the studies and ignored the Army's positive feedback from soldiers, one of whom told Seligman that "if I had had this training years ago, it would have saved my marriage."


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (; ), historically known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia (, , ), was a medieval state in the Eastern European regions of Galicia, Volhynia, Podlachia, Carpathian Ruthenia, Podolia, part of Moldavia, Kiev, and the territory of the Black Sea shore (Bessarabia). It existed from 1199 to 1349. Its territory was predominantly located in modern-day Ukraine, with parts in Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and Lithuania. Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important powers to emerge from the collapse of Kievan Rus'. The main language was Old East Slavic, the predecessor of the modern East Slavic languages, and the official religion was Eastern Orthodoxy.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: The Grand Prince of Kiev, Roman the Great, united the principalities of Halych and Volhynia into a single state at the turn of the 13th century. Following the destruction wreaked by the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1239 to 1241), Prince Danylo Romanovych was forced to pledge allegiance to Batu Khan of the Golden Horde in 1246 as other princes of Rus did. He strove to rid his realm of the Mongol yoke, by formally drawing closer to Western Europe, however when Batu Khan ordered him to destroy city walls of his eastern cities he did so. He was crowned "Rex Russiae" by a papal legate in 1253, becoming officially an Orthodox subject of the Vatican. He also unsuccessfully attempted to establish military alliances with other European rulers. The Polish conquest of the kingdom in 1349 ended its vassalage to the Golden Horde but it also ended its autonomy; the principality of Galicia was fully absorbed by Catholic Poland. Upon annexing it, Polish King Casimir III the Great adopted the title of King of Poland and ruler of Ruthenia, and the territory was transformed into the Ruthenian Voivodeship () in 1434.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Geographically, western Galicia–Volhynia extended between the rivers San and Wieprz in what is now south-eastern Poland, while eastern territories covered the Pripet Marshes (now in Belarus) and the upper reaches of Southern Bug river in modern-day Ukraine. During its time, the kingdom was bordered by Black Rus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Principality of Turov-Pinsk, the Principality of Kiev, the Golden Horde, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Poland, Moldavia and the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In Ukrainian historiography, the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia played an important role, uniting the western and southern branches of East Slavs and consolidating their identity, and becoming a new center of political and economic life after the decline of Kiev.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: After the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was populated by East Slavic people, identified with groups called Buzhans, Dulebes and White Croats. The southwestern edge of the land was probably part of the Great Moravian state. In 907, White Croats and Dulebs were involved in the military campaign against Constantinople led by Rus Prince Oleg of Novgorod. This is the first significant evidence of the political affiliation of native tribes. The area was mentioned in 981 (by Nestor), when Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus' took over on his way into Poland. He founded the city of Volodymyr and later Christianized the locals.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In the 12th century, the Principality of Halych was formed there by descendants of Vladimir the Great. It merged at the end of the 12th century with the neighboring Principality of Volhynia into the principality of Galicia–Volhynia, which existed with some breaks for a century and a half.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Volhynia and Galicia had originally been two separate principalities, assigned on a rotating basis to younger members of the Kievan dynasty. The line of Prince Roman the Great of Volodymyr had held the principality of Volhynia, while the line of Yaroslav Osmomysl held the Principality of Halych (later adopted as Galicia). Galicia–Volhynia was created following the death in 1198 or 1199 (and without a recognized heir in the paternal line) of the last Prince of Galicia, Vladimir II Yaroslavich; Roman acquired the Principality of Galicia and united his lands into one state. Roman's successors would mostly use Halych (Galicia) as the designation of their combined kingdom. In Roman's time Galicia–Volhynia's principal cities were Halych and Volodymyr. In 1204 he captured Kiev. Roman was allied with Poland, signed a peace treaty with Hungary and developed diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire. At the height of his reign he briefly became the most powerful of the Rus princes. He married the niece of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III, for whom Galicia was the main military ally against the Cumans. The relation with Byzantium helped to stabilize Galicia's relations with the Rus' population of the Lower Dniester and the Lower Danube.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In 1205, Roman turned against his Polish allies, leading to a conflict with Leszek the White and Konrad of Masovia. Roman was subsequently killed in the Battle of Zawichost (1205), and his dominion entered a period of rebellion and chaos. Thus weakened, Galicia–Volhynia became an arena of rivalry between Poland and Hungary. King Andrew II of Hungary styled himself "", Latin for "king of Galicia and Vladimir [in-Volhynia]", a title that was later adopted by the House of Habsburg. In a compromise agreement made in 1214 between Hungary and Poland, the throne of Galicia–Volhynia was given to Andrew's son, Coloman of Lodomeria, who had married Leszek the White's daughter, Salomea.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In 1221, Mstislav Mstislavich, son of Mstislav Rostislavich, liberated Galicia–Volhynia from the Hungarians, but it was Daniel Romanovych (Daniel I of Galicia or Danylo Romanovych or Danylo Halytskyi), son of Roman, who formed a real union of Volhynia and Galicia. In 1239 and 1242 he captured Kiev, attempting to become the Grand Prince of all Rus, but he lost the city the first time after a few weeks, the second after a year. Danylo defeated the Polish and Hungarian forces in the battle of Yaroslav (Jarosław) and crushed their ally Rostislav Mikhailovich, son of the prince of Chernigov, in 1245. He also strengthened his relations with Batu Khan by traveling to his capital Saray (Sarai) and acknowledging, at least nominally, the supremacy of the Mongol Golden Horde. After meeting with Batu Khan, Danylo reorganized his army along Mongol lines and equipped it with Mongolian weapons, although Danylo himself maintained the traditional attire of a Rus prince. Danylo's alliance with the Mongols was merely tactical; he pursued a long-term strategy of resistance to the Mongols.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In 1245, Pope Innocent IV allowed Danylo to be crowned king. Danylo wanted more than recognition, commenting bitterly that he expected an army when he received the crown. Although Danylo promised to promote recognition of the Pope to his people, his realm continued to be ecclesiastically independent from Rome. Thus, Danylo was the only member of the Rurik dynasty to have been crowned king. Danylo was crowned by the papal legate Opizo de Mezzano in Dorohochyn 1253 as the first King of all Rus (Rex Russiae; 1253–1264). In 1256 Danylo succeeded in driving the Mongols out of Volhynia, and a year later he defeated their attempts to capture the cities of Lutsk and Volodymyr. Upon the approach of a large army under the Mongolian general Boroldai in 1260, however, Danylo was forced to accept their authority and to raze the fortifications he had built against them.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Under Danylo's reign, Kingdom of Rus was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe. Literature flourished, producing the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. Demographic growth was enhanced by immigration from the west and the south, including Germans and Armenians. Commerce developed due to trade routes linking the Black Sea with Poland, Germany, and the Baltic basin. Major cities, which served as important economic and cultural centers, included Lviv (where the royal seat would later be moved by Danylo's son), Volodymyr, Halych, Kholm (Danylo's capital), Peremyshl, Dorohychyn, and Terebovlya. Galicia–Volhynia was important enough that in 1252 Danylo was able to marry his son Roman to the heiress of the Austrian Duchy in the vain hope of securing it for his family. Another son, Shvarn, married a daughter of Mindaugas, Lithuania's first king, and briefly ruled that land from 1267 to 1269. At the peak of its expansion, the Galician–Volhynian state contained not only south-western Rus lands, including Red Rus and Black Rus, but also briefly controlled the Brodnici on the Black Sea.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: After Danylo's death in 1264, he was succeeded by his son Lev, who moved the capital to Lviv in 1272 and for a time maintained the strength of Kingdom of Rus. Unlike his father, who pursued a Western political course, Lev worked closely with the Mongols, in particular cultivating a close alliance with the Tatar Khan Nogai. Together with his Mongol allies, he invaded Poland. However, although his troops plundered territory as far west as Racibórz, sending many captives and much booty back to Galicia, Lev did not ultimately gain much territory from Poland. Lev also attempted, unsuccessfully, to establish his family's rule over Lithuania. Soon after his brother Shvarn ascended to the Lithuanian throne in 1267, he had the former Lithuanian ruler Vaišvilkas killed. Following Shvarn's loss of the throne in 1269, Lev entered into conflict with Lithuania. From 1274 to 1276 he fought a war with the new Lithuanian ruler Traidenis but was defeated, and Lithuania annexed the territory of Black Ruthenia with its city Navahrudak. In 1279, Lev allied himself with king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and invaded Poland, although his attempt to capture Kraków in 1280 ended in failure. That same year, Lev defeated Hungary and annexed part of Transcarpathia, including the city of Mukachevo. In 1292, he defeated fragmented Poland and added Lublin with surrounding areas to the territory of Kingdom of Rus.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: After Lev's death in 1301, a period of decline ensued. Lev was succeeded by his son Yuri I, who ruled for only seven years. Although his reign was largely peaceful and the Kingdom of Rus flourished economically, Yuri I lost Lublin to the Poles in 1302. From 1308 until 1323 Kingdom of Rus was jointly ruled by Yuri I's sons Andrew and Lev II, who proclaimed themselves to be the kings of Kingdom of Rus. The brothers forged alliances with King Władysław I of Poland and the Teutonic Order against the Lithuanians and the Mongols, but the Kingdom was still tributary to the Mongols and joined the Mongol military expeditions of Uzbeg Khan and his successor, Janibeg Khan. The brothers died together in 1323, in battle, fighting against the Mongols, and left no heirs.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: After the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty in Kingdom of Rus in 1323, Volhynia passed into the control of the Lithuanian prince Liubartas, while the boyars took control over Galicia. They invited the Polish prince Boleslaw Yuri II, a grandson of Yuri I, to assume the Galician throne. Boleslaw converted to Orthodoxy and assumed the name Yuri II. Nevertheless, suspecting him of harboring Catholic feelings, the boyars poisoned him in 1340 and elected one of their own, Dmitry Detko, to lead the Galician state. In Winter 1341 Tatars, Ruthenians led by Detko, and Lithuanians led by Liubartas were able to defeat the Poles, although they were not so successful in Summer 1341. Finally, Detko was forced to accept Polish overlordship, as a starost of Halych. After Detko's death, Poland's King Casimir III mounted a successful invasion, capturing and annexing Galicia in 1349. Galicia–Volhynia ceased to exist as an independent state.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Danylo's dynasty attempted to gain support from Pope Benedict XII and broader European powers for an alliance against the Mongols, but ultimately proved unable to compete with the rising powers of the centralised Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. Only in 1349, after the occupation of Galicia–Volhynia by an allied Polish-Hungarian force, was the Kingdom of Rus finally conquered and incorporated in Poland. This ended the vassalage of Kingdom of Rus to the Golden Horde.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: From 1340 to 1392, the civil war in the region transitioned into a power struggle between Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary. The first stage of conflict led to the signing of a treaty in 1344 that secured the Principality of Peremyshl for the Crown of Poland, while the rest of the territory belonged to a member of the Gediminis family, Liubartas. Eventually by the mid-14th century, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania divided up the region between them: King Casimir III took Galicia and Western Volhynia, while the sister state of Eastern Volhynia together with Kiev came under Lithuanian control, 1352–66.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: After 1352 most of the Ruthenian Voivodeship belonged to the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, where it remained also after the Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania. The present-day town of Halych is situated away from the ancient capital of Galicia, on the spot where the river port of the old town was located, and where King Liubartas of Kingdom of Rus constructed a wooden castle in 1367.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: By the treaty of the Union of Lublin of 1569, all of the former principality of Galicia–Volhynia became part of Poland. In 1772, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (who was also Queen of Hungary) revived the old Hungarian claims to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (""), using them to justify the participation of Austria in the partitions of Poland.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle reflected the political programme of the Romanovich dynasty ruling Galicia–Volhynia. Galicia–Volhynia competed with other successor states of Kievan Rus' (notably Vladimir-Suzdal) to claim the Kievan inheritance. According to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle, Kingdom of Rus King Daniel was the last ruler of Kiev preceding the Mongolian invasion and thus Galicia–Volhynia's rulers were the only legitimate successors to the Kievan throne. Until the end of Galician-Volhynian state, its rulers advanced claims upon "all the land of Rus'." The seal of King Yuri I contained the Latin inscription "domini georgi regis rusie."


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: In contrast to their consistent secular or political claims to the Kievan inheritance, Galicia's rulers were not concerned by religious succession. This differentiated them from their rivals in Vladimir-Suzdal, who sought to, and attained, control over the Kievan Church. Rather than contest Vladimir-Suzdal's dominance of the Kievan Church, Kingdom of Rus' rulers merely asked for and obtained a separate Church from Byzantium.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Galicia–Volhynia also differed from the northern and eastern principalities of the former Kievan Rus' in terms of its relationship with its western neighbors. King Danylo was alternatively an ally or a rival with neighboring Slavic Poland and partially Slavic Hungary. According to historian George Vernadsky, Kingdom of Rus, Poland and Hungary belonged to the same psychological and cultural world. The Roman Catholic Church was seen as a neighbor and there was much intermarriage between the princely houses of Galicia and those of neighboring Catholic countries. In contrast, the Westerners faced by Alexander, prince of Novgorod, were the Teutonic Knights, and the northeastern Rus experience of the West was that of hostile crusaders rather than peers.


title: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

text: Notes: The senior branch of Rurikid dynasty, in the 14th century Galician rulers came in close relations with Mazovian Piasts (Duke of Mazovia) and rising Gediminids which established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier (; born 1 June 1988), known professionally as Christine and the Queens and Redcar, or occasionally simply Chris, is a French singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Nantes, he started learning piano at the age of four and found inspiration in one of London's clubs while studying. Letissier released a series of extended plays throughout 2011–2013.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: His debut album, "Chaleur humaine" (2014), received critical acclaim, reached number 2 on both French and UK charts, and was certified diamond in France; it was also a best selling debut record in the United Kingdom. In 2018, he released his second album, "Chris", to further critical acclaim. It was ranked album of the year by "Clash", "The Guardian", and "The Independent", and placed in top-ten of nine other year-end lists. "Girlfriend" was recognized by "Time" as song of the year. In reaction to his mother's death, Letissier released in 2020 an EP "La Vita Nuova", with some critics calling it his strongest work up to that point. "Time" again named his song, "People, I've Been Sad", the song of the year.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: In 2016, Letissier was ranked number 1 in "Vanity Fair" list of most powerful and influential French people who "promote French genius", ahead of the country's president. The next year, "Forbes" placed him on its list of 30 most influential and talented people under 30, and "Time" included him on its list of Next Generation Leaders twice – in 2016 and 2018. His accolades include four Victories of Music awarded by French Ministry of Culture. Christine and the Queens has been signed to the independent record label Because Music since 2012.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier was born on 1 June 1988 in Nantes. His father, Georges Letissier, taught English literature at the University of Nantes and specialises in Victorian era literature. His mother, Martine Letissier, taught both French and Latin at a local middle school. Martine died suddenly from a heart infection in April 2019, in the week between Letissier's two scheduled Coachella performances on April 13 and 20; the latter was cancelled because Letissier travelled back to France to be with her.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Letissier began learning to play the piano at the age of four, learned classical dance at five, and then modern jazz. His parents recommended to him writers such as Sarah Waters and Judith Butler, whose works served both as inspiration and reference in Letissier's youth. He attended Lycée Clemenceau learning theatre and then Lycée Fénelon secondary school in Paris learning literature. He later studied at the Department of Arts of École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon) and also studied drama at the .


title: Christine and the Queens

text: In 2010, Letissier had to leave the theater conservatory, as he was depressed after a romantic break-up. He made a trip to London and was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella, at the Soho nightclub Madame Jojo's. The queens then became 'the Queens' in his stage name as a tribute. As soon as he returned to France, he left the ENSL grande école in the middle of the second year to devote himself fully to the musical project now called "Christine and the Queens". He dedicated many of his creations to them, and to all transgender individuals, describing his genre as "freakpop".


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Letissier gave his first recital as Christine and the Queens at a small Lyon club in 2010. He released his debut extended play, "Miséricorde", in 2011, with Marc Lumbroso (Jean-Jacques Goldman's producer). His second EP, titled "Mac Abbey", followed in 2012, with minor hits "Narcissus Is Back" and "Cripple". The same year, he was the opening act for Lykke Li, The Dø, and Woodkid. Letissier won the Best Discovered Act award, known as "Découverte", at the Printemps de Bourges music festival and also won the "Première Francos" award at the Les Francofolies de La Rochelle festival. Then he signed with the independent label Because Music.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: In 2013, Letissier was the opening act for Lilly Wood and the Prick and Gaëtan Roussel. On 3 June, he released the single, and also an EP of the same name, titled "Nuit 17 à 52", which garnered him his first charting on the official French SNEP albums chart. The song was the first single of his forthcoming studio album.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Christine and the Queens' debut album, "Chaleur humaine", was first released in France on 2 June 2014. He was almost the sole writer and producer; the track "Paradis perdus" is a cover of a 1973 French song. Besides "Nuit 17 à 52", three singles were released: "Saint Claude", "Christine", and "Paradis Perdus". "Christine" is the French version of "Cripple" earlier released in 2012. After the album reached number 2 on the French chart and was certified diamond there, Letissier toured France.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: For the American market, the single "Tilted", English version of "Cripple"/"Christine", was released on 3 March 2015 under the Neon Gold Records label. Letissier then toured in the US for promotion with Marina and the Diamonds. Exclusively for this market, "Saint Claude" EP was released on 14 April, including five songs from "Chaleur humaine" in English versions. On 16 October, the full album, entitled "Christine and the Queens", was released via Because Music. Many tracks were reworked with English lyrics and revamped beats by producer Ash Workman. Two tracks were replaced with three new songs, and two of these new songs were collaborations – "Jonathan" with Perfume Genius, and "No Harm Is Done" with rapper Tunji Ige. These two new collaborations were released as additional singles, the latter on 11 September, and the former on 16 October. On 11 November, Christine was warmly received in his first performance in large venue, the Webster Hall, New York; the next day, he appeared on "The Daily Show." In 2015 top-ten lists by "Time," "Tilted" was included as one of best songs of the year. Pitchfork listed the song in its 2010 best-of, "defining tracks of the decade" list at number 106. At the end of the year, he was back home, and, on 10 December, Madonna invited Christine to dance with her on stage during her concert at the Bercy Arena, Paris.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: In the United Kingdom, "Tilted" was released on 15 January 2016 and peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles chart. An English version of the album was released there on 26 February, under the original French title. The record received universal critical acclaim. In April, Christine performed for the first time, and twice, at the Coachella festival. In May, he was added to the BBC Radio 1 main rotation playlist, and on 17 June, he appeared on "The Graham Norton Show". "The Guardian" called his performance at the Glastonbury Festival on 24 June, the day after the Brexit vote, one of the festival's "unequivocal highlights" and later described it as "career-launching". "Chaleur humaine" reached number 2 on the UK Albums chart in July and was the best selling debut album of 2016 there. It was featured on some year-end lists and ranked 3rd by "NME" and 8th by "The Guardian", among other accolades. In the decade-end 'top albums of the 2010s' listings, the record was ranked No. 40 by "The Independent" and No. 81 by "NME". In September, he put together a cover of Beyoncé's "Sorry" in the BBC Live Lounge; for arrangement and rendition he was included in the "6 Best New Songs of the Week" list by "Vulture". The same month, when he was performing at the Camden Roundhouse, Elton John sang "Tilted" with hims on stage; John had earlier bought Letissier's French album and praised him greatly. In November, Letissier performed in London, Manchester, and Glasgow, selling 16,000 seats in a few hours each time. In October, he was chosen as one of BBC's 100 Women. He appeared twice on the Jools' Annual Hootenanny show, on 31 December, and on 1 January 2017.


title: Christine and the Queens

text: Having toured intensively during 2014-16, he stopped at the end of 2016, saying later, "I didn't want to burn out on the first [album]".


title: Christine and the Queens

text: The song "iT" was featured on the television series "Girls" in the closing scenes and credits of the series 5th season's episode "Old Loves", which aired on 13 March 2016. The single "Tilted" was used in the season 2 finale of the "Better Things" series, its characters recreating the song's video as a graduation gift; this episode aired on 16 November 2017.