Toward a positive psychology of indigenous thriving and reciprocal research partnership model
Journal article
Craven, Rhonda Gai, Ryan, Richard Michael, Mooney, Janet, Vallerand, Robert J., Dillon, Anthony William Oswald, Blacklock, Fabri and Magson, Natasha R.. (2016). Toward a positive psychology of indigenous thriving and reciprocal research partnership model. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 43, pp. 32-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.04.003
Authors | Craven, Rhonda Gai, Ryan, Richard Michael, Mooney, Janet, Vallerand, Robert J., Dillon, Anthony William Oswald, Blacklock, Fabri and Magson, Natasha R. |
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Abstract | There are many examples of Indigenous success in the current Australian context. However, little is known about how to identify, measure, and emulate these successes more broadly. Partly, this can be attributed to an array of theoretical and methodological limitations that have plagued Indigenous Australian research. The latter include a lack of concerted research being founded upon the voices and agency of Indigenous children, youth, and communities and a lack of large-scale quantitative research. Hence, Indigenous Australian research has often failed to yield a translational evidence-base resulting in meaningful policy and impacts of salience to Indigenous Australians. Simultaneously, positive psychology, with its emphasis on explicating how individuals can thrive and get the most out of life, has become an increasingly important part of contemporary scientific psychology. Rather than replacing conventional psychology, positive psychology adds to it, broadening the study of human experience. Many tenants of positive psychology are aligned with Indigenous conceptualizations of human experience, especially those emphasizing the wholeness and interrelatedness of human experiences. In addition, positive psychology focuses on strengths, and Indigenous leaders, organizations, and community members' prefer approaches, whereby Indigenous strengths are identified so that they can be emulated more broadly. In this paper, we describe our implementation of a reciprocal research partnership model of Indigenous thriving, utilizing a research framework founded upon both positive psychology principles and holistic Indigenous Australian worldviews. This model prioritizes the voices and agency of Indigenous people and proposes that research be conducted in partnership as opposed to research being imposed on Indigenous communities, and it focuses on Indigenous Australian strengths as opposed to deficit approaches. After acknowledging the disadvantages that Indigenous Australians face, we describe this strengths-based approach and how its utilization of Indigenous research methodologies in combination with Western approaches can contribute to a new approach to translational research of salience to Indigenous Australians. We then review extant theory and research that supports elements of the proposed model. We further suggest its potential for practical innovation in Australia and how, if successful, this new approach may also find application in other Indigenous populations and, more broadly, for disenfranchised groups around the globe. |
Keywords | indigenous research; model of indigenous thriving; positive psychology; positive psychology of success; self determination theory; self-concept |
Year | 2016 |
Journal | Contemporary Educational Psychology |
Journal citation | 43, pp. 32-43 |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
ISSN | 0361-476X |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.04.003 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-84964863986 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 32-43 |
Funder | Australian Research Council (ARC) |
Research Group | Institute for Positive Psychology and Education |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
ARC Funded Research | This output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 |
Grant ID | ARC/IN150100060 |
ARC/IN150100064 | |
ARC/LP0776977 | |
ARC/LP150100679 | |
Additional information | This record contains an accepted manuscript: © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Place of publication | United States of America |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8v3y5/toward-a-positive-psychology-of-indigenous-thriving-and-reciprocal-research-partnership-model
Download files
Publisher's version
OA_Craven_2016_Toward_a_positive_psychology_of_indigenous.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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