Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Developing a Middle East Positive Psychology (#167)

Louise Lambert 1 , Saddiga Jaber Al-Ghalib 2 , Zakeya Al Rasbi 3 , Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi 4 , Aziz Mulay-Shah 5
  1. Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  2. Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  3. Emirates Center for Happiness Research, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
  4. Psychology, Houston Community College, Houston, Texas, USA
  5. Managing Director, Global Communications Agency (GCA), Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The move towards greater global wellbeing is growing at a rapid pace. Most recently, this move has witnessed the development of two research centers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. An academic journal continues to thrive in the region, while a new positive psychology textbook was recently launched specifically geared towards the region. These developments, among many, are not only promising for the continued growth of regional wellbeing research from which we can learn about the contributing factors to a life well lived, they can also inspire the development of a regional positive psychology that incorporates aspects of culture and religion, as well as issues of national development. In this panel, multiple guest speakers discuss, explore and push the envelope of the next necessary steps to developing a regional positive psychology. We explore initiatives in commercial happiness, positive education, Islamic positive identity, Islamic character strengths and virtues, as well as national and organizational accounts of wellbeing currently underway. We conclude with future aims and discuss with some of the barriers to our work and how these can be addressed as a positive psychology community.

  1. Al-Ghalib, S. J., Al-Khalifah, S., A.-H., Salim, A. Y., Dahlawi, R. A. H. (2019). Saudi Arabia’s road to positivity: Positive psychology education and research. In L. Lambert, & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. Xx-xx). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
  2. Lambert, L., Abdulrehman, R., & Mirza, C. (2019). Coming full circle: Taking positive psychology to GCC universities. In L. Lambert, & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. Xx-xx). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
  3. Lambert, L., Karabchuk, T., & Joshanloo, M. (under review). Life satisfaction predictors in the United Arab Emirates: Gallup data analysis.
  4. Lambert, L., Mulay-Shah, A., Warren, M. A., & Younis, Y. (2019). The pursuit of national wellbeing policies across the GCC: The what, how, and why? In L. Lambert, & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. Xx-xx). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
  5. Mulay-Shah, A., Younis, Y., Wood, B. P., & Lambert, L. (2019). Commercial life: The private sector’s contribution to wellbeing. In L. Lambert, & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. Xx-xx). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
  6. Pasha-Zaidi, N., & Odeh, M. (2019). The life of PII: Developing a positive Islamic identity. In L. Lambert, & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. Xx-xx). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.