Flourishing interventions: A practical guide to student development

This chapter presents a practical guide for the development of flourishing students. Flourishing is defined as a positive psychological state characterised by positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishments with various positive work/life outcomes (Seligman, Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being, 2011). Within an academic setting, recent research has alluded to the relationship between flourishing students and academic performance (Van Zyl and Rothmann, Journal of Psychology in Africa 22(3), 2012). Howell (Journal of Positive Psychology 4(1):1–13, 2009) found that flourishing students were less likely to procrastinate, had higher levels of self-control, adopted a mastery-approach towards their goals and reported higher levels of academic performance. Further, Seligman (Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being, 2011) argued that flourishing students has a higher probability to experience fruitful and rewarding careers. Therefore, it is imperative to equip students with the necessary skills to enhance flourishing early in their academic careers. This chapter aims to present the theoretical implications of flourishing as well as to provide a practical approach towards developing flourishing students.