Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy on Satisfaction with Life, Optimism and Positive Affects in University Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on increasing satisfaction with life, optimism and positive effects of students. The method of this study was semi-experimental and adopted pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 34 undergraduate students among 1200 students in academic year 2013-2014 University of Shahid Beheshti were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The study instruments included satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), Revised Life Orientation Test (Scheire, Carver & Bridges, 1994) and. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark & Carey, 1988). The positive psychotherapy on a weekly basis during six two-hour sessions was trained to experimental group. The results of covariance indicated that positive psychotherapy was effective in increasing satisfaction with Life, optimism and positive affects in students (p< 0.05) and that their permanence was observed two months after the experiment. In sum, based on the results of the study, the positive psychotherapy is effective to increasing satisfaction with Life, optimism and positive affects in students. It can be used in promotion of mental health in universities freshman students