We have evolved to enjoy sleep, sex and sweets - and so we do. But negativity permeates our lives too: we are drawn to murder and violence on the news; we remember the schoolyard bully as if it was yesterday, and we are taught to accept boring education. It is in our genes, but it is also deeply ingrained in our culture. We must pull ourselves together! This is the message from Hans Henrik Knoop, Associate Professor at Aarhus Univesity, President of the European Network for Positive Psychology. If we create the right conditions for growth and self-regulation, we can raise ourselves above primitive desires to achieve far greater well-being. AUTHOR: Hans Henrik Knoop is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Director of the Positive Psychology Research Unit at the Danish School of Education and President of the European Network for Positive Psychology. Knoop is a trained educational psychologist and has spent 15 years researching and teaching in the field of positive psychology, focusing on learning and creativity in education and professional work. Hans Positive Psychology argues that if we create the right conditions for growth and self-regulation, we can raise ourselves above primitive desires to achieve far greater well-being.
