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Psycho-social Career Meta-capacities pp 265–276Cite as

Flourishing Interventions: A Practical Guide to Student Development

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Abstract

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.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Llewellyn Ellardus Van Zyl

  2. Optentia, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, Mahikeng, South Africa

    Marius Wilhelm Stander

Authors
  1. Llewellyn Ellardus Van Zyl
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  2. Marius Wilhelm Stander
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Correspondence to Llewellyn Ellardus Van Zyl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk, Gauteng, South Africa

    Melinde Coetzee

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Ellardus Van Zyl, L., Stander, M. (2014). Flourishing Interventions: A Practical Guide to Student Development. In: Coetzee, M. (eds) Psycho-social Career Meta-capacities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00645-1_14

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