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As a continuation of my previous post on Happiness, I’ll talk a little bit about Positive Psychology (PP) and the lessons we can learn, as writers, from this emerging field (perhaps in a way you might not predict, though.)

In 1998, the American Psychological Association’s then-president, Martin Seligman, used the term “Positive Psychology” to describe a new trend in Psychology research: the study of how humans become and stay happy. Dr. Seligman was tired of mental illness being the sole purpose of Psychology research and practice; He wanted Psychology to study more of what makes and keeps people happy instead of only mending the sick. PP has been the trending topic in Psych since then.  Graduate students are clamoring to study topics like resiliency, decision-making, sense of control, character strength and uplifting traits. Journals publish more and more studies about the effects of “learned optimism.” Books like Stumbling on Happiness by Dan Gilbert are topping New York Times’ bestseller lists.

Like with all emerging fields, PP has its critics.  The biggest and strongest critique of PP is that the field isn’t regulated.  Any person can stick the term “Positive Psychologist” on the end of their name and claim to know how to apply the concepts that certified scientists and counselors developed.  This means that every “life coach” kook is all over the Web promoting themselves as a “PP Counselor,” and no law or national certification program is barring them from doing so.

Another critique that is of lesser strength but more relevant to us as writers is the type of  personality PP seems to attract.  Those kooks on the internet and late-night infomercials are the most slimy of the bunch, but from an outsider’s view it does seem that the PP people have drunk the kool-aid.  PP people are very gung-ho and tend to be exuberant evangelists for the field.  The majority of them are do-gooders at heart; they want people to be happy and they think they’ve found science that can help.

Do you know a person like that?  A person who stresses the positive so adamantly that it becomes unbelievable or in the very least, annoying?  Your answer to this question will probably have more to do with your own place on the cynical scale than with the PP-type you’re remembering, but nonetheless let’s take a look at that character more closely. This person isn’t a snake-oil salesman; they are what I call a Believer.  For reasons they usually aren’t too familiar with themselves, Believers truly feel that their solution is the answer to many people’s problems. How does a first encounter with a person like this go?  What are you thinking?  What would by-standers think as they listened to your conversation?

One thing about people who are enthusiastic about life is that they are usually magnetic.  They light up a room, they are always surrounded by a crowd.  People naturally gravitate toward other people who are happy and seem in control.  But what happens when you get close enough to see that they are just trying a tiny bit too hard to be legitimate?  What if the consistency or substance isn’t there?  How does that character keep up the charade?  How do you see it?  How, if there is truly no substance, do you as a reader discover it? Will it be in the Believer’s frayed pant leg or missing button?  Will it be in the quick glance down she makes after every human encounter? Just like the emerging field of PP, every character must have cracks in the armor.  Even the Truest-Happiest-Believer-of-All-Things-Positive has a ding in the shield.  What is it?  Does the critique of that person’s belief-system hold water?  Could the character make a journey over time to mend the damage?

You need both positive and negative forces in opposing characters for your novel or work of fiction to be memorable.  Chart which side, positive or negative, your character will fall on.  No middle ground.  You can make a sliding scale (using a common measurement tactic from Psychology), but you still must divide the scale into two halves.  The scale can have two of any extremes (e.g. Grape Jelly Fan vs Strawberry Jelly Fan), but you need to put each of your characters on that spectrum.

If PP had its way with your characters, they would test them on a variety of scales to diagnose current states and predict future behaviors.  PP would look at self-efficacy (which is like “agency” – the ability and belief that one can accomplish tasks and goals on their own), resiliency (the ability to bounce back from trauma) and perhaps even sense of humor and daily laughter rates.  The science behind PP is the same as a lot of Personality, Developmental, and Behavioral Psychology, they are just choosing to measure different traits.  As writers, we tend to go into the dark sides of characters; It’s almost easier to write drama than it is to write pleasantries.  But having no happy characters, or people who are optimists that promote achievement and satisfaction in others, isn’t giving your novel the opportunity for some significant conflicts.

***Wacko Wednesdays:  Each Wednesday, I’ll outline a human quirk or phenomenon in the study of Personality Psychology, or perhaps talk about a specific type of research into personality.  I’ll provide information, links, and my own experiences to help you along in your goals of writing memorable characters.***

Writers don’t write about mothers much.  I was at a writing conference where the speaker asked the audience to call out something they’d read that examined the mother-child relationship.   No-one spoke up.  The speaker had made her point.  The mother/child relationship is very complex and close to the heart.  Even Disney likes to kill off moms so they don’t have to deal with trying to navigate those murky-mommy-issues waters.  Fathers, on the other hand, abound in fiction. Father’s Day is this Sunday.  Because we know all psychosis comes from our parents (not!), for today’s Wacko Wednesdays, let’s talk about at writing about the father/child relationship, or writing a character as a father.

For decades, psych research focused on the mother’s parenting as pathology for mental illness in children.  More and more, researchers are looking at the father’s influence (especially with the area of girls and eating disorders). The father’s attitudes and behaviors toward parenting would influence your main character (MC).  The father’s raising of your MC will probably all be backstory that happens offstage (i.e. not in the novel), but it is perhaps the most important character detail that fuels your MC’s current motivations. Let’s take a look at how some psych research examines how a father’s behaviors influence his children.

In the book, “The Role of the Father in Child Development” (.pdf of intro here), Editor Michael E. Lamb outlines the 3 areas that many researchers concentrate on when researching the father/child relationship: Engagement, Accessibility, and Responsibility.

“Whether and how much time fathers spend with their children are questions at the heart of much research conducted over the past three decades. In the mid-1970s a number of investigators sought to describe—often by detailed observation and sometimes also through detailed maternal and paternal reports—the extent of paternal interactions with children (Pleck & Masciadrelli, this volume; Lamb & Lewis, this volume). Many of these researchers have framed their research around the three types of paternal involvement (engagement, accessibility, responsibility) described by Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, and Levine (1987). As Pleck and Masciadrelli note, researchers have consistently shown that fathers spend much less time with their children than do mothers. In two-parent families in which mothers are unemployed, fathers spend about one-fourth as much time as mothers in direct interaction or engagement with their children, and about a third as much time being accessible to their children. Many fathers assume essentially no responsibility (as defined by participation in key decisions, availability at short notice, involvement in the care of sick children, management and selection of alternative child care, etc.) for their children’s care or rearing, however, and the small subgroup of fathers who assume high degrees of responsibility has not been studied extensively. Average levels of paternal responsibility have increased over time, albeit slowly, and there appear to be small but continuing increases over time in average levels of all types of paternal involvement.”

Engagement, Accessibility and Responsibility are the three things you can think about when forming your character.

Engagement:  How “hands-on” was your MC’s father when she was small?  Was he a good guy but had a job that took him away often?  Did he just seem like he was yelling everytime he spoke to his kids, but he was just trying to encourage them?

Accessibility:  Could your MC bring any question under the sun to her dad or was she relegated to communicating with him through his secretary?  Did he send the MC off to boarding school and say “See ya at Christmas?”  Was there always a DO NOT DISTURB sign on his door, but he was very attentive at dinner time?

Responsibility:  Did your MC’s father support his family well?  Was he a good earner but a fierce disciplinarian?  Was he a drinker but loved his family with all his heart?  Was he a drifter that constantly told his kids to reach for the stars?

Look for ways you can build in contradictions in each of these areas, then think about how a kid would reconcile those inconsistencies.  How we judge people is a lot of our character.  A father’s personality greatly influences our sense of judgment. In flat characterizations, fathers are either no-good bums or unsung heroes, drinking louses or quiet loyalists.  Usually a main character (MC) comes to acknowledge the father’s cheating ways or learns to appreciate the constant wisdom that they couldn’t recognize before.  It’s all so cheesy and cheap.  Try to go for some more depth.  What kind of roles does the father character in your book play?  What kind of parent is he?  Is he a stand-offish, everyone-has-to-learn-for-themselves kind of guy or is he a soccer dad that is with his kids every step of the way? How can he be both?  What generation is he in?  Is he a 70-year-old but a modern diaper-changing/sling-wearing dad?  Was he raised to think he’d let the kids grow up before he had any kind of relationship with them, even though he’s just 20 years old?

Take those three aspects of measuring fatherhood, Engagement, Accessibility and Responsibility, and mix and match good and bad characteristics of each.  Make the father character a conflicted, true-hearted, complicated being that marked your MC with distinctive world views. Happy Father’s Day, to all of those dads out there!

My background is in psychology. Now I’m a writer. And I blog. Why not bring those three interests together? Introducing WACKO WEDNESDAYS!

Every Wednesday, I’ll introduce a personality trait/disorder writing meme. Use the info to add interesting facets to your characters. We all have little behaviors/beliefs/superstitions/pathology that make us unique. Your characters are the same way. Make them memorable, give ‘em a small disorder or related personality flaw.

Since it’s raining here on this chilly Fall day, let us start Wacko Wednesdays simply with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

I’m sure you’ve heard of SAD. In a nutshell, it is depression in the winter months. Experts debate on its causes, origins, treatments and whether or not it should even have a name other than “depression,” but SAD has been publicized enough that you can write it into your novel and assume most readers can follow along (the controversy can help make things interesting, too).

Here is an academic article explaining SAD. The article goes into detail about the symptoms and behaviors of a person with SAD. Here’s a link from that page that leads to an end-user pamphlet explaining SAD, which contains enough information for you to get the gist, including this:

Not everyone with SAD has the same symptoms, but common symptoms of
		  winter depression include the following: 

A change in appetite, especially a craving for sweet or starchy
			 foods

Weight gain 

A heavy feeling in the arms or legs 

A drop in energy level

Fatigue 

A tendency to oversleep 

Difficulty concentrating 

Irritability 

Increased sensitivity to social rejection 

Avoidance of social situations 

Symptoms of the summer depression version of SAD are poor appetite,
		  weight loss and insomnia. Either type of SAD may also include some of the
		  symptoms that are present in other kinds of depression, such as feelings of
		  guilt, a loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy, ongoing
		  feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, or physical problems such as
		  headaches and stomach aches.

Symptoms of SAD keep coming back and tend to come and go at about the
		  same time every year. The changes in mood are not necessarily related to
		  obvious seasonal stressors (like being regularly unemployed during the winter).
		  

Simply write these things into a character’s profile, and have the character (and plot) act accordingly. This type of research for personality quirks can be done easily on-line. A developmental or adolescent psychology textbook also has a wealth of information that can help you build believable, “real” characters.

Do you have any questions or suggestions for the WW meme? Please comment here or email me at yahoo(dot)com with username ccp6867.

Come back to PC on Wacko Wednesdays for the next personality quirk meme!