Editorial: The Year to Go Beyond

Abstract

It would be an understatement to say that 2020 was a stressful year. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended livelihoods in a way that few could imagine: from mental health issues, employment losses and academic disruptions, to growing poverty, political extremism and unrest.  Just as focusing on the negative alone could never offer a full and meaningful life, so must positive psychologists examine the systematic factors that make it difficult for individuals to thrive as social beings towards the common good. In short, positive psychology must be harnessed to create more peaceful, stable, socially just and ethically led sustainable societies: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the way forward. The attainment of the SDGs makes wellbeing easier to reach: the correlation between life satisfaction and the SDGs overall is .79. This relationship puts their attainment within the scope of researchers and practitioners and we urge both groups to become acquainted with the SDGs and what they entail and how these can be made a priority through the research, advocacy and practise work of positive psychologists.