IntJEducPsycholRes23163 8543305 234353
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Original Article
The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on
happiness and gratitude of female students
Sahar Amini, Kourosh Namdari, Hossinali Mehrabi Kooshki
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Science and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
ABSTRACT
Address for Correspondence:
Dr. Kourosh Namdari,
Department of Psychology, Faculty of
Educational Science and Psychology,
University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
E‑mail: k.namdari@edu.ui.ac
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 irst 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 conirmed on the
component of meaningful life in the posttest. In addition, in the domain of gratitude, the members of
the experimental group indicated a signiicant increase in their scores in the stages of posttest and
follow‑up as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: From the indings 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.
Key words: Gratitude, happiness, positive psychotherapy
Introducion
It is for more than one century that the patients have
referred to psychotherapists for their own issues, problems,
defects, and deficiencies believing that discussing and
investigating these issues can be healing. Psychotherapy
has taken great steps with emphasis on deficits and
deficiencies. Careful and meticulous studies have indicated
that psychotherapy can be certainly more effective than
other placeboes.[1] In spite of the fact that the main flow
of psychotherapy with emphasis on psychopathology
Access this article online
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Website:
www.ijeprjournal.org
DOI:
10.4103/2395-2296.179069
has greatly helped treating the clinical symptoms and
disorders, but it has significantly neglected the happiness
as one of the treatment aims despite the demand of
patients for being happy.[2] Historically, psychology mainly
emphasizes psychopathology and deficits of mental health,
and therefore, it has caused that the positive traits of
human beings which make their lives more valuable
be greatly overlooked.[3] Psychotherapists usually attend
weaknesses, social and psychological problems, and
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows
others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the
author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com
How to cite this article: Amini S, Namdari K, Kooshki HM. The
effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude of
female students. Int J Educ Psychol Res 2016;2:163-9.
© 2016 International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
163
[Downloaded free from http://www.ijeprjournal.org on Saturday, July 1, 2017, IP: 180.253.156.95]
Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
environmental problems of patients and consequently,
mostly overlook their environmental resources. One
of the reasons for neglecting patients’ abilities and
environmental resources is the exclusive reference of
therapists to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (DSM)[4] because this type of evaluation system
lacks a comprehensive design and regarding its medical
root, it has not paid attention to the status and culture
of individual;[5] therefore, the specialists are motivated
to exclusively emphasize the psychopathological aspects.
However, the therapists are required to have more
comprehensive and profound understanding of their own
patients. Accordingly, it is necessary that in addition to
paying attention to the problems and deficits of patients,
pay attention to their personal and environmental
capabilities and traits and apply these positive resources
in line with increasing their happiness and mental
health. Therefore, according to Magyar‑Moe,[4] among
the reasons of using positive psychology, one can refer to
comprehensive conceptualization of the status of patients,
definition of the successful treatment results and the
process of psychological evaluation. Therefore, the positive
psychology is a branch of psychology which believes that
it is necessary that something more than describing the
improvement and health in the sense of reduction in
anxiety and distress is conducted and it be identified that
what an individual can do to obtain his psychological
health and live hopefully and happily. Consequently, a
movement for the positive conceptualization of mental
health is conducted.[1] Another factor which is considered
important in the realm of positive psychology is gratitude.
Gratitude refers to the sense of appreciation and happiness
in response to receiving a gift from another person or
happiness and satisfaction of the moment which are
received from the beauty of nature. This positive trait is
one of the character strengths of human beings.[5] The
experience of gratitude is one of the powerful ways of
increasing the satisfaction with life and positive feelings
in relation to past and present.[4] Different researches
indicate that the increase in gratitude is along with the
increase in the traits such as hope, optimism, resilience,[6]
physical and psychological well‑being,[7] and depression
symptom relief.[8]
Among positive therapies, positive psychotherapy is a
positive approach to psychotherapy which is experientially
validated and specifically pays attention to positive strengths
and emotions in patients, and the increase of meaning
in their lives so that it can facilitate psychotherapy and
educate happiness.[9] The theoretical confirmation of
positive psychotherapy originates from the works done
by Seligman.[10] In a study conducted by Seligman et al.[11]
164
on 46 individuals in the University of Pennsylvania, who
searched for counseling services and psychotherapy, the
results indicated that personal positive psychotherapy by
itself or with pharmacotherapy, can result in the depression
symptom relief or complete removal of the symptoms in
these patients and cause the increase in positive emotions,
engagement, and meaning. In the same study, Seligman
et al.,[11] conducted group positive psychotherapy on
the students with minor to moderate depression in the
University of Pennsylvania. The results indicated that the
depression symptoms in the experimental group decreased
significantly, while in the control group, the severity of
the symptoms remained in their initial levels (minor
or moderate levels). The sense of satisfaction of life
increased in both groups, but in the follow‑up in 1‑year
later, the experimental group kept these results contrary
to the control group. Rashid and Anjum,[12] reported the
increase in the health of secondary school children by
applying the shorter type of positive group psychotherapy
in them. In addition, Rashid et al.[13] investigated the effect
of personal positive psychotherapy on the increase of the
positive emotions, the creation of abilities and strengths
and meaning in children and adolescents by which they
can increase happiness in them. The results of the research
conducted by Recio[14] indicated this type of psychotherapy
is effective on the depression symptom relief in adolescence.
In addition, Savage,[15] by applying some of the variables
of positive psychotherapy such as using character strengths
and optimistic thinking indicated that this intervention
can be effective on increasing the satisfaction with life in
adolescents. In another study, Seligman et al.[8] conducted
on 577 participants, it was indicated that training the
positive psychotherapy for 1‑month increases happiness and
the depression symptom relief. Nikoozadeh,[16] conducted
the positive psychotherapy in compared with Adlerian
therapy, on voluntary addicts in the addiction treatment
centers in Tehran and studied its effects on the degree
of the resilience of these individuals. He concluded that
the positive psychotherapy, as Adlerian therapy, can be
effective in enhancing the resilience of addicts. Vejdani
et al.,[17] by applying the positive psychotherapy based on
the happiness approach of Seligman, indicated that this
type of psychotherapy can be effective on reducing the
depression and increasing the level of depressed women’s
marital satisfaction in Tehran. In recent studies[18] done on
positive psychotherapy indicate that this intervention for
increasing well‑being, positive emotions, hope, self‑worth,
meaning, and symptom relief in some more severe disorders
such as psychosis was used.
Since the students of a country are considered as the
capitals of that country, and they significantly determine the
International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches / Vol 2 / Issue 3 / July-September 2016
[Downloaded free from http://www.ijeprjournal.org on Saturday, July 1, 2017, IP: 180.253.156.95]
Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
scientific and economic future as well as the advancement
of that country in different personal and social domains,
and an important part of the scientific, social and
economic welfare, and fate of the country depends on their
capabilities and virtues; therefore, their well‑being, as well
as physical and psychological health, should be considered
in a particular way and they should be assisted to increase
their sense of happiness, engagement and meaning in
life, and gratitude to facilities and bounties which God
bestowed them and enhanced their motivation for activities
in diverse scientific and social domains of the country.
Accordingly, enhancing Iranian students’ mental health
and making them stronger are among the most important
necessities of the present study. Therefore, the present
study aimed at determining the effectiveness of positive
psychotherapy on the degree of happiness and gratitude
among female students of the University of Isfahan.
Methodology
The present study used a quasi‑experimental design in
the form of pretest‑posttest and follow‑up with control
and experimental groups. The population of the present
study included female students of the University of Isfahan
in the academic year 2013–2014. The procedure of the
present study was that first, by installing calls in different
faculties of the university, the volunteers were invited to
register and participate in this research project. Then,
among 100 female students having registered in this
project, a number of 30 students who lacked any diagnostic
symptoms of severe psychological disorder or character
disorder in the first and second axes of DSM‑IV‑Text
Review were selected according to structured clinical
interviews conducted by the clinical psychologist working
in the Counseling Center of the University of Isfahan.
Furthermore, the study had other inclusion criteria such
as the lack of serious physical problems, and preferably
residing in the city of Isfahan for the participants. In the
next stage, these participants were randomly selected into
two control and experimental groups (n1 = n2 = 15). After
that, the pretest was administered on all participants.
Then, the intervention for the experimental group was
conducted for 10 sessions (each session took 90 min),
weekly in the counseling center for the students of
the university and by a Master of Science in Clinical
Psychology, who had been trained and also the executive
of this course in centers for counseling and psychological
services. In all treatment sessions, at the end of them, the
therapist received feedbacks from the participants and
presented them their homework related to each session.
The general content of these sessions was developed based
on Rashid’s ideas.[9] The process and themes trained in
this courses in 10 sessions are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Processes and themes trained in positive
psychotherapy sessions
Sessions
Educational processes and themes
1
Pretest, positive introduction, and familiarity, training
the three paths for attaining happiness
Introducing positive psychotherapy, introducing the
concept of character strengths, identifying character
strengths
Training the value of positive emotions, operationalizing
character strengths
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Optimism
Finding meaning in life by making positive relations
Finding meaning by paying attention to character
strengths of oneself and others
Increasing positive emotions in the present time
Conclusion and posttest
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
In the time interval when positive psychotherapy was
conducted on the experimental group, the control group
did receive no intervention. One week after, the last
session of positive psychotherapy conducted on the
experimental group, posttest was administered on both
groups. The follow‑up stage was conducted 2 months
after the end of conducting the intervention. In addition,
for preventing the violation of ethics in the research,
researcher kept confidential the questionnaires completed
by the participants using the coding method. After the end
of the research, the positive psychotherapy courses were
held for the control group for some sessions.
Instruments for collecting data
• Positive psychotherapy inventory: According to
Rashid,[9] the positive psychotherapy inventory was
designed to measure the happiness and the three
routes to happiness, including pleasant, engaged, and
meaningful life. This measure includes 21 items and
three subscales of pleasant, engaged, and meaningful
life which each subscale has seven items. The method
of scoring the options of the inventory was based on
a four‑point Likert scale. In each of the subscales,
participants’ scores are located in the range from 0 to
21 and the total score, in the total scale, ranges from
0 to 63, with higher scores indicating the higher levels
of overall happiness.[9] The positive psychotherapy
inventory has been shown to have good internal
consistency reliability, with an overall alpha of 0.90
and subscale alphas of 0.78–0.80. Convergent validity
has been found between the positive psychotherapy
inventory and the measures of well‑being such as
the satisfaction with life scale (r = 0.23), the Fordyce
emotion questionnaire (r = 0.56), and the positive
affectivity scale from the positive and negative affect
schedule (r = 0.23). Discriminant validity has been
International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches / Vol 2 / Issue 3 / July-September 2016
165
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Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
established between the positive psychotherapy
inventory and the measures of depression, including
the Beck depression inventory (r = −0.62) and the
Zung depression rating scale (r = −0.57). Since this
questionnaire is sensitive to change, it can be used for
measuring the results of the treatment.[9]
the experimental and control groups were evaluated by
researchers in the form of a five‑point scale ranging from
very weak to very good so that both in the experimental
and control groups, 83% participants reported their
socioeconomic statuses at the moderate level and 7% of
them reported it at the good level.
In the present study, exterior and content validity of the
questionnaire were confirmed. In addition, the internal
consistency reliability of the positive psychotherapy
inventory was investigated by Cronbach’s alpha in such a
way that the alpha coefficients for the subscale of pleasant
life were 0.85, engaged life was 0.77, and meaningful life
was 0.72. For the total scale, the alpha coefficient was 0.87.
After conducting positive psychotherapy, for example,
values of the mean scores in the experimental and control
groups in the level of happiness in the posttest stage were
44.25 and 38, and in the follow‑up stage they were 44.4
and 35.5 (P < 0.05) [Table 2].
• Gratitude questionnaire‑six item (GQ‑6) form: This
questionnaire was designed by McCulloug et al.,[19]
and include six items which evaluate the gratitude.
The scoring method of this questionnaire ranges from
1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree) and the total
scores of this scale ranges from 6 to 42, the higher score
reflects higher level of gratitude.[6] The reliability of the
GQ is satisfactory and is equal to alpha coefficients
of 0.75 and 0.83. The internal consistency reliability
of the Persian version of the questionnaire has been
established in student and nonstudent cases, with
an alpha of 0.81 and its validity has been obtained
from its correlation with some measures such as the
spirituality scale and the satisfaction with life scale as
0.43 and 0.44, respectively.[20]
To investigate the effect of positive psychotherapy in
the experimental group, ANCOVA was used. Statistical
analyses were conducted employing SPSS‑17 (SPSS Inc.
Released 2008. SPSS Statistics for Windows, Chicago).
Findings
The mean age of the experimental group was 23.41‑year‑old,
and that of the control group was 22.50‑year‑old. In
addition, in terms of their educational statuses, both in
the control group and experimental group, 66% of the
participants studied in BA/BSc, and 34% of them studied
in MA/BSc. The socioeconomic statuses of members of
The results of ANCOVA with the deletion of the effect
of the pretest indicated that the difference between
the mean scores of the two groups in happiness and
its components in the posttest and follow‑up test is
significant (P < 0.05) [Table 3].
To identify the effect of positive psychotherapy on the
degree of happiness and its components, ANCOVA was
used. The degrees of the effect of positive psychotherapy
on overall happiness in the posttest and follow‑up were
37% and 34%, on pleasant life were 30% and 40%, on
engaged life were 26% and 29%, and on meaningful life
were 24% and 13% (P < 0.05). Therefore, the positive
psychotherapy has been effective on the degree and level
of happiness and its components in the posttest and
follow‑up stages.
The results of ANCOVA with the deletion of the effect
of the pretest indicated that the difference between
the mean scores of the two groups in happiness and
its components in the posttest and follow‑up test are
significant (P < 0.05) [Table 4].
To identify the effect of positive psychotherapy on the
degree of gratitude, ANCOVA was used. The degrees of
the effect of positive psychotherapy on gratitude in the
posttest and follow‑up were 31% and 18% (P < 0.05).
Therefore, the positive psychotherapy has been effective
on the degree and level of gratitude in the posttest and
follow‑up stages.
Table 2: Comparing scores of happiness and its components as well as those of gratitude in investigated groups in diferent
evaluation stages
Variable groups
Overall happiness
Pleasant life
Engaged life
Meaningful life
Gratitude
166
Experimental group
Control group
Pretest
Posttest
Follow-up
Pretest
Posttest
Follow-up
11.25±36.58
4.5±10.83
4.5±12.83
7.3±12.91
3.4±25.16
9.1±44.25
3.71±13.83
3.47±15.41
3.21±15
2.6±27.5
8.69±44.4
3.17±14.1
2.82±15.8
3.79±3.79
2.63±26.4
7.48±37.66
2.65±11.83
3.43±14
2.94±11.83
4.5±24.66
8±38
3±11.5
3.35±14.16
3.44±12.33
3.21±25.16
6.17±35.5
2.51±10.59
2.69±13
1.85±12
3.17±23.83
International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches / Vol 2 / Issue 3 / July-September 2016
[Downloaded free from http://www.ijeprjournal.org on Saturday, July 1, 2017, IP: 180.253.156.95]
Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
Table 3: The results of ANCOVA related to the efect of positive psychotherapy on happiness and its components in diferent
evaluation stages
Variable
Evaluation stage
Sources of variations
Overall happiness
Posttest
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Follow-up
Pleasant life
Posttest
Follow-up
Engaged life
Posttest
Follow-up
Meaningful life
Posttest
Follow-up
Mean square
F
Eta squared
Statistical power
1127.48
298.14
277.67
517.42
128.35
52.45
43.66
93.21
184.83
25.53
27.69
57.24
192.14
17.06
50.41
23.57
47.09**
12.45**
5.98*
11.15**
22.03**
9**
6.7*
14.31**
54.09**
7.47*
4.15*
8.59**
76.81**
6.82*
7.24**
3.38
0.69
0.37
0.22
0.34
0.51
0.30
0.24
0.40
0.72
0.26
0.16
0.29
0.78
0.24
0.25
0.13
1
0.92
0.64
0.88
0.99
0.81
0.69
0.95
1
0.74
0.49
0.79
1
0.7
0.72
0.42
*P
Original Article
The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on
happiness and gratitude of female students
Sahar Amini, Kourosh Namdari, Hossinali Mehrabi Kooshki
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Science and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
ABSTRACT
Address for Correspondence:
Dr. Kourosh Namdari,
Department of Psychology, Faculty of
Educational Science and Psychology,
University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
E‑mail: k.namdari@edu.ui.ac
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 irst 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 conirmed on the
component of meaningful life in the posttest. In addition, in the domain of gratitude, the members of
the experimental group indicated a signiicant increase in their scores in the stages of posttest and
follow‑up as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: From the indings 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.
Key words: Gratitude, happiness, positive psychotherapy
Introducion
It is for more than one century that the patients have
referred to psychotherapists for their own issues, problems,
defects, and deficiencies believing that discussing and
investigating these issues can be healing. Psychotherapy
has taken great steps with emphasis on deficits and
deficiencies. Careful and meticulous studies have indicated
that psychotherapy can be certainly more effective than
other placeboes.[1] In spite of the fact that the main flow
of psychotherapy with emphasis on psychopathology
Access this article online
Quick Response Code:
Website:
www.ijeprjournal.org
DOI:
10.4103/2395-2296.179069
has greatly helped treating the clinical symptoms and
disorders, but it has significantly neglected the happiness
as one of the treatment aims despite the demand of
patients for being happy.[2] Historically, psychology mainly
emphasizes psychopathology and deficits of mental health,
and therefore, it has caused that the positive traits of
human beings which make their lives more valuable
be greatly overlooked.[3] Psychotherapists usually attend
weaknesses, social and psychological problems, and
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows
others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the
author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com
How to cite this article: Amini S, Namdari K, Kooshki HM. The
effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude of
female students. Int J Educ Psychol Res 2016;2:163-9.
© 2016 International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
163
[Downloaded free from http://www.ijeprjournal.org on Saturday, July 1, 2017, IP: 180.253.156.95]
Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
environmental problems of patients and consequently,
mostly overlook their environmental resources. One
of the reasons for neglecting patients’ abilities and
environmental resources is the exclusive reference of
therapists to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (DSM)[4] because this type of evaluation system
lacks a comprehensive design and regarding its medical
root, it has not paid attention to the status and culture
of individual;[5] therefore, the specialists are motivated
to exclusively emphasize the psychopathological aspects.
However, the therapists are required to have more
comprehensive and profound understanding of their own
patients. Accordingly, it is necessary that in addition to
paying attention to the problems and deficits of patients,
pay attention to their personal and environmental
capabilities and traits and apply these positive resources
in line with increasing their happiness and mental
health. Therefore, according to Magyar‑Moe,[4] among
the reasons of using positive psychology, one can refer to
comprehensive conceptualization of the status of patients,
definition of the successful treatment results and the
process of psychological evaluation. Therefore, the positive
psychology is a branch of psychology which believes that
it is necessary that something more than describing the
improvement and health in the sense of reduction in
anxiety and distress is conducted and it be identified that
what an individual can do to obtain his psychological
health and live hopefully and happily. Consequently, a
movement for the positive conceptualization of mental
health is conducted.[1] Another factor which is considered
important in the realm of positive psychology is gratitude.
Gratitude refers to the sense of appreciation and happiness
in response to receiving a gift from another person or
happiness and satisfaction of the moment which are
received from the beauty of nature. This positive trait is
one of the character strengths of human beings.[5] The
experience of gratitude is one of the powerful ways of
increasing the satisfaction with life and positive feelings
in relation to past and present.[4] Different researches
indicate that the increase in gratitude is along with the
increase in the traits such as hope, optimism, resilience,[6]
physical and psychological well‑being,[7] and depression
symptom relief.[8]
Among positive therapies, positive psychotherapy is a
positive approach to psychotherapy which is experientially
validated and specifically pays attention to positive strengths
and emotions in patients, and the increase of meaning
in their lives so that it can facilitate psychotherapy and
educate happiness.[9] The theoretical confirmation of
positive psychotherapy originates from the works done
by Seligman.[10] In a study conducted by Seligman et al.[11]
164
on 46 individuals in the University of Pennsylvania, who
searched for counseling services and psychotherapy, the
results indicated that personal positive psychotherapy by
itself or with pharmacotherapy, can result in the depression
symptom relief or complete removal of the symptoms in
these patients and cause the increase in positive emotions,
engagement, and meaning. In the same study, Seligman
et al.,[11] conducted group positive psychotherapy on
the students with minor to moderate depression in the
University of Pennsylvania. The results indicated that the
depression symptoms in the experimental group decreased
significantly, while in the control group, the severity of
the symptoms remained in their initial levels (minor
or moderate levels). The sense of satisfaction of life
increased in both groups, but in the follow‑up in 1‑year
later, the experimental group kept these results contrary
to the control group. Rashid and Anjum,[12] reported the
increase in the health of secondary school children by
applying the shorter type of positive group psychotherapy
in them. In addition, Rashid et al.[13] investigated the effect
of personal positive psychotherapy on the increase of the
positive emotions, the creation of abilities and strengths
and meaning in children and adolescents by which they
can increase happiness in them. The results of the research
conducted by Recio[14] indicated this type of psychotherapy
is effective on the depression symptom relief in adolescence.
In addition, Savage,[15] by applying some of the variables
of positive psychotherapy such as using character strengths
and optimistic thinking indicated that this intervention
can be effective on increasing the satisfaction with life in
adolescents. In another study, Seligman et al.[8] conducted
on 577 participants, it was indicated that training the
positive psychotherapy for 1‑month increases happiness and
the depression symptom relief. Nikoozadeh,[16] conducted
the positive psychotherapy in compared with Adlerian
therapy, on voluntary addicts in the addiction treatment
centers in Tehran and studied its effects on the degree
of the resilience of these individuals. He concluded that
the positive psychotherapy, as Adlerian therapy, can be
effective in enhancing the resilience of addicts. Vejdani
et al.,[17] by applying the positive psychotherapy based on
the happiness approach of Seligman, indicated that this
type of psychotherapy can be effective on reducing the
depression and increasing the level of depressed women’s
marital satisfaction in Tehran. In recent studies[18] done on
positive psychotherapy indicate that this intervention for
increasing well‑being, positive emotions, hope, self‑worth,
meaning, and symptom relief in some more severe disorders
such as psychosis was used.
Since the students of a country are considered as the
capitals of that country, and they significantly determine the
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Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
scientific and economic future as well as the advancement
of that country in different personal and social domains,
and an important part of the scientific, social and
economic welfare, and fate of the country depends on their
capabilities and virtues; therefore, their well‑being, as well
as physical and psychological health, should be considered
in a particular way and they should be assisted to increase
their sense of happiness, engagement and meaning in
life, and gratitude to facilities and bounties which God
bestowed them and enhanced their motivation for activities
in diverse scientific and social domains of the country.
Accordingly, enhancing Iranian students’ mental health
and making them stronger are among the most important
necessities of the present study. Therefore, the present
study aimed at determining the effectiveness of positive
psychotherapy on the degree of happiness and gratitude
among female students of the University of Isfahan.
Methodology
The present study used a quasi‑experimental design in
the form of pretest‑posttest and follow‑up with control
and experimental groups. The population of the present
study included female students of the University of Isfahan
in the academic year 2013–2014. The procedure of the
present study was that first, by installing calls in different
faculties of the university, the volunteers were invited to
register and participate in this research project. Then,
among 100 female students having registered in this
project, a number of 30 students who lacked any diagnostic
symptoms of severe psychological disorder or character
disorder in the first and second axes of DSM‑IV‑Text
Review were selected according to structured clinical
interviews conducted by the clinical psychologist working
in the Counseling Center of the University of Isfahan.
Furthermore, the study had other inclusion criteria such
as the lack of serious physical problems, and preferably
residing in the city of Isfahan for the participants. In the
next stage, these participants were randomly selected into
two control and experimental groups (n1 = n2 = 15). After
that, the pretest was administered on all participants.
Then, the intervention for the experimental group was
conducted for 10 sessions (each session took 90 min),
weekly in the counseling center for the students of
the university and by a Master of Science in Clinical
Psychology, who had been trained and also the executive
of this course in centers for counseling and psychological
services. In all treatment sessions, at the end of them, the
therapist received feedbacks from the participants and
presented them their homework related to each session.
The general content of these sessions was developed based
on Rashid’s ideas.[9] The process and themes trained in
this courses in 10 sessions are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Processes and themes trained in positive
psychotherapy sessions
Sessions
Educational processes and themes
1
Pretest, positive introduction, and familiarity, training
the three paths for attaining happiness
Introducing positive psychotherapy, introducing the
concept of character strengths, identifying character
strengths
Training the value of positive emotions, operationalizing
character strengths
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Optimism
Finding meaning in life by making positive relations
Finding meaning by paying attention to character
strengths of oneself and others
Increasing positive emotions in the present time
Conclusion and posttest
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
In the time interval when positive psychotherapy was
conducted on the experimental group, the control group
did receive no intervention. One week after, the last
session of positive psychotherapy conducted on the
experimental group, posttest was administered on both
groups. The follow‑up stage was conducted 2 months
after the end of conducting the intervention. In addition,
for preventing the violation of ethics in the research,
researcher kept confidential the questionnaires completed
by the participants using the coding method. After the end
of the research, the positive psychotherapy courses were
held for the control group for some sessions.
Instruments for collecting data
• Positive psychotherapy inventory: According to
Rashid,[9] the positive psychotherapy inventory was
designed to measure the happiness and the three
routes to happiness, including pleasant, engaged, and
meaningful life. This measure includes 21 items and
three subscales of pleasant, engaged, and meaningful
life which each subscale has seven items. The method
of scoring the options of the inventory was based on
a four‑point Likert scale. In each of the subscales,
participants’ scores are located in the range from 0 to
21 and the total score, in the total scale, ranges from
0 to 63, with higher scores indicating the higher levels
of overall happiness.[9] The positive psychotherapy
inventory has been shown to have good internal
consistency reliability, with an overall alpha of 0.90
and subscale alphas of 0.78–0.80. Convergent validity
has been found between the positive psychotherapy
inventory and the measures of well‑being such as
the satisfaction with life scale (r = 0.23), the Fordyce
emotion questionnaire (r = 0.56), and the positive
affectivity scale from the positive and negative affect
schedule (r = 0.23). Discriminant validity has been
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Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
established between the positive psychotherapy
inventory and the measures of depression, including
the Beck depression inventory (r = −0.62) and the
Zung depression rating scale (r = −0.57). Since this
questionnaire is sensitive to change, it can be used for
measuring the results of the treatment.[9]
the experimental and control groups were evaluated by
researchers in the form of a five‑point scale ranging from
very weak to very good so that both in the experimental
and control groups, 83% participants reported their
socioeconomic statuses at the moderate level and 7% of
them reported it at the good level.
In the present study, exterior and content validity of the
questionnaire were confirmed. In addition, the internal
consistency reliability of the positive psychotherapy
inventory was investigated by Cronbach’s alpha in such a
way that the alpha coefficients for the subscale of pleasant
life were 0.85, engaged life was 0.77, and meaningful life
was 0.72. For the total scale, the alpha coefficient was 0.87.
After conducting positive psychotherapy, for example,
values of the mean scores in the experimental and control
groups in the level of happiness in the posttest stage were
44.25 and 38, and in the follow‑up stage they were 44.4
and 35.5 (P < 0.05) [Table 2].
• Gratitude questionnaire‑six item (GQ‑6) form: This
questionnaire was designed by McCulloug et al.,[19]
and include six items which evaluate the gratitude.
The scoring method of this questionnaire ranges from
1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree) and the total
scores of this scale ranges from 6 to 42, the higher score
reflects higher level of gratitude.[6] The reliability of the
GQ is satisfactory and is equal to alpha coefficients
of 0.75 and 0.83. The internal consistency reliability
of the Persian version of the questionnaire has been
established in student and nonstudent cases, with
an alpha of 0.81 and its validity has been obtained
from its correlation with some measures such as the
spirituality scale and the satisfaction with life scale as
0.43 and 0.44, respectively.[20]
To investigate the effect of positive psychotherapy in
the experimental group, ANCOVA was used. Statistical
analyses were conducted employing SPSS‑17 (SPSS Inc.
Released 2008. SPSS Statistics for Windows, Chicago).
Findings
The mean age of the experimental group was 23.41‑year‑old,
and that of the control group was 22.50‑year‑old. In
addition, in terms of their educational statuses, both in
the control group and experimental group, 66% of the
participants studied in BA/BSc, and 34% of them studied
in MA/BSc. The socioeconomic statuses of members of
The results of ANCOVA with the deletion of the effect
of the pretest indicated that the difference between
the mean scores of the two groups in happiness and
its components in the posttest and follow‑up test is
significant (P < 0.05) [Table 3].
To identify the effect of positive psychotherapy on the
degree of happiness and its components, ANCOVA was
used. The degrees of the effect of positive psychotherapy
on overall happiness in the posttest and follow‑up were
37% and 34%, on pleasant life were 30% and 40%, on
engaged life were 26% and 29%, and on meaningful life
were 24% and 13% (P < 0.05). Therefore, the positive
psychotherapy has been effective on the degree and level
of happiness and its components in the posttest and
follow‑up stages.
The results of ANCOVA with the deletion of the effect
of the pretest indicated that the difference between
the mean scores of the two groups in happiness and
its components in the posttest and follow‑up test are
significant (P < 0.05) [Table 4].
To identify the effect of positive psychotherapy on the
degree of gratitude, ANCOVA was used. The degrees of
the effect of positive psychotherapy on gratitude in the
posttest and follow‑up were 31% and 18% (P < 0.05).
Therefore, the positive psychotherapy has been effective
on the degree and level of gratitude in the posttest and
follow‑up stages.
Table 2: Comparing scores of happiness and its components as well as those of gratitude in investigated groups in diferent
evaluation stages
Variable groups
Overall happiness
Pleasant life
Engaged life
Meaningful life
Gratitude
166
Experimental group
Control group
Pretest
Posttest
Follow-up
Pretest
Posttest
Follow-up
11.25±36.58
4.5±10.83
4.5±12.83
7.3±12.91
3.4±25.16
9.1±44.25
3.71±13.83
3.47±15.41
3.21±15
2.6±27.5
8.69±44.4
3.17±14.1
2.82±15.8
3.79±3.79
2.63±26.4
7.48±37.66
2.65±11.83
3.43±14
2.94±11.83
4.5±24.66
8±38
3±11.5
3.35±14.16
3.44±12.33
3.21±25.16
6.17±35.5
2.51±10.59
2.69±13
1.85±12
3.17±23.83
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Amini, et al.: The effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on happiness and gratitude
Table 3: The results of ANCOVA related to the efect of positive psychotherapy on happiness and its components in diferent
evaluation stages
Variable
Evaluation stage
Sources of variations
Overall happiness
Posttest
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Pretest
Group
Follow-up
Pleasant life
Posttest
Follow-up
Engaged life
Posttest
Follow-up
Meaningful life
Posttest
Follow-up
Mean square
F
Eta squared
Statistical power
1127.48
298.14
277.67
517.42
128.35
52.45
43.66
93.21
184.83
25.53
27.69
57.24
192.14
17.06
50.41
23.57
47.09**
12.45**
5.98*
11.15**
22.03**
9**
6.7*
14.31**
54.09**
7.47*
4.15*
8.59**
76.81**
6.82*
7.24**
3.38
0.69
0.37
0.22
0.34
0.51
0.30
0.24
0.40
0.72
0.26
0.16
0.29
0.78
0.24
0.25
0.13
1
0.92
0.64
0.88
0.99
0.81
0.69
0.95
1
0.74
0.49
0.79
1
0.7
0.72
0.42
*P