Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects
The MAPP Capstone is an independent project that integrates what the student has learned in the program and advances the application of Positive Psychology.
If you are a MAPP graduate and would like to have your Capstone project uploaded onto this site, please submit your Capstone. If you are the only author on your Capstone project, your decision to upload the document will serve as your agreement to the terms (individual authors do not actually have to submit an agreement form). If you completed a Capstone project with multiple authors, each author will need to submit an Author Agreement form. Please send the completed forms to Aaron Boczkowski (aaronb2@sas.upenn.edu) and Kenny Whitebloom (libraryrepository@pobox.upenn.edu). Once received, one of the authors can upload the Capstone.
Papers from 2020
The Ten Principles of Highly Meaningful Work: A Qualitative Study of Leading Organizations, Wesley Adams and Tamara Myles
Micromoments Matter: Finding Agency and Connection Through a Micromoments Mindset, Cindy Chou and Amanda J. Masters
ADHD, Willpower, and Interest: A Positive Approach, Roger DeWitt
"Yes And": Exploring and Heightening the Positive Psychology in Improvisation, Bridget Erica Elam
Making Time for Friends: A Scientific How-To Guide for Maintaining and Strengthening Friendship in Adulthood, Kristin Elinkowski and Madison Romney
Set Up to Succeed and Set Up to Play: Cooperative Games as a Pathway for Adolescent Girls in High-Achieving Schools to Be Well and Lead Well, Emily M. Entress Clark
The Call of the Wild: The Transformative Nature of Nature, Karen E. Fetzer
When Words Matter Most: Positive Psychology Perspectives on Condolence Letters, Sarah Francois-Poncet
When Words Matter Most: Positive Psychology Perspectives on Condolence Letters, Sarah Francois-Poncet
The Art of Flourishing: Integrating Positive Psychology with Art Therapy to Promote Growth from Trauma, Sophia R. Heiser
The Great Plan of Happiness: The Intersections of the Restored Gospel of Christ and Positive Psychology, Robin Litster Johnson
More Than Just an Athlete: A Model For Character Strengths To Enhance Well-Being During Retirement From Sport, Eliza J. McDevitt
A Measure of All Minds: A Classification of the Artificial Intelligence Strengths and Virtues & the Creation of the THETIS Dimensions of Cybernetic Wellbeing, Seth Robin Norman
Leadership After COVID-19 [Spoiler: There is Something Beyond Recovery and Resilience for Individuals and Organizations], Thomas Payne
Everyday Heroes: Making a Case for Compassionate Behavior toward Strangers, Christina J. Pippen
Peloton as a Facilitator of Hope: Pathways to Initiate and Sustain Behaviors that Enhance Well-being, Lisa R. Richardson
Metacognition and Living Above Zero, Mary Margaret Rogers
Belonging: The What, Why, and How for Working Mothers, Caitlin J. Satterfield
Guerrilla Altruism: Maximizing Acts of Kindness for Well-Being, Elizabeth Sheeler
Positive Leadership on Campus: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Enhance Collaboration and Well-Being Among University Staff, Diane J. Trif
Memento Mori: Reflecting on Mortality to Inspire Vitality and Meaning in Life, Jodi Wellman
Papers from 2019
Flourishing Partners: Leveraging Positive Psychology in a Peer Support Model to Promote Well-being for Recovering Addicts, Carolyn Biondi
The Physiology of Social-Emotional Learning: Integrating Biomarkers of Self-Regulation into the Assessment and Implementation of Programs, Martin E. Blank
Empowering Student Leaders as Catalysts for Positive Culture, Elizabeth Blaum
Happy Brain, Healthy Body: Cultivating Vitality to Drive Sustainable Weight Loss, Alexandra Bono
Weaving a Colorful Life Tapestry: Serene Gratitude, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Breast Cancer, Courtney B. Daly
What's Next for Career Services: Increasing Well-being and Preparing Students for the Future of Work, Allyson M. Dhindsa
The Case for Character Strengths In College Admissions Advising: The Way You Are is a Great Way to Be, Lisa Downing
Infusing Well-Being Into Public Education: A Case for Living It, Dana Fulwiler
Why Did Gen Z Quit?: Reorienting Toward Long Term Employment in Social Justice, Owen J. Harrison
Thriving Cybersecurity Professionals: Building a Resilient Workforce and Psychological Safety in the Federal Government, Rephael Houston
Making Our Time Together Count: How to Use Workshops to Increase Well-Being through Connection, Sydney Kastner
Self-Permission and Well-Being: Self-Permission as a “Key” to Flourishing in Therapy and Positive Interventions, Cecilie Kran Løvestam
Finding Flourishing: The Well-being Discovery Framework, Devon G. O'Malley
Reviving Recovery: A Supplemental Approach in Treating Eating Disorders, Amy E. O'Sullivan
The Alchemy of Acceptance: How Accepting Emotions Enhances the Ability to Flexibly Work with Them, Jennifer Overall
Positive Jewish Education: A Pathway to Thriving in 21st Century Jewish Education, Sarah E. Rosenblum
A Model for Transformational Change: Linking the Modern Workforce with Modern Adolescence, Alisha Slye
Either Perfect or Meaningful: Identity Development, Perfectionism, and Emerging Adults’ Search for Meaning in Selective Higher Education Institutions, Elizabeth M. Sutton
The Happy Saint: The Call to Holiness is a Call to Happiness, Sari Wilson
Papers from 2018
Well-being in the United Arab Emirates: How Findings From Positive Psychology Can Inform Government Programs and Research, Noof Mohammed Aljneibi
Posttraumatic Growth and Residential Therapy: Cultivating Environments that Support and Facilitate Posttraumatic Growth and Positive Well-being., Tracey Bachrach
Intentions: The Beginnings of an Empirically Derived Typology, Jennifer F. Beatty
Purpose In Adolescence: A Review of the Literature and an Intervention Plan, Yvonne Biggins
Monasteries of the Future, Miles G. Bukiet
Positive Education in Hong Kong: Opportunities, Challenges and Recommendations for Implementation, Carl M. S. Chung
From Surviving to Thriving: How Colleges Can Use the Science of Positive Psychology to Enhance Student Well-Being, Sharon F. Danzger
Creative Problem Solving as a Positive Intervention and Approach to Career Development, Laura DelPrato
You Only Live Twice: Midlife as a Creative Transition Into Our 'Second Act', Erik Otto Driessen
So Others May Live: Enhancing Resilience and Performance for United States Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Candidates to Help Close the AST Body-to-Billet Gap, Joseph E. Glaser-Reich
Positive Technology, Alex Glass
Positive Altruism: Helping that Benefits Both the Recipient and Giver, Anna S. Irani
Better Together: Enhancing Team Collaboration in Science (ETCSi) to Improve Well-being and Medicine Discovery, Lara S. Kallander
Becoming the Rising Generation: Uncovering the Path to Thriving for the Next Generation in Ultra-high Net Worth Families, Kristin Keffeler
Work Namaste: The Importance of Mattering at Work, and How a Leader Can Create an Environment Where Employees Feel They and Their Work Matter, Rebecca J. Lamperski
A Well-Being Ranking of US Colleges: Enabling Students to Choose a Life of Flourishing and Encouraging Schools to Measure It, Krista M. Larson
Promoting Well-Being Among Adoptees During the Search and Reunification Process, William Love
Be More: Buffering Against Gender Stereotypes by Building Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Erica Mohr
Generational Shifts in the Moral and Political Landscape, Christine Moriarty
Living your calling in the social sector: A theory about how to thrive and have a lasting impact in the world., Ilaina Rabbat
Writing, Risk, and Well-being, Benjamin Rapaport
Finding the Silver Lining: How Positive Psychology Can Help You Use Critical Feedback to Flourish, Mary Beth Rettger
The Spiritual Business: Breathing Life into the Body, Mind, and Spirit of Organizations, Henry C. Richardson
Positive Shabbat Dinner: An Effective Positive Intervention to Increase Well-Being, Tracey Pearl Specter
Rooted in Resilience: A Framework for the Integration of Well-Being in Teacher Education Programs, Jessica Spurgeon and Lauren Thompson
Positive Design: A Positive Psychology Workout for Design Thinkers, Kathryn S. Wessling
The Bottom Two Percent: Using Positive Psychology to Create Change Among Convicts, Katie Wittekind
Harry Potter and the Enhancement of Hope: What Harry Potter and Positive Psychology can Teach Us about the Good Life, Ashley Wolf
Papers from 2017
From Negative Biases to Positive News: Resetting and Reframing News Consumption for a Better Life and a Better World, Henry Edwards
Thriving Cities: How to Define, Apply, and Measure Well-Being at Scale, Jaclyn Gaffaney
Turning Division into Discourse: Educating Adolescents about Viewpoint Diversity, Erin McLaughlin Griffin
Character Strengths as a Pathway to Obtaining and Maintaining Employment for Job Seekers with Disabilities: A Model for Building Job Seeker Hope and Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth V. Jennings
Positive Public Service: Turning Purpose Into Progress By Changing How Government Works From the Inside, B.J. Jones
Cultivating Meaning at Work, in Four Movements, Yumi Kendall
Burned-In, Not Burned Out: A Theory of How Excellent Urban Educators Shift Mindsets and Continue to Teach, Julia King and Sophia Kokores
Saving the World the Right Way: Altruistic Education, Supakorn Laohasongkram
How Positive Psychology Overlaps with a Culturally-Based Indigenous Addictions Treatment Program, Rolanda Manitowabi
Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges, Denitsa Marinova
But Thinking Makes It So: A Curriculum to Build an Optimistic Explanatory Style Leveraging High School Dramatic Arts, Adriana Mora Vargas
Forgiveness: How it Manifests in our Health, Well-being, and Longevity, Kathi Norman
Genuine, Independent, Holistic, and Appropriate: Four Considerations for the Optimization of Positive Interventions, Luke August Obermann
Back to Work: The Effects of Goal Conflict on Working Mothers, Lauren Ogle
Career Matters: Leveraging Positive Psychology to Guide Us to Good and Right Work, Kerry Sanderson
Summer Camp Professionals’ Positive Psychology Certification Program, Kenneth Schainman
Positive Self-care Yields Caring Healers (PSYCH): A Positive-Psychology-Based, Peer-Supported Self-care Series for Therapist Wellbeing, Linda M. Schiavone
Appreciation And Well Being: Proposing Active Constructive Complimenting (ACC) And Active Constructive Accepting (ACA) To Improve Appreciation, Glory K. Singh
Bringing Awe Down to Earth: Inspiring High Performance Through Positive Executive Coaching, Chad Thomas
Positive Psychology in Collegiate Sport: Leveraging the Pivotal Role of the Athletic Trainer to Promote Student-Athlete Well-being, Jessica Turak
Papers from 2016
Designing a Positive Psychology Course for Lawyers, R. Lisle Baker
I've Got Your Back: Utilizing Improv as a Tool to Enhance Workplace Relationships, Jordana Cole
Getting to the Heart of It: Commitment at Work, Grace Cormier
Toward a Positive Medicine: Healing our Healers, from Burnout to Flourishing, Jordyn H. Feingold
The Long and Winding Road from Positive Psychology Theory to Corporate Application, Garrison M. Kitchen
United for Wellbeing: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Increase Social Cohesion and Student Wellbeing in an Ethnically Diverse Rural School District, Tracy L. Litchfield
Shoots & Ladders: Having Infinite and Influential Presence With Everyone Starts With our Mindsets, Alana R. Pudalov
Defining a Positive Citizenship; Wellbeing for Emancipation, Leora V. Rifkin