The DOI matches its Crossref record; 96 of the 99 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
How WEIRD are positive psychology interventions? A bibliometric analysis of randomized controlled trials on the science of well-being
Open accessAbstract
The past two decades have witnessed a rapid rise in well-being research, and a profusion of empirical studies on positive psychology interventions (PPIs). This bibliometric analysis quantifies the extent to which rigorous research on PPIs that employ randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reaches beyond Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic (WEIRD) populations. A search was conducted through databases including PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus for studies from 1998 to 2017. In total, we found 187 full-text articles that included 188 RCTs from 24 countries. We found that RCTs on the efficacy of PPIs are still predominately conducted in western countries, which accounted for 78.2% of the studies. All these countries are highly industrialized and democratic, and study populations are often highly educated and have a high income. However, there has been a strong and steady increase in publications from non-Western countries since 2012, indicating a trend towards globalization of positive psychology research.
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“Firstly, it is expected that majority of participants will be mothers, limiting the generalizability of conclusions to fathers.”
From Effectiveness of a positive psychology and mindfulness-based app on mental health for parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder: study protocol of a pragmatic international randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
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In the citing paper
“Indeed, some research has found that Western-derived interventions for psychological problems can conflict with norms of nonWestern populations. 70-72”
From Randomized Controlled Trials of Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Interventions Over the Past Two Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis. (2021) · cites this paper as [71]
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Citations
Cites
The weirdest people in the world?
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x0999152x · Cited by 12,641
Positive psychology: An introduction.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.5 · Cited by 11,351
(2011) · Cited by 7,157
Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.60.5.410 · Cited by 5,947
WEIRD languages have misled us, too
Majid, A., & Levinson, S. C. (2010) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x1000018x · Cited by 4,177
Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back From Negative Emotional Experiences.
Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.320 · Cited by 3,947
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/466029a · Cited by 3,441
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20593 · Cited by 2,955 · cited 2×
“PPIs may bypass this problem because they are focused on enhancing positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), and through the practice of gratitude, optimism, acts of kindness, meditation, and other activities that are not stigmatizing (Layous, Chancellor, Lyubomirsky,…”
BackgroundBulletin of the World Health Organization
Frick, K. D., Lynch, M. C., West, S. K., Muñoz, B., & Mkocha, H. A. (2003) · Bulletin of the World Health Organization · Cited by 2,656
The neglected 95%: Why American psychology needs to become less American.
Arnett, J. J. (2008) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.63.7.602 · Cited by 2,178
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- Díaz E. C., 2012, Papeles Del Psicólogo, 33, 172
- Eysenck M. W. E., 2001, The Psychologist, 14, 353
- Hendriks T., 2017, Manuscript Submitted for Publication
- La Roche M., 2010, The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 7, 26
- Luchetti M., 2014, British Journal of Medical Practitioners, 7, a731
- Macaskill A., 2016, Healthcare, 4
- Mody A., 2004, Georgetown Journal of International Law
- Schui G., 2010, Applied Psychology, 2, 52
- Vazquez C., 2013, Papeles Del Psicólogo, 34, 91
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions to improve mental wellbeing
van Agteren, J., Iasiello, M., Lo, L., Bartholomaeus, J., Kopsaftis, Z., Carey, M., & Kyrios, M. (2021) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01093-w · Cited by 510
Hendriks, T., Schotanus-Dijkstra, M., Hassankhan, A., de Jong, J. T. V. M., & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2019) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00082-1 · Cited by 380
Self-citationThe critiques and criticisms of positive psychology: a systematic review
van Zyl, L. E., Gaffaney, J., van der Vaart, L., Dik, B. J., & Donaldson, S. I. (2023) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2178956 · Cited by 281
“There are significant differences in how collectivistic and individualistic cultures view mental health and well-being (cf., Hendriks et al., 2019); yet the Western model is positioned to be universally applicable (Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2022).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialThe power of negative and positive episodic memories
Williams, S. E., Ford, J. H., & Kensinger, E. A. (2022) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-022-01013-z · Cited by 188
Hossain, M. M. (2020) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.23690.1 · Cited by 166
Metadata
- Authors
- Hendriks, T., Warren, M. A., Schotanus-Dijkstra, M., Hassankhan, A., Graafsma, T., Bohlmeijer, E., & de Jong, J.
- Affiliations
- Anton de Kom University of Suriname (SR)
- Western Washington University (US)
- University of Twente (NL)
- Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Hendriks, Tom
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Journal of Positive Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-08-29
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 489-501
- ISSN
- 1743-9760 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-9779
- OpenAlex
- W2889446527
- Cited by
- 280
- References
- 99
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 11
- FWCI
- 20.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- research.utwente.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- The Journal of Positive Psychology (publishedVersion)
- University of Twente Research Information (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Keywords
- positive psychology interventions, WEIRD populations, research generalizability, cross-cultural research, randomized controlled trials, well-being, globalization of science, publication trends
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