Life Coaching Positive Psychology in Coaching 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'broaden-and-build' theory, and how does it apply to coaching?
- A theory about expanding coaching practices into new markets
- Barbara Fredrickson's theory that positive emotions broaden thinking and build lasting resources, making clients more resilient and creative (Correct answer)
- A financial model for scaling a coaching business
- A negotiation technique used in executive coaching
Correct answer: Barbara Fredrickson's theory that positive emotions broaden thinking and build lasting resources, making clients more resilient and creative
Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory shows that positive emotions expand awareness and help build psychological, social, and intellectual resources over time.
Question 2: Which tool from positive psychology is used to help coaching clients identify their top character strengths?
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
- VIA Character Strengths Survey (Correct answer)
- DiSC profile
- Enneagram assessment
Correct answer: VIA Character Strengths Survey
The VIA Character Strengths Survey, developed by Peterson and Seligman, identifies 24 character strengths and is widely used in positive psychology coaching.
Question 3: What is 'psychological capital' (PsyCap) in coaching?
- The client's financial resources for investing in coaching
- A four-component resource (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism) that predicts performance and well-being (Correct answer)
- The coach's intellectual credentials
- A capital city known for psychology research
Correct answer: A four-component resource (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism) that predicts performance and well-being
PsyCap, developed by Fred Luthans, is the HERO (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism) framework that can be developed through coaching to improve performance.
Question 4: How can a coach use 'gratitude practices' effectively with a client?
- By requiring the client to write a daily gratitude journal without any coaching support
- By exploring what is going well in the client's life and what they appreciate, building positive neural pathways (Correct answer)
- By telling the client to focus only on positive things and ignore problems
- By making gratitude a condition for continuing the coaching relationship
Correct answer: By exploring what is going well in the client's life and what they appreciate, building positive neural pathways
Guided gratitude practices shift the client's attention toward positive experiences, activating neural pathways associated with well-being and resilience.
Question 5: What is 'self-efficacy' and why is it central to coaching?
- The client's belief in their ability to succeed in specific situations, which predicts motivation and persistence (Correct answer)
- A technique for measuring client progress
- The coach's confidence in their own skills
- A form of self-assessment completed after coaching ends
Correct answer: The client's belief in their ability to succeed in specific situations, which predicts motivation and persistence
Self-efficacy, Bandura's concept of task-specific confidence, is one of the strongest predictors of whether a client will attempt and persist at challenging goals.
Question 6: What does 'post-traumatic growth' mean in positive psychology coaching?
- The process of recovering from trauma back to the original baseline
- Positive psychological change that emerges from struggling with highly challenging life circumstances (Correct answer)
- A coaching approach designed exclusively for trauma survivors
- A therapy technique used by licensed psychologists only
Correct answer: Positive psychological change that emerges from struggling with highly challenging life circumstances
Post-traumatic growth describes how some individuals experience meaningful personal development — greater strength, new possibilities, or deeper relationships — following adversity.
Life Coaching Positive Psychology in Coaching 2
What is the 'broaden-and-build' theory, and how does it apply to coaching?