Proceedings of the Positive Psychology 2.0 International Conference 2025 (PP 2.0 2025)
Conference: Proceedings of the Positive Psychology 2.0 International Conference 2025 (PP 2.0 2025)
Date: 25-28 June 2025
Location: Hong Kong SAR, China (Hybrid)
Website: https://www.positivepsychology2-0.org The Positive Psychology 2.0 International Conference 2025 on Positive Psychology 2.0: The Roles of Psychology of Spirituality and Transcendence in Facing Ever-Changing Environment and Life Adversities was co-organized by Tung Wah College, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, The Education University of Hong Kong, School of Continuing Education of Hong Kong Baptist University, Caritas Hong Kong, International Network on Personal Meaning, and Translational Research Centre for Digital Mental Health. It was held on 25-28 June 2025, onsite and online, at the Tung Wah College, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. All of us are facing an ever-changing world with a lot of life adversities and difficulties. In reality, negative life events and suffering are inevitable to all people, which lead to maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that have harmful impacts on human well-being and mental health. A deepen question of positive psychology 2.0 (PP 2.0) is “What brings out the best in all people in their strivings for survival and flourishing in challenging situations?” The PP 2.0 advocates suggest to fully develop our spirituality (both theistic and non-theistic) to live a meaningful life based on self-transcendence (sacrificial love and serving others). In facing life adversities, spirituality has been found to be an important coping resource that improves adjustment and wellbeing (e.g., Pargament et al., 2001; Tix & Frazier, 1998). Professor Paul Wong (2016) also developed the spiritual self-transcendence model based on Viktor Frankl’s concept, believing that self-transcendence can help people turn suffering into resilience by understanding life adversities as events that provide meaning, life goals, and healthy values. Hence, it is important to explore the ways to cultivate and apply spirituality and self-transcendence to enhance eudemonic well-being and flourishing in facing ever-changing environment and life adversities. Thus, the Positive Psychology (PP 2.0) International Conference 2025 will focus on the theme of “Positive Psychology 2.0: The Roles of Psychology of Spirituality and Transcendence in Facing Ever-Changing Environment and Life Adversities”, and welcomes paper presentations that share and discuss empirical-based and evidence-based research, practice, implementation, and applications of PP 2.0. Through open calls for paper submissions, the Conference Committee received close to 62 proposals. Upon completion of the rigorous peer review process, 22 high-quality book chapters were chosen for the post-conference edited volume and 2 manuscripts contributed by four of the keynote speakers. The book is broadly categorized into five parts — Part I: PP 2.0 2025 Keynote Speakers (2 chapters, “The Self-Transcendence Spiral of Growth: Exploring the Many Faces, Places and Times of Self-transcendence” and “Existentially Resilient Religion), Part II: Positive Psychology 2.0 and Psychotherapy (5 chapters, “School Counselling 2.0: Reimagining School Wellbeing through the Lens of Positive Psychology 2.0”, “Existential Positive Psychology’s Unique Contribution to Psychotherapy and Wellbeing Research”, “Unravelling the Link Between Self-Control and Relationship Well-Being: A Mediational Model of Gratitude and Forgiveness”, “ Review and Reflection on Reminiscence Therapy: A Bibliometric-Based Visualization Analysis Approach”, and “Review and Reflection on Exercise Therapy in Psychology: A Forty-year Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis”), Part III: Positive Psychology 2.0 and Resilience (6 chapters, “Evaluating Emotional Support Needs of Young Athletes: From Stress Response to Resilience”, “Exploring the Relationship between Negative Life Events, Resilience and Self-transcendence among Youth in Hong Kong”, “Reducing Compassion Fatigue in Spiritual Leaders: The Role of Connecting with God through Prayer Fulfillment and Connectedness”, “Negative, but Not Positive, Self-Compassion Explains Additional Variance in Academic Stress Over and Above Adversity Among Tertiary Students”, “Spirituality, Sleep Quality and Psychological Distress of Youths in Hong Kong”, and “Christianity and Positive Affect”), Part IV: Positive Psychology 2.0 Across Lifespan (6 chapters, “Christian Spiritual Education in Hong Kong Kindergartens: The Predictors of Teachers’ Self–Efficacy”, “Applying the TSA Model of Adjustment to Life Course Transitions for Understanding Adolescents' Wellness”, “Catalysing Positive Youth Development: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Cross-Sector Service-Learning Initiative in Food Rescue”, “Youths’ Interpersonal Relationships: The Roles of Empathy and Spirituality”, “Significance Matters: Examining the Association between Perceived Helplessness and Problematic Social Media Usage”, and “Self-transcendence, Social Networks and Meaning in Life of the Retired Older Adults with Chronic Illness in Hong Kong”), and Part V: Positive Psychology 2.0 Across Cultures (5 chapters, “Understanding Ginhawa as Well-being in El Shaddai: Implications on Filipino Personhood, Spirituality, and Psychology”, “An Empirical Study on Emotional and Psychological Well-Being Among Indian Adolescents”, “Bridging East and West: Validating the Tripartite Model of Meaning in a Cross-Cultural Study of the Meaning in Life Scale”, “Life and Knowledge: Perspectives from Ancient Chinese Philosophies to Ancient Near East Cultures”, and ““Let Go of the World”: Self-Transcendence as a Coping Mechanism for Family, World, and Identity Separation in Orthodox Monasticism”). We are grateful that the PP 2.0 International Conference 2025 successfully attracted numerous renowned scholars and experienced practitioners to share their latest research, recent observations, and recent clinical experiences with the conference participants from 33 countries (Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam). On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to our keynote speakers for the four-day conference, namely, Professor Kirk BINGAMAN, Fordham University; Professor Daryl VAN TONGEREN, Hope College; Professor Tyler J. VANDERWEELE, Harvard University; Professor Kenneth PARGAMENT, Bowling Green State University; Prof. David Bryce YADEN, Johns Hopkins University; and Professor Dr Piers WORTH, University of Southern California Buckinghamshire New University; We would also like to show our sincere appreciation for the hard work of all chapter contributors and reviewers. Without the great help and support from them, this book volume would not have been possible. December 2025 Alex Chi-keung Chan
Lufanna Ching-han Lai
Raymond Ho-man Kong
Bess Yin-hung Lam
Raymond Chi-fai Chui
Terence Chak-pui Lee
Ice Sum-yin Tsui
Mega Leung
Location: Hong Kong SAR, China (Hybrid)
Website: https://www.positivepsychology2-0.org The Positive Psychology 2.0 International Conference 2025 on Positive Psychology 2.0: The Roles of Psychology of Spirituality and Transcendence in Facing Ever-Changing Environment and Life Adversities was co-organized by Tung Wah College, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, The Education University of Hong Kong, School of Continuing Education of Hong Kong Baptist University, Caritas Hong Kong, International Network on Personal Meaning, and Translational Research Centre for Digital Mental Health. It was held on 25-28 June 2025, onsite and online, at the Tung Wah College, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. All of us are facing an ever-changing world with a lot of life adversities and difficulties. In reality, negative life events and suffering are inevitable to all people, which lead to maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that have harmful impacts on human well-being and mental health. A deepen question of positive psychology 2.0 (PP 2.0) is “What brings out the best in all people in their strivings for survival and flourishing in challenging situations?” The PP 2.0 advocates suggest to fully develop our spirituality (both theistic and non-theistic) to live a meaningful life based on self-transcendence (sacrificial love and serving others). In facing life adversities, spirituality has been found to be an important coping resource that improves adjustment and wellbeing (e.g., Pargament et al., 2001; Tix & Frazier, 1998). Professor Paul Wong (2016) also developed the spiritual self-transcendence model based on Viktor Frankl’s concept, believing that self-transcendence can help people turn suffering into resilience by understanding life adversities as events that provide meaning, life goals, and healthy values. Hence, it is important to explore the ways to cultivate and apply spirituality and self-transcendence to enhance eudemonic well-being and flourishing in facing ever-changing environment and life adversities. Thus, the Positive Psychology (PP 2.0) International Conference 2025 will focus on the theme of “Positive Psychology 2.0: The Roles of Psychology of Spirituality and Transcendence in Facing Ever-Changing Environment and Life Adversities”, and welcomes paper presentations that share and discuss empirical-based and evidence-based research, practice, implementation, and applications of PP 2.0. Through open calls for paper submissions, the Conference Committee received close to 62 proposals. Upon completion of the rigorous peer review process, 22 high-quality book chapters were chosen for the post-conference edited volume and 2 manuscripts contributed by four of the keynote speakers. The book is broadly categorized into five parts — Part I: PP 2.0 2025 Keynote Speakers (2 chapters, “The Self-Transcendence Spiral of Growth: Exploring the Many Faces, Places and Times of Self-transcendence” and “Existentially Resilient Religion), Part II: Positive Psychology 2.0 and Psychotherapy (5 chapters, “School Counselling 2.0: Reimagining School Wellbeing through the Lens of Positive Psychology 2.0”, “Existential Positive Psychology’s Unique Contribution to Psychotherapy and Wellbeing Research”, “Unravelling the Link Between Self-Control and Relationship Well-Being: A Mediational Model of Gratitude and Forgiveness”, “ Review and Reflection on Reminiscence Therapy: A Bibliometric-Based Visualization Analysis Approach”, and “Review and Reflection on Exercise Therapy in Psychology: A Forty-year Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis”), Part III: Positive Psychology 2.0 and Resilience (6 chapters, “Evaluating Emotional Support Needs of Young Athletes: From Stress Response to Resilience”, “Exploring the Relationship between Negative Life Events, Resilience and Self-transcendence among Youth in Hong Kong”, “Reducing Compassion Fatigue in Spiritual Leaders: The Role of Connecting with God through Prayer Fulfillment and Connectedness”, “Negative, but Not Positive, Self-Compassion Explains Additional Variance in Academic Stress Over and Above Adversity Among Tertiary Students”, “Spirituality, Sleep Quality and Psychological Distress of Youths in Hong Kong”, and “Christianity and Positive Affect”), Part IV: Positive Psychology 2.0 Across Lifespan (6 chapters, “Christian Spiritual Education in Hong Kong Kindergartens: The Predictors of Teachers’ Self–Efficacy”, “Applying the TSA Model of Adjustment to Life Course Transitions for Understanding Adolescents' Wellness”, “Catalysing Positive Youth Development: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Cross-Sector Service-Learning Initiative in Food Rescue”, “Youths’ Interpersonal Relationships: The Roles of Empathy and Spirituality”, “Significance Matters: Examining the Association between Perceived Helplessness and Problematic Social Media Usage”, and “Self-transcendence, Social Networks and Meaning in Life of the Retired Older Adults with Chronic Illness in Hong Kong”), and Part V: Positive Psychology 2.0 Across Cultures (5 chapters, “Understanding Ginhawa as Well-being in El Shaddai: Implications on Filipino Personhood, Spirituality, and Psychology”, “An Empirical Study on Emotional and Psychological Well-Being Among Indian Adolescents”, “Bridging East and West: Validating the Tripartite Model of Meaning in a Cross-Cultural Study of the Meaning in Life Scale”, “Life and Knowledge: Perspectives from Ancient Chinese Philosophies to Ancient Near East Cultures”, and ““Let Go of the World”: Self-Transcendence as a Coping Mechanism for Family, World, and Identity Separation in Orthodox Monasticism”). We are grateful that the PP 2.0 International Conference 2025 successfully attracted numerous renowned scholars and experienced practitioners to share their latest research, recent observations, and recent clinical experiences with the conference participants from 33 countries (Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam). On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to our keynote speakers for the four-day conference, namely, Professor Kirk BINGAMAN, Fordham University; Professor Daryl VAN TONGEREN, Hope College; Professor Tyler J. VANDERWEELE, Harvard University; Professor Kenneth PARGAMENT, Bowling Green State University; Prof. David Bryce YADEN, Johns Hopkins University; and Professor Dr Piers WORTH, University of Southern California Buckinghamshire New University; We would also like to show our sincere appreciation for the hard work of all chapter contributors and reviewers. Without the great help and support from them, this book volume would not have been possible. December 2025 Alex Chi-keung Chan
Lufanna Ching-han Lai
Raymond Ho-man Kong
Bess Yin-hung Lam
Raymond Chi-fai Chui
Terence Chak-pui Lee
Ice Sum-yin Tsui
Mega Leung