Anastassios Stalikas

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Full) at Panteion University

The current research explored the mediating role of self-compassion between suicidal ideation and gender role in adolescents. The term “self-compassion” refers to a relatively new concept in the scientific field of positive psychology, which has demonstrated significant importance for human well-being. In this study, 814 adolescents aged 14-19 year...

Negotiation is omnipresent in people’s lives, whether the context be arguing with a spouse, making a business deal, or buying a new car. This study aimed to investigate the role of emotions in both economic and social-psychological outcomes of negotiation. Thirty-eight undergraduate psychology students formed dyads and were randomly assigned to eit...

The purpose of this study was the pilot implementation and investigation of the effectiveness of an internet-delivered group counselling intervention called "What is your superpower?", which aimed to enhance career calling, well-being, and character strengths among young adults. Twenty-five Greek undergraduate university students participated in th...

The impact of COVID-19 and the associated lockdown measures on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as their daily lives and functioning, has been extensively studied. This study takes the approach of investigating the consequences of COVID-19 on a national scale, considering sociodemographic factors. The main objective is to make a cont...

Previous research findings demonstrate that both savoring ability and the presence of high-quality friendships play a significant role in enhancing one’s overall sense of wellbeing. However, these associations have not been thoroughly investigated within a diverse range of adults across their lifespans, nor have they been explored in the specific c...

Abstract Using five independent non-clinical cross-cultural samples (total N = 3649; overall Mage = 29.31; 31% male and 69% female), this study explored the extent to which Dark Triad traits were indirectly associated with symptoms of psychopathology through mental toughness. Although Machiavellianism and psychopathy have not been studied extensive...

The present study aimed to investigate the role of self-compassion in the association between empathy and compassion fatigue. The research included 104 counseling psychologists, with a mean age of 35.05 years. The results revealed that self-compassion and its positive dimensions predicted are both positively correlated with perspective taking and e...

Positive psychology (PP) is the scientific field that focuses on revealing, understanding, and reinforcing the factors that make individuals and systems flourish. At first, PP research gave emphasis on individual’s positive experiences and characteristics (Pezirkianidis and Stalikas, 2020). Later on, the second research wave focused on the dialecti...

Positive psychology (PP) is the scientific field that focuses on revealing, understanding,and reinforcing the factors that make individuals and systems flourish. At first, PP researchgave emphasis on individual’s positive experiences and characteristics (Pezirkianidis andStalikas, 2020). Later on, the second research wave focused on the dialectic r...

The present study examined the relationship between self-compassion (SC) and emotional well-being in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework for the study was that SC, defined as an understanding and caring response to one’s suffering and limitations, may serve as a protective factor against negative mental health o...

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected mental health worldwide, and especially among university students, who stopped attending lessons and had a long break from their social life. The present chapter presents the findings of a study aiming to investigate the relationship between distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and well-being dimensions...

Research showed that viewing stress as a helpful rather than as harmful part of life is associated with better health, emotional wellbeing, and productivity at work, even during periods of high stress. Stress beliefs are significant because they influence how individuals respond to stress. This pilot study illustrates an Internet-delivered interven...

This study aimed to systematically review research findings regarding the relationship between adult friendship and wellbeing. A multidimensional scope for wellbeing and its components with the use of the PERMA theory was adopted. A total of 38 research articles published between 2000 and 2019 were reviewed. In general, adult friendship was found t...

Since the birth of positive psychology, character strengths-based interventions aiming at promoting wellbeing have become very popular. However, there are only a few previous studies focusing on the associations of character strengths with social wellbeing, e.g., positive outcomes in close relationships. The aim of the present study was to investig...

This study focused on replicating the tenability and reliability of the 4-factor structure of a new positive parenting measure, namely NICOMACHUS – Positive Parenting (NPP). Positive parenting scores were used along with wellbeing scores (emotional, psychological, happiness, life satisfaction, positive emotions, life meaning) to profile respondents...

The aim of this study is to evaluate “ReStress Mindset,” an internet-delivered intervention that combines the Stress Mindset Training Program (SMTP) with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). To that end, the current study determined whether the pilot study’s findings on the intervention’s effectiveness on stress mindset and stress response amon...

Research has shown that levels of the Dark Triad (i.e., traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) vary across sex and age, with males and younger people reporting higher scores. The Dark Triad has also been found to be associated with personal economic status. We investigated whether sex and age differences in the Dark Triad varied a...

Background: The concept of dehumanization is not new to psychology, but in recent years the study of the phenomenon in the field of health has begun. By dehumanization, we mean the removal of humanness from the other human being. Purpose: The purpose of this review is the bibliography background in the field of health in order to investigate if the...

Subclinical sadism, characterized by infliction of cruelty, aggression, or humiliation on another for subjugation or pleasure, provides important information in the prediction of aversive behaviors that have implications for individuals’ and society’s well-being worldwide. Given sadism’s universal relevance, it is imperative that researchers ensure...

Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the quality of life of both the general population and health professionals and has increased the levels of psychopathology among them. The present study aims to map the levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological resilience, and quality of life of healthc...

Ο σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν να ελεγχθεί αν τα θετικά συναισθήματα και η ανθεκτικότητα διαμεσολαβούν τη σχέση μεταξύ της κατάθλιψης εξαιτίας του COVID-19 και της ικανοποίησης από τη ζωή. Επιπλέον διερευνήθηκε η άμεση επίδραση των θετικών συναισθημάτων και του εισοδήματος στην κατάθλιψη, καθώς και η επίδραση της απουσίας γονεϊκού ρόλου στην ικ...

Introduction Dehumanization is the phenomenon that concerns the non-attribution of humanness to other human beings and has two dimensions, animalistic and mechanistic. The aim of the present study is to study dehumanization and self-dehumanization in patients with psychosis and organic disease. Methods The sample consisted of 200 people who were ho...

This pilot study aimed to assess loving-kindness meditation as a mood induc-tion procedure and investigate the role of positive emotions on different as-pects of negotiation processes and outcomes. Thirty-eight undergraduatepsychology students formed dyads and were assigned to one of three condi-tions: in the first condition, positive emotions were...

Είναι εξαιρετικά σημαντικό να κατανοήσουμε τους παράγοντες που κάνουν τα παιδιά και τους εφήβους να αναλαμβάνουν ενεργό ρόλο στη μάθηση. Η Θετική Ψυχολογία είναι μια οπτική με την οποία μπορούμε να διερευνήσουμε τις παραμέτρους που ευνοούν την αίσθηση αυτενέργειας και την ενεργό σχολική συμμετοχή των μαθητών. Στη δεύτερη έκδοση του παρόντος πρωτοπο...

Introduction Dehumanization is defined as the denial to people of their humanness. It is distinguished into animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization. The aim of this study is to examine whether professionals in a public hospital dehumanize the patient and self-dehumanize. Methods We used the Dehumanization Questionnaire, the Mechanistic Self-Dehu...

COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019. As long as this type of coronavirus was new, the main way for governments to avoid the spread of the infection was enforced quarantine. Besides public health protection, quarantine can have a psychological impact on the residents, with main symptoms being angst, anxiety, depressive, and PTSD symptoms....

Introduction and objectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the quality of life of both general population and the healthcare workers and has increased the psychopathology levels. The objective of this research was to study the personality traits and the quality of life of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, in o...

The aim of the present study was to create the Greek version of the PERMA Profiler questionnaire, which measures the five pillars of wellbeing: positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning in life, and accomplishment based on Seligman’s (2011) theory, and to examine its factor structure, measurement invariance, reliability, and co...

This study focused on the interaction of demographics and well-being. Diener’s subjective well-being (SWB) was successfully validated with Exploratory Graph Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis to track well-being differences of the COVID-19 quarantined individuals. Six tree-based Machine Learning models were trained to classify top 25% SWB sc...

Lockdown due to COVID-19 is a condition imposed for public health reasons. The role of character strengths in such a condition has hardly been investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between gratitude, forgiveness, and hope, as character strengths, with subjective wellbeing in the form of life satisfaction and aff...

The scope of the current research is to validate the Self-Compassion Scale for Youth (SCS-Y). For this study, participants (N = 193, = 11.74) were recruited online. Each participant completed a battery of self-reported questionnaires. Normality was tested by examining the distributional indices for each of the SCS-Y items. We then examined the Pear...

“Positive relationship” is a term frequently used, as synonymous to close, meaningful, supportive or important relationships. However, the characteristics of a relationship characterized as positive have not yet been fully examined and described. This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of a new instrument for measuring the charac...

In the last two decades, there is a rapid growth of the research initiative on Positive Psychology not only internationally but also in Greece. The present special issue aims at bringing together, highlighting, and promoting research and applications of Positive Psychology in Greece. At first, the authors introduce readers to the history and roots...

The aim of the present study was to examine the conceptual framework of character strengths in the Greek cultural context and, to do so, the factor structure of the Greek version of the Values In Action-120 (VIA-120) inventory of strengths was explored. A lifespan sample of 3,211 Greek adults was used to examine the factorial structure and psychome...

The present study aimed at examining the effects of humor on communitydwelling older adults’ wellbeing. A humor-based intervention was introduced to older adults - members of the Open Care Center for Older Adults, in order to enhance five components of wellbeing as psychological flourishing (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, ac...

Self-compassion is a recently developed construct of positive psychology. Several studies have shed light on their benefits on people’s psychological well-being. Furthermore, studies have focused on examining changes in self-compassion according to gender, in specific age groups, demonstrating inconsistent results. The present study aimed to invest...

This critical review refers (a) to all scientific knowledge to date on the subject of Happiness and (b) to the creation of a new prototype psychometric tool, for its measurement. A new model for the development and increase of happiness levels, the Psychological Equilibrium Model (PEM), is proposed. The Psychological Equilibrium Model (PEM) aims to...

Positive relationships are widely considered to be one of the pillars of well-being. Their boosting effect on emotional and physical health has repeatedly been documented by experimental and longitudinal studies. Despite their instrumental role, the existing literature does not offer systematic observations of their nature and characteristics. In t...

Benevolent and corrective humor are two comic styles that have been related to virtue, morality, and character strengths. A previous study also supported the viability of measuring these two styles with the BenCor in 22 countries. The present study extends the previous one by including further countries (a total of 25 countries in 29 samples with N...

The purpose of this dissertation was to create a theoretical model on the scope of Positive Psychology depicting the relationship between adult friendship functions and wellbeing components. To achieve this goal, four studies were conducted. The first two studies aimed at translating, adapting to the Greek cultural context and standardizing two psy...

Introduction: Measuring health- related quality of life (HRQoL) is very important for children with developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Down syndrome (DS). However, no HRQoL studies found in the literature for the differences between children with ASD and children with DS. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine...

The aim of the present study was to examine the conceptual framework of character strengths in the Greek cultural context and, to do so, the factor structure of the Greek version of the Values In Action-120 (VIA-120) inventory of strengths was explored. A lifespan sample of 3,211 Greek adults was used to examine the factorial structure and psychome...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors that help therapists maintain their resilience to work stressors. Participants were Greek mental health practitioners (N = 163) who were approached through the National Organization of Psychotherapy in Greece as well as through several Greek online professional groups. Participants complet...

Self-compassion, broadly, means to treat oneself kindly in times of need, same as one would do with a dear friend (Neff, 2003b). This systematic re-view focuses on self-compassion as is found in clinical samples. It specifically reviews 28 relevant studies to find out if people belonging in what is called “clinical samples” have lower levels of sel...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Stress Mindset Measure (SMM) in a non-clinical sample of the Greek population. The Stress Mindset Measure (SMM) is an 8-item instrument, designed to assess the extent to which an individual believes that the effects of stress are either enhancing or debilitating. The validation...

The present study aimed at examining the effects of humor on community dwelling older adults’ wellbeing. A humor-based intervention was introduced to older adults - members of the Open Care Center for Older Adults, in order to enhance five components of wellbeing as psychological flourishing (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, a...

Nostalgia is characterized as a mental state of human's emotional longing for the past that activates both positive and negative emotions. The bittersweet emotions that are activated by nostalgia aid psychological functions of humans are depended on the type of stimuli that evoke nostalgia but also on the nostalgia activation context. In general, d...

How to Develop Employability Skills through the use of Positive Psychology Methods and Approaches. A Guide for Career Counsellors and other Specialists who work with Adolescents and Young Adults.

Through the lens of contemporary views on client resistance and attachment theory, which underpins the role of security in psychotherapy, the present study examines the relation between client resistance and client attachment to therapist. Forty-six clients and 19 therapists in long-term psychotherapy completed the Client Attachment to Therapist Sc...

Objectives The Mental Health Continuum‐Short Form (MHC‐SF), measuring emotional, social, and psychological well‐being, has scarcely been validated in clinical populations. We evaluated MHC‐SF in 203 patients with affective disorders and 163 nonclinical participants. Method Traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bifactor CFA, three‐factor...

Background: Interventions that facilitate positive actions and attitudes seem to play an important role in enhancing psychological health. This study examines the effectiveness of two self-guided interventions the aim of which is to enhance adults’ wellbeing through the cultivation of forgiveness skills. Methods: A total of 11 men and 31 women aged...

One of the newest trends in the field of psychotherapy is experiential psychotherapy, which comes to propose an alternative model of psychological action and function, with particular importance and weight in the patient's experience. It suggests specific methods and therapeutic procedures, through which this experience is used therapeutically, in...

Positive Psychotherapy is based on Seligman's theoretical models, which emphasize happiness, well-being and character strengths (Seligman, 2002). Positive Psychotherapy helps patients learn skills so that they can identify and recognize positive emotions and maintain them in the long run. Η Θετική Ψυχοθεραπεία βασίζεται στα θεωρητικά μοντέλο του Se...

Although most psychotherapists would agree that psychotherapy helps clients build their psychological resilience, there are very few data on how best to conceptualize resilience enhancement and which are the specific resilience factors that are developed or reinforced in psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to explore resilience development thr...

This Teacher’s Guide is part of a set of tools to help teachers to implement HOPEs. HOPEs is the acronym for Happiness, Optimism, Positivity and Ethos in Schools, an ERASMUS+ project that has as main purpose to create an innovative educational package, which includes a new curriculum, accompanied by practical activities and tools based on positive...

The present study aimed to examine the effects of the character strength of kindness on subjective wellbeing. It was conducted through an online free forum, which was constructed for the present study. The participants (N = 54) were 34 women and 20 men, aged 18-55 years old. They were divided into two groups, an experimental and a control group, ma...

This chapter will present the basic principles of the existential approach by making an attempt to connect them with the scientific field of positive psychology. More specifically, in the following pages we will refer to the positive emotions and the role they play in the implementation of the experiential approach by connecting them, theoretically...

The effective therapy of substance abuse is attributed to a wide range of factors. A relevant bibliography review has highlighted those factors, which are most commonly employed by mental health professionals: Readiness (recognition, taking steps, ambivalence), Self-efficacy, Expectation about the therapy outcome, Satisfaction by the therapy treatm...

Despite the clinical observations that indicate a possible connection between emotions, addictive behavior and treatment, there is not sufficient research on the role of positive emotions in addiction and addiction treatment. The present study aims at the examination of the role of positive emotions in the process of therapy, especially viewing it...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structure, invariance, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the MLQ with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in 1561 Greek adults. After sample-splitting, a two-factor EFA and a two-factor bifactor EFA model were tested in the first sample. Then, seven CFA models were tested (th...