We interview Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a leading authority on strengths, culture, courage, and happiness, about his extensive research in these areas and his pioneering work in the application of positive psychology to coaching. We explore the concept of psychological richness and its practical implications for improving our quality of life, the distinction between happiness and optimal happiness, and why self-reflection and engaging in difficult things is so important for improving our well-being.
Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener is widely known as the “Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” because his research has taken him to such far-flung places as Greenland, India, Kenya, and Israel. He has authored seven books, including the 2007 PROSE Award winner "The Courage Quotient," "Happiness," and the New York Times bestseller "The Upside of Your Dark Side," with Dr. Todd Kashdan, one of our first guests on Flourish FM. His most recent book is "Positive Provocation: 25 Questions to Elevate Your Coaching Practice," published in 2023. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed academic articles and chapters, two of which are “citation classics” (each cited more than 1,000 times).
Learn more and subscribe at flourishfmpodcast.com/robertbiswasdiener
Robert's website: robertdiener.com
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Time stamps:
01:49 - Optimal Happiness and Psychological Richness
03:09 - Defining Well-being and Happiness
04:42 - The Importance of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Aspects of Well-being
06:33 - Key Ingredients for Quality of Life
09:39 - Global Studies on Happiness
12:19 - Cultural Differences in Well-being
14:09 - Psychological Richness Across Cultures
16:17 - The Role of Distress Tolerance in Psychological Richness
18:18 - Clarifying Psychological Richness
20:44 - Emotional Agility and Psychological Richness
23:15 - The Balance of Positive and Negative Emotions
24:06 - The Role of Negative Emotions in a Full Life
25:25 - The Concept of Optimal Happiness
27:25 - Seeking Psychological Richness
28:54 - The Role of Negative Emotions in Psychological Richness
30:30 - Emotional Agility in Coaching
35:56 - Connecting Emotional Agility to Psychological Richness
36:59 - Transition to Discussing Positive Provocation
37:14 - Reflective Practice in Coaching
39:59 - Overview of Positive Provocation
40:40 - The Method of Reflective Practice in Coaching
45:01 - The Goal of Positive Provocation
00:45:26 - Psychological Richness as a Process
00:46:25 - The Importance of Reflective Practice
00:50:26 - Optimal Happiness in Achievement-Oriented Domains
00:53:14 - The Balance Between Satisfaction and Striving for More
00:53:54 - The Flourishing Question
