Table of Contents

About the Authors; Foreword by Christopher Peterson; Acknowledgments; Preface; SECTION I: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND; 1. Introduction; SECTION II: VIRTUES AND STRENGTHS IN MOVIES; The Virtue of Wisdom and Knowledge; 2. Wisdom and Knowledge I: Creativity and Curiosity; 3. Wisdom and Knowledge II: Open-mindedness, Love of Learning, and Perspective; The Virtue of Courage; 4. Courage I: Bravery and Integrity; 5. Courage II: Vitality and Persistence; The Virtue of Humanity; 6. Humanity I: Love; 7. Humanity II: Kindness and Social Intelligence; The Virtue of Justice; 8. Justice: Citizenship, Fairness, and Leadership; The Virtue of Temperance; 9. Temperance: Forgiveness, Humility, Prudence, and Self-regulation; The Virtue of Transcendence; 10. Transcendence I: Appreciation of Beauty/Excellence and Gratitude; 11. Transcendence II: Hope and Humor; 12. Transcendence III: Spirituality; SECTION III: CONCLUSION AND APPENDICES; 13. Conclusion: Summary and Future Directions; Appendix A: Exemplars in Positive Psychology at the Movies; Appendix B: Questions for Classroom, Therapy, and Movie Group Discussions; Appendix C: Positive Psychology Movie Clips; Appendix D: Sample Syllabus of a Positive Psychology Course that Uses Movies; Appendix E: Website Resources: Movies, Positive Psychology, and Strength Building; Appendix F: 100 Cheers: The American Film Institute's Top 100 Inspiring Movies; Appendix G: Positive Psychology Movies; References; Index.

Reviews

"This book is both accessible and rigorous. Reading it will not only help you better understand the field of positive psychology, it could actually make you happier." Prof. Tal Ben Shahar, PhD (author, consultant, and teacher - including the most popular class at Harvard University, Psychology 1504, "Positive Psychology") "A wonderful example of how positive psychology affords ways to make sense of movies that show what is best about people...This is a good and smart book." Prof. Christopher Peterson, PhD (Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan)" Positive Psychology at the Movies is an engaging read. As well as providing a plethora of ideas for educating students about values, it also stimulates intellectually and would inspire anyone with an interest in films to compile a list of must-see movies. I would see this book as a useful teaching tool for many university courses. Each chapter can be read on its own. The significance of the movies for the particular strength is linked with a clear synopsis of relevant themes and characters. I also could also envisage the whole text used as a university elective in either psychology or education. Positive Psychology at the Movies provides an engaging perspective on how to teach values education. It includes scholarly research to explain the nature and development of strengths and virtues and provides an extensive list of films that can be used to consolidate learning around the concept of positive psychology. Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology. Vol 9, 2009, pp. 32-33, reviewed by Melissa Monfries, University of Melbourne