本研究以文獻探討的方式,試著探討正向心理學的要義和去了解它在生命教育實施上的應用,並提出在人類發展上教學和輔導方面的參考依據。從1990年大量出現的正向心理學研究固然是對目前學術界過度聚焦的人類非常態現象的反省,轉而以正向心理特質為主軸,但無論是正向或負向的行為及心理反應,都構成人類外顯及內隱行為反應的一部分,因此對人類行為與心理的完整瞭解,不應過度偏重於負面問題的探討,應該同時探討正面心理的本質、發展與影響。因為正向心理學是現代心理學的重要發展趨向,故我們必須了解現代社會中正向心理學的理論架構,生命教育的內涵試圖教導學生學習正向的特質,以及學生對死亡、生命、愛情、意義等等更有正向的思維。本研究試著去瞭解人們展現什麼樣的正向特質和如何發展出來。為了更有效益,教師生命教育的實踐上,應該教導學生發展正向意義、正向情緒、樂觀及內在動機。依據上述的研究結果,在生命教育的教學與輔導上提出有四項建議:(1)教師必須整合不同的正向特質和發展計畫,在學校裡去助長學生誠實、服務、自控、友誼、民主、正向情緒和其它的美德;(2)生命教育中正向特質的理念與實踐,應該要持續地進行,如此以致於促使個體在社會環境中以正向的感受取代負向的情緒;(3)在生命教育上,學校課程的研究與修訂應該強調正向特質的發展趨勢,如此以致能增加個體有益的互動和如何一起合作完成工作;(4)在生命教育的不同時段裡,學校應該持續的作研究,以及增進所有人們正向心理發展的輔導工作。
This article is intended to explore the very meanings of positive psychology and its application to life education. The rapid accumulation of positive psychological studies emerging from the 1990s appears as a reaction against the contemporary psychological research which has been excessively put attention to the pathological aspects of human beings. It seems clear that both negative and positive sides of human behaviors, internal or/and external, constitute the core elements of psychological science. However, a more thorough understanding of human beings would require further exploration of the nature, development and influences of positive traits.Because positive psychology has become an important field in the contemporary psychology, to understand its theoretical framework appears to be necessary. Life education is aimed to teach students positive traits, so that they would have more positive thoughts on issues such as death, life, love, meaning, and so on. The key themes of this paper are focused on what kinds of positive traits have been displayed by human and how they are developed. Beyond doubt, teachers should teach students to develop the positive meaning, positive emotion, optimism, and internal motivation in the practice of life education.Four suggestions relating to teaching and guidance in life education are proposed as follows: (1)Teachers must integrate different positive traits and develop programs to help students foster ”honesty”, ”service”, ”self-control”, ”friendliness”, ”democratic virtues”, ”positive emotion”, and other virtues at schools; (2)Life education should keep on highlighting the ideas and practices of positive traits to make society an environment in which individuals themselves are enabled to behave based on positive sense rather than negative emotion; (3)Curriculum studies related to life education should emphasize the tendency of the development of positive traits; (4)Life education in different developmental stages must be constantly studied to provide all people with helpful guidance based on positive psychology.