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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Positive Psychology by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4.7
stars
5,823 ratings

About the Course

This course discusses research findings in the field of positive psychology, conducted by Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues. It also features practical applications of this science that you can put to use immediately to help you live a full and meaningful life....

Top reviews

BA

Sep 2, 2020

This course entitled Positive Psychology changed my perspective in life and cultivated more positivity that will not only stregthen my social relationship, my personality, mindset but also my health.

JC

Jul 2, 2018

One of the best psychology courses I have taken. I have learned so much and how simple it is to implement these principles into everyday life. Thank you for providing this rich material to all of us.

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1 - 25 of 1,728 Reviews for Positive Psychology

By Suzette J

Aug 10, 2020

Thi was a very useful subject, with good examples and experiences, weekly exercises that assisted me to reflect on the teachings and the further readings to take my understanding to the next level.

By Jennifer D C

Jul 3, 2018

One of the best psychology courses I have taken. I have learned so much and how simple it is to implement these principles into everyday life. Thank you for providing this rich material to all of us.

By Rosanne P

Jun 11, 2017

I really enjoyed this course. It is a area that bleeds into other fields of study and can be applied in many different settings. I enjoyed the varying uses of visuals, videos, and discussions

By Irmina U

Jul 21, 2017

Great course. Learned a lot. Good material. Strong curriculum. A bit slow at time. Quality of video could be improved. Well worth the cost. It would be great if next level course was offered.

By Adrienne H

Oct 25, 2016

No longer a entirely FREE course.

All courses that require you to upgrade to submit quiz answers should be noted in the information about the course! I imagine you are loosing more and more people due to this. Once again greed takes precedence.

By Sinjini S

Sep 2, 2016

I just finished this course. I want to give a frank feedback since I see a lot of untapped possibilities in this course. On the strengths, it began with a high note and got me glued with expectations and promises. The instructor sounded extremely comfortable and confident with her subject, and had a very calming and pleasant presence which helped establish a kind of "remote" trust. On the improvement areas, I however have a few to list. For one, the intensity, rigour and to-the-pointedness of the content sharply fell after the first week. Having known about mindfulness, Metta meditations, gratitude, it became personally disappointing to me how this course conveyed so little about them and impacted so less than can be possible with the time and space alloted. The framework which initially looked hopeful is perhaps not the best framework, as much as is said about this not being "spectator course". Because this format diluted the intensity and possibility of the course, making it drag and bore towards the end. I wish there were guest interviews of more experienced academicians than what happened here as interviews from which there was little to learn. Honestly, this is my 4th of 5th course on positive psychology and this one will have to make many a fixes to any other that I've taken on coursera. The course ended and I find myself not a tad upbeater or nourished, or knowing something useful that I did not know already other than about vegas nerves which really did not make sense to end user who are here to know what and how to do things and feel better.

By BIM A N P A

Sep 3, 2020

This course entitled Positive Psychology changed my perspective in life and cultivated more positivity that will not only stregthen my social relationship, my personality, mindset but also my health.

By Khalood B

Jul 5, 2020

They don't let you take the quiz unless you pay for it. A sheer waste of time. They should have mentioned it beforehand that even if you enrolled for free and don't want any certificates you would still have to pay just to attempt the quiz.

By Carl S

Jun 20, 2020

Great introductory course with very useful information and practical techniques. I'm especially interested in Lovingkindness meditation and I'm incorporating this into my daily routine! Love it!

By Rukaiya F

May 29, 2020

I just love this course. I'm a software engineering student but I love human psychology. This positive psychology helps me in my real life a lot. Specially the meditation part. Thank you so much.

By Sonal B

Jan 13, 2021

This course has given me the whole new perspective and purpose to my life. I would recommend to everyone to do this course not only for your betterment but for the betterment for our entire society.

By Zhou C

Dec 2, 2016

I do love and strongly recommend this Positive Psychology course taught by Barbara L. Fredrickson together with the participation of other four interesting scholars. This fantastic and well-designed course provides me with the “night-version goggle” to actively feel the “love” through noticing the Micro-moment and building positive connection with others to form the positive resonance. The assignment of each week is really practical and beneficial to empower me every day. For instance, I have been keeping writing the “Gratitude Notes” for several weeks and every time I encounter some hard time, I will reflect those grateful blessings I own now and my mood will turn better to face the challenge. Also, sometimes when I am down or tired, I will take the “lovingkindness meditation” after which I will feel much better. Beside, based on this amazing experience, I will continue my positive psychology learning and chose a positive psychology course in my university next semester as well. For me, happiness endures due to everyday taste and feeling, so does the study of how to pursue happiness.

By louie d

Oct 10, 2020

Very good programme in enhancing one’s positive outlook. The course has clarified some of the misconceived perception I had with regard to positive psychology and brought light to my understanding.

By paola p

Sep 6, 2015

the course is interesting and challenging. it presents the positive psychology paradigm in a broad and exhaustive way. the loving kindness meditation is a special gift that will be with me forever.

I especially appreciate how the lessons were managed, with the small group of four "students" who were then interviewed as experts in their fields of study or practice.

I only have to complain about the video quality. especially long videos used to interrupt after the first 5 minutes, both image and sound or image only. the only way to go further was refreshing continuously. so I hadn't any chance to do all the embedded activities.

my general review is: excellent course to have a first glance at positive psychology and a good platform to dive in from.

By Matthew N M (

Aug 20, 2015

Very interesting and useful course. It was very easy, but I think there is a lot of good information in here about how positive emotions and attitudes affect the mind, body, and society.

By huda h

May 15, 2016

I dropped out of this course twice is coz i found it absolutely dead. It says positive psychology but it really look so much constraint to even watch the first 3 videos without falling asleep. This is probably the worse course I've studied on coursera. I have studied at least 7 courses on Coursera- of which I loved Social Psychology and Criminal, and I even paid for the certificates. This course literally killed me.... The worst EVER I've come across

By Pramod A

May 17, 2016

I learnt several significant things: that Psychology can also apply to the Positive psyche and its development, and the existence of the Vagus nerve, which to me was a revelation about the physical link between the brain/mind and the heart - something most of us intuitively believe to be true. So I know there is science to support the advice of "think with your heart!"

I like the format Dr. Fredrickson uses so effectively - a circle of participants who share their experiences and perspectives in a friendly manner, this walking the talk. It almost makes me want to join the group. About the only thing missing is a glowing fireplace! She also emanates a very positive, open approach, again teaching by example, which I believe is the best way to teach.

Finally, I am very comforted by the knowledge Positive Psychology supports the teachings of Buddha and Jesus, which essentially is "As you think, so shall you be." This realization and awareness will change how I interact with others, bring about results in accordance with positive thoughts, and so change my life. As a first step, I will join IPPA.

My deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Fredrickson and her colleagues in the course. Thank you!

By Suzan D

Oct 9, 2019

What a great course,ahhhh! I learned so much about positive psychology and honored to practice what I learned in actual life.

By Darleen M

Apr 18, 2016

Should state up front that there is no auditing. Unable to continue this course without Upgrading.

By Guilherme P d A

Aug 11, 2020

A princípio, imaginei que fosse ser só mais um curso sem fundamento científico, desses que são vendidos aos montes pela internet e que buscam te ensinar a buscar só o lado positivo em tudo, simplificando perigosamente a complexidade inerente ao ser humano e à própria vida. Mas não. Depois de conclui-lo, posso dizer com tranquilidade que estou convencido de que este curso é muito sério e científico. Além disso, a meu ver, ele acerta muito ao não desconsiderar o valor da dualidade do plano sentimental do ser humano (emoções positivas e negativas). Sua proposta é despertar e desenvolver no estudante a capacidade de lidar de modo mais fraterno consigo e com as demais pessoas que estão ao seu redor, a fim de criar, através de bons hábitos, uma comunidade mais saudável em todos os termos e aspectos. Em resumo, é mais uma das diversas "pílulas vermelhas" que podemos tomar se quisermos nos tornar mais lúcidos e conscientes sobre a vida.

By Shilpa b

Jun 24, 2020

Positivity offset, positivity resonance, loving-kindness meditation, and looking at 'love' through the lens of emotion as well as relationship science were the key highlights of this course for me. This isn't your typical Positive Psychology course where you learn about the history and tenets of Positive Psychology. This course will essentially take you through a journey of positive emotions (and by the way, happiness isn't the only positive emotion out there). On a more personal note, I had opted for this course with the hope that I would learn something new, in addition to what I already know. And well, it completely lived up to my expectations.

And as someone who first read about Barbara Fredrickson's work (the Broaden and Build Theory of Emotions) in high school, I had never imagined that 10 years later I would be opting for a course taught by Barbara Fredrickson herself !

By Matea G

Aug 13, 2017

This course was so eye-opening! It contains so much knowledge and useful information but also a lot of ideas for putting them into practical every-day use! I think it can be beneficial in many different ways. It's really a good step up if you are battling depression yourself, it's a great source of information if you are trying to help or coach others and also just a great tool for improving your life, health, and level of happiness. It's so smart but made in such a simple, understandable way. So grateful to Barbara and the whole team that put this together. In my country (Croatia) there is little to no talk about positive psychology and this was a unique opportunity for me to learn more about it and I am sure it will help me with my own project based around creating more happiness in our daily lives.

By Bo

May 1, 2020

I honestly was blown away by the quality and usefulness of this course.

This is not the somewhat intense reading theoretical course I was expecting that always makes you stop and think about if you could actually use the material. This course is taught with amazing quality genuine passion and just a group of passionate professionals (or soon to be :) that discuss the findings and concepts of their many years of study/experience and how to use those on our day to day life for not only us but also people around us.

The most tangible and clear benefit of taking this course was the loving-kindness meditation. There's a lot of awesome thing's in here but you don't feel bad when you just use one of them as long as you do it properly.

By Jacqueline D

Oct 18, 2015

Thoroughly enjoyed this course on many levels - it has boosted my academic, mental and physical health - which I really was not expecting. It was pleasurable, well laid out and delivered with thoroughly enjoyable, pleasant tasks. It was easy to fit the short lectures into my life and also easy and interesting to plough through it when I did have time to spend. I learned a lot that I can implement very, very easily. I shall be recommending this to many people. I 'feel a lot better for doing this course. I am interested to see how it plays out in my life over the next three months.

Thank you Dr. Fredrickson. You were engaging and inspirational. I would love to do any other courses you may have in this format.

By Samyuktha M

Jun 13, 2020

The course in itself is a very enlightening subject, and to add it off with such a great instructor, it was great! The ambience created through the course is very relaxed and really lets you take in the essence of positive psychology. Weekly homework assignments are also extremely rewarding and a fun way to appreciate the positivity we experienced in the past and also and understand more about the strength behind each micro-moment of positivity

The course is overall very well structured with a balance between video classes and reading materials, and it not only explains what is positive psychology, but it also gives insights into the people in various fields, working with positive psychology.