economic social historical and political forces that shape positive psychology
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Positive Psychology is based on a particular model of the individual that was developed in the popular culture of the United States from the end of the eighteen century. This model, that we have called "positive" individualism, started with Emerson ́s Trascendentalism by defending, against puritanism, that the individual, as a part of Divinity, is an essence capable of self-command, self-exploration and endless self-development. On this basis, but in a more "practical" vein and supported by hundreds of self-help manuals, movements like the New Thought or the Positive Thought emphasized the power of individual ́s thinking over the matter and the world to mentally cure illness, to attract wealth and achievement, and to self-fulfill the promise of happiness. A critical examination and an alternative to this model of individuality was already offered by genuine american academic psychology, such as John Dewey ́s, based upon functionalist psychology and anti-essentialist principles and guided by an alternative political agenda. Current Positive Psychology moves away from the most striking metaphysics of "positive" individualism, but maintains its ahistorical, asocial and subjectivist conception of the individual.