Doctoral Programs in Positive Psychology
If you’re looking to do a Ph.D. in positive psychology, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve done the research for you. Here are the four best program options we found.
Option 1: Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
The Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University offers two streams of PhD positions.
Positive Developmental Psychology
Based on the legacy of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this program explores the developmental processes that contribute to flourishing across life. Students learn how individuals and communities flourish, gleaning from empirical research in positive psychology, developmental science, and applied statistics.
Learn more at their website.
Positive Organizational Psychology
With an emphasis on improving both individual wellbeing and organizational effectiveness, this program prepares students to apply positive psychology in professional settings. Supported by rigorous research methodologies and close faculty mentoring, students investigate subjects like motivation, meaning, performance, and social responsibility.
Learn more at their website.
Option 2: University of East London (UEL)
The UEL School of Psychology offers an MPhil/PhD in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology.
Students become part of a dynamic research community with theoretical and applied concerns in positive and coaching psychology. Interdisciplinary backgrounds are welcomed, and the course is supervised by internationally eminent faculty members in the field.
Learn more at their website.
Option 3: Australian Catholic University (ACU)
PhD opportunities are available at Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE) in a variety of subjects related to positive psychology.
Competitive scholarships, strong supervisory support, and funding for conferences, data collection, and publication are all advantages for doctoral students. Research topics include wellbeing, motivation, mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and systemic educational reform.
Learn more at their website.
Option 4: Get the PhD position in a field of your own choice
Lisa Sansom remarked that “at the PhD level, it’s more about your supervisor than the actual name of the program. Marty’s PhD students at Penn don’t, as far as I know, get a PhD in positive psychology but that is what they are studying effectively. Same with Barb and Sonja and most of the big names. Find the supervisor who is working and researching in the field you want to spend several years of your life and go there.”
Martin Seligman confirmed this by saying: “at most places you specialize in PP and work with a PP researcher. Not any real difference.”
This means that if you know which branch of positive psychology (e.g., subjective wellbeing, mindfulness, resilience, positive psychotherapy etc.) you like to do research into, you should find a positive psychology researcher who is active in that field by using this list and then contact him or her about the possibilities for doing a PhD under their guidance.
What is a PhD Exactly?
A PhD is a research degree while BSc and MSc (or BA and MA) are taught degrees. In a research degree, students learn through research and take full responsibility for their learning. In other words, a PhD is a relatively big research project that the research student conducts independently with only the supervision of a senior research professor at the university.
Such research projects lead to a thesis of publishable quality of roughly about 80,000 words. The research and hence the thesis should make an original scientific contribution to the field of its study.
What does a PhD in Psychology Look Like?
A PhD in psychology usually takes three years full-time, and up to six years when studied part-time. What you need to consider about a PhD in positive psychology is that at the PhD level, positive psychology merges with psychology in general.
So, you do not need to find a university specializing in positive psychology. In fact, even universities that do not teach positive psychology at BSc or MSc level conduct some research on various topics that are directly related to positive psychology.
Lately, we’ve been getting an increasing number of questions from people who want to pursue a PhD program in positive psychology.
