Apply Presentation - 30 minutes International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

Wellbeing for Breakfast (#159)

Marnie Thomas 1 , Alan Parsons 1
  1. Newcastle Grammar School, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Over the past two years Newcastle Grammar School has placed wellbeing on the breakfast menu. Their Wellbeing for Breakfast events invite business members to learn about the science of wellbeing and how to grow from functioning to flourishing. In this workshop, the Head of School, Dr Alan Parsons and Head of Positive Education, Marnie Thomas (MAPP) will share a unique way that schools can go beyond building the wellbeing of their staff, students, and families to also forging strong and authentic community connections. The workshop will draw upon the Visible Wellbeing SEARCH Framework (Waters & Loton, 2019) and recent research to offer insights, while acting as a Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI) in and of itself. Audiences will be made aware of the relationship between employee wellbeing, engagement, and productivity (James K. Harter et al., 2020) and some of the tools that can be used to improve wellbeing at work. Foremost, the audience will be introduced to a strengths-based approach in the workplace. While the broad range of strengths will be recognised, the focus will be on the VIA Character Strengths and the application of these in improving workplace wellbeing (Linley et al., 2010; Niemiec, 2019). Participants will also be introduced to research that evidences the causal relationship between positive affect and success (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). Several PPIs will be presented including activities such as random acts of kindness and gratitude practices as described by Lyubomirsky (2013) that promote an understanding of the benefits of cultivating an optimistic explanatory style (Peterson & Steen, 2009) and the impact of responding styles (Gable et al., 2006). Audience members will leave with ideas around how to curate their own Wellbeing for Breakfast event along with rich feedback that demonstrates the value and impact of the intervention. Starting our day with a strong coffee is not enough—let’s start the day with Wellbeing for Breakfast!

  1. Gable, S. L., Gonzaga, G. C., & Strachman, A. (2006). Will You Be There for Me When Things Go Right? Supportive Responses to Positive Event Disclosures. Journal of personality and social psychology, 91(5), 904-917. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.904
  2. James K. Harter, Frank L. Schmidt, Sangeeta Agrawal, Anthony Blue, Stephanie K. Plowman, Patrick Josh, M. A., & Jim Asplund, M. A. (2020). The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes (2020 Q12® Meta-Analysis: 10th Edition, Issue. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx
  3. Linley, P. A., Nielsen, K. M., Gillett, R., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). Using signature strengths in pursuit of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 5(1), 6-15.
  4. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803.
  5. Lyubomirsky, S., & Layous, K. (2013). How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(1), 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412469809
  6. Niemiec, R. (2019). Finding the golden mean: the overuse, underuse, and optimal use of character strengths. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2019.1617674
  7. Peterson, C., & Steen, T. A. (2009). Optimistic Explanatory Style. In Handbook of positive psychology (2 ed., Vol. 1). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0029
  8. Waters, L., & Loton, D. (2019). SEARCH: A Meta-Framework and Review of the Field of Positive Education. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4(1), 1-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-019-00017-4
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