Abstract:
Drawing on Seligman’s PERMA model, flourishing is described as a state of optimal human functioning. This thesis independently evaluates a positive psychology intervention designed to impact individual flourishing and pathways to flourishing. Employees from several organisations (n = 36) received three monthly individual coaching and group sessions, and were asked to complete self-administered homework. In this quasi-experimental study, intervention participants completed questionnaires at pre-intervention to provide baseline data and after each of the three individual coaching sessions. Employees in a control group (n = 22) completed two questionnaires at pre- and post-intervention. Questionnaires measured self-report levels of flourishing, optimism, positive affect, engagement, belonging, meaning in life, self-efficacy, innovative cognitive style, and insomnia. Results of multilevel modelling revealed that participants in the treatment group experienced a significantly greater increase in flourishing, optimism, and meaning in life across time, when compared to participants in the non-treatment group. Null effects were found for the remaining variables. Findings suggest that employees reported improvements from the intervention, yet the transferability of these findings to other populations is questioned. Overall, the results are consistent with previous research and indicate that positive psychological interventions may be an effective strategy for increasing flourishing and other states of wellbeing in a workplace environment.
