The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude of female students

Aim: The aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on the happiness and gratitude among female students of the University of Isfahan in the academic year 2013–2014. Methodology: The design of the present study is quasi-experimental with the control group and pretest-posttest and follow-up test. For sampling among 100 female girls who registered for this study, a number of 30 individuals who were lacking in any symptom of severe psychological disorders or character disorders in the first and second axes of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-IV-Text review were selected. Then, this number were randomly divided into two control and experimental group each with 15 participants. The instruments used for collecting data included the positive psychotherapy questionnaire and the gratitude questionnaire-six item form. In the experimental group, positive psychotherapy sessions were held in group in 10 sessions. However, the control group received no intervention. To analyze the data of the present study, ANCOVA and SPSS-17 software were used. Results: The results indicated that the positive psychotherapy is effective on the increase of overall happiness and the components of pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life in the stages of posttest and follow-up (P < 0.05), although this effectiveness is confirmed on the component of meaningful life in the posttest. In addition, in the domain of gratitude, the members of the experimental group indicated a significant increase in their scores in the stages of posttest and follow-up as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: From the findings obtained from this study, it can be concluded that, in general, positive psychotherapy is effective on the increase of overall happiness and its components and gratitude of female students in the University of Isfahan. Therefore, the positive psychotherapy is an appropriate alternative for increasing happiness and gratitude of students