Expanding Opportunities for Diversity in Positive Psychology: An Examination of Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

Positive psychology has been criticized for ignoring issues relevant to disenfranchised populations. This article presents the results of a 17-year review of the current state of theory and research in positive psychology with respect to issues related to gender, race, and ethnicity, representing an effort to evaluate the extent to which these criticisms are true and to explore how the field can be more inclusive in the future. A systematic review of the literature in positive psychology since the inception of the field in 1998 through 2014 was conducted, and content analyses were used to assess how issues of gender, race, and ethnicity have been examined. The findings reveal that although women are overrepresented as participants in empirical studies, they are underrepresented as first authors, and discussions of issues relevant to women and gender are relatively scarce. Further, empirical research studies conducted across the world are based largely on White samples, and there is little research focused on race and ethnicity or individuals at the intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity. More organized research is needed to develop a diverse science of positive psychology. To conceptualize possible future directions for research and explore opportunities for diversity, key definitions of positive psychology are revisited and lessons are drawn from exemplary articles attending to issues of gender, race, and ethnicity. Four pathways for conducting future research are recommended as ways to expand opportunities for engaging diversity in positive psychology.