Positive Student Development

Positive student development theory provides a new framework for educating resilient individuals who will thrive in their personal and professional lives. This approach explores how the use of positive psychological constructs including hope, curiosity, zest, persistence, and altruistic love lead to student success as measured by retention, academic indicators, and overall well-being. Learn more about each of the central constructs of positive student development using the links below.

Extraordinary Lives Colloquium

Join us June 7-8, 2010, for the inaugural Extraordinary Lives Colloquium to delve more deeply into Positive Student Development, its constructs and concepts, and application of this remarkable new approach to developing students.  Learn More

 

“The primary goal of higher education is not merely the successful completion of college degrees. It is the formation of a generation of people that clearly understand their unique contribution and genuinely desire to use this uniqueness for the common good.” - Shushok & Hulme, 2005

Hope

Hope entails one's positive expectations for the future. A hopeful individual is one who is able to create paths to obtain ambitious, yet realistic, goals and has the requisite motivation to reach those goals.


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Curiosity

Curiosity innately causes one to explore, learn, and grow. A curious individual is motivated to seek out novel experiences, take risks, explore conflict, and/or embrace complexity.


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Altruistic Love

Altruistic love drives one to meet the goal of improving another's well being. Altruistically loving people are aware of the needs of others and have as their ultimate goal the addressing of those needs.


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Zest

Zest provides one a sense of aliveness and enthusiasm for life. People full of zest posses both physical and psychological energy. Zest can be influenced by the fulfillment or deprivation of basic human needs including: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.


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Persistence & Self-Regulation

Persistence is the ability to maintain goal-directed behavior in the face of setbacks and obstacles. Self-Regulation is a similar concept; however, it adds the dimension of exercising control over one's own responses to reach a goal.


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PSD General Resources

Informed by emerging research in the fields of Positive Psychology, Student Development Theory, and more, Positive Student Development is a whole new framework designed to empower students to live extraordinary lives.


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