Positive Psychology itself is a developing field. Formally founded a decade ago by the University of Pennsylvania's Martin Seligman, it stresses on what goes right with people was a sea-change from psychology's traditional preoccupation with what goes wrong-from depression and anxiety to mental illness of all flavors. Positive psychology explores the factors that make life worth living, such as happiness, through the study of positive emotions, positive character strengths, and positive institutions. But it shouldn't be confused with self-help.

"It's easy to misunderstand as a kind of happyology...'Take some positive pills, and then you'll feel good,'" says James Pawelski, executive director of the IPPA and director of education and senior scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center. In reality, positive psychology is much wider and deeper than that, and in scientific, he says. "It's not just about the latest fads in what will bring a smile to your face. It's about randomized controlled trials about what leads to human flourishing."

Several conference presenters shared their research and insights with U.S. News. Here are five areas of life where positive psychology can have an impact:

• Getting ahead at work

• Raising resilient kids

• Building solid relationships

• Increasing your happiness

• Balancing positive and negative emotions