The module will engage students with the main themes of contemporary health psychology and positive psychology with a particular focus on theory, research, intervention, and application. The students will gain an understanding of the importance of psychological processes in the experience of health and illness, and explore the role of behaviour and emotion in current trends of mortality and morbidity. In addition, students will gain an understanding of positive psychology, and the role of positive emotions in promoting health, well-being, and happiness. They will also become aware of the crucial roles health psychology and positive psychology have to play in the development and evaluation of physical and psychological health promotion interventions.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
This module will be delivered through a series of 22 one-hour lectures and 22 two-hour seminars. Lectures are designed to introduce students to the key theory, research findings, and current debate on each topic. Students will apply the knowledge gained from the lecture to practical examples and group activities during the seminar sessions. Online content such as video links, discussion boards, and external talks will also engage students with the teaching material. The teaching and learning strategy is designed to enable students to learn key skills in knowledge application, critical analysis, and group work.
| Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | Interactive lectures and seminars | 66 |
| Guided independent study | independent study | 234 |
| Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 | |
Summative assessment will be through two essays (50% each). The first essay (2000 words) will allow students to demonstrate the application of theory and research to our understanding of health behaviour and behaviour change., The second essay (2000 words) will allow students to choose one key area of health psychology or positive psychology and critically evaluate contemporary research in this area in detail. Explicit formative feedback will be given during the interactive lectures to enable students to discuss their work before the summative assessment is completed.
| Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
|---|---|
| Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the role of psychological processes in health and well-being | Formatively through lecture and seminar activities, summatively through the two essay assignments. |
| Evaluate contemporary health or positive psychology research in at least one key area | Formatively through lecture and seminar activities, summatively through the two essay assignments. |
| Design and evaluate interventions to promote health and well-being | Formatively through lecture and seminar activities, summatively through the two essay assignments. |
It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module
Marks, D. F. Murray, M., Evans, B., Willig, C., Woodall, C., & Sykes, C. (2005). Health psychology: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
Morrison, V., & Bennett, P. (2006). An introduction to health psychology. Pearson, Prentice Hall.
Ogden, J. (2012). Health psychology (5th ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Roberts, R., Towell, T., & Golding, J. F. (2001). Foundations of health psychology. Palgrave.
Baumgardner, S. & Crothers, M. (2009). Positive psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Snyder, C. R., Lopez, S. J., & Pedrotti, J. T. (2010). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. London: Sage Publications.
Carr, A. (2004). Positive psychology: The Science of happiness and human strengths. (2nd ed.) New York: Brunner-Routledge.