How positive is positive psychology in an enabling program? Investigating the transformative power of positive psychology for enabling students

Positive psychology is one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge, and there is a growing research base of scientific study to validate the significance of this psychological approach in people’s lives. This research investigates a unit of study that was developed for students entering university through an enabling program in order to introduce them to proactive solutions and strategies to develop their strengths, capacity and virtues rather than focusing on past weaknesses. Currently, only anecdotal evidence exists indicating that this unit is having a positive impact on the students who have completed the unit. As this research wants to identify the effectiveness of this unit in facilitating change in a student’s life, the core tenets of Appreciative Inquiry guided the overall process of formulating the research approach and designing the questions for the survey. Past students became the change actors and their voice and experiences became the data.