This volume looks at positive psychology from a culturally-responsive, empirically-driven perspective to avoid a descent into pseudoscience. Through evidence-based, regionally relevant topics in the field of well-being, this volume shows how increasing levels of excellence in the GCC region enhance upon business, education, research, and social innovations. Grounded in the empirical research literature, each chapter applies psychological concepts to locally relevant considerations, such as culture, religion, and socio-political contexts, making this book an essential tool for understanding positive psychology and well-being in the GCC nations and beyond.

Autorentext

**Dr. Louise Lambert, PhD, **teaches university-level courses in introduction to psychology, positive psychology in the workplace, happiness and wellbeing, ethical reasoning, workplace psychology and business ethics. She is a Canadian Registered Psychologist with almost 20 years of counselling practise in the non-profit, education, mental health and primary healthcare sectors, as well as the Editor-in-Chief and founder of the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to uncovering excellence in the Middle East region. A published researcher in the field of happiness, she also works to teach the skills of wellbeing and character to community individuals, university and high school students, as well as organizations. She is currently working with the Emirates Center for Happiness Research at the United Arab Emirates University.   

Dr. Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, PhD, has degrees in Communications, Education, and Psychology. She has worked as an international educator for almost 20 years focusing on language development and cultural studies with an emphasis on Muslim populations. Her articles have appeared in a number of professional journals including the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, Ethnicities and The Journal of International Women's Studies. She is the author of The Colour of Mehndi, a novel that explores acculturation, family values and mental illness within the Pakistani-American community and the lead editor of Mirror on the Veil: a Collection of Personal Narratives on Hijab and Veiling.

Inhalt
Chapter  1. Introduction ( Lambert).- Chapter  2. Well-being Policy I and II (Lambert).- Chapter 3. Well-being,  Social Change and Policy for Nation Building (Younis).- Chapter 4. The New Democracy: Well-being and Nation States (Mulay-Shah). - Chapter 5. Big Data and Well-being (Thomas).- Chapter 6. Well-being Measures (Lambert).- Chapter 7. Regional Research, Publishing Bias and the way forward for Positive Psychology (Lambert).- Chapter 8. Well-being and Building Design (Johnson).- Chapter 9. Organizational well-being (Walper).- Chapter 10. Positive Psychology in the Workplace (Lambert).- Chapter 11. Islamic Well-being and Terrorism (Estes). Chapter 12. Positive Education: Character Strengths at University (Lambert).- Chapter 13. Wellness in Higher Education: Preventing Burnout and Promoting Excellence in University Professors (El-Haddad). - Chapter 14. Positive Clinical Psychology (Rashid).- Chapter 15. Positive Islamic Identity (Pasha-Zaidi). - Chapter 16. Islamic Perspectives and Well-being (Joshanloo). - Chapter 17. Media, Consumption, & Well-being (Bronwyn Wood).