Positive Action Theory

The PA program, first developed in 1977 by Carol Gerber Allred, Ph.D. and revised since then as a result of process evaluations, is grounded in a broad theory of self-concept (Combs, 1962; Purkey, 1970; Purkey & Novak, 1984), especially Self-Esteem Enhancement Theory (SET) (DuBois et al., 2009). Supported by research in social, developmental, and clinical psychology, SET posits that the desire to feel good about oneself is a strong universal need and that people (including young children) will use multiple cognitive, affective, and behavioral strategies to acquire and sustain feelings of worth. Positive outcomes follow to the extent that people are adequately prepared and supported to satisfy their motivation for self-esteem through adaptive beliefs, values and actions.

Ecological supports (opportunities for skill-building, demonstration of mastery, reinforcement across multiple settings) and self-esteem enhancement training that, in part, focus on bringing motivation for self-esteem and efforts to satisfy this need into conscious awareness, together are expected to be effective. Indeed, available evidence indicates that fostering positive emotions about self may be a superior method for regulating negative emotions and their ill effects on self-control (Fredrickson, 2000; Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002; Lazarus, 1991).

An aspect of the program is to train teachers and parents to identify and reinforce positive thoughts, actions and feelings by adults and students, leading to reinforcement of positive behaviors and enhanced student bonding with parents and school, consistent with multiple social learning theories (Akers, 1977, 1998; Bandura, 1977a, 1977b, 1986) and other current approaches to social development, health promotion, and prevention of unhealthy behaviors (DuPaul & Stoner, 2004; Hawkins & Weis, 1985; Petraitis, Flay, & Miller, 1995).

Research supports the program’s focus on emotions, showing that even very young children display positive emotions of empathy and sympathy and are sensitive to the well-being of others, often acting pro-socially, even altruistically (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Self-consistency becomes moral only when our understanding and reasoning about social issues and problems becomes related to our feelings and motivations to act responsibly—when we intend to do the right or the good (Blasi, 2004; Higgins-D’Alessandro & Power, 2005).

The Thoughts-Actions-Feelings circle of the PA program is also consistent with theories of behavior change focusing on attitudes, social normative beliefs, and self-efficacy, each of which has affective (evaluations, motivation to comply, self-determination) and cognitive (expectancies, normative beliefs, social skills) components. These theories and perspectives are integrated into Flay’s Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) (Flay & Petraitis, 1994; Flay et al., 2009; Petraitis, Flay, Miller, Torpy, & Greiner, 1994).

The PA program seeks to provide a comprehensive approach to school organization, teacher-student relations, parent involvement, instructional practices, and development of the self-concept of all parties.

You can read more about the Positive Action program here.