Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Comparing Bibliometric Analysis Using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Databases
Published on: October 24, 2019
Study on positive psychology from 1999 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis
Feifei Wang1, Jia Guo2, Guoyu Yang1
1Department of Developmental Psychology of Armyman, School of Psychology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Objective:
Positive psychology is a revolution in the science of psychology as well as a new milestone in the development of human society. The purpose of the study was to use bibliometrics and visual analysis to assess the current state and trends in positive psychology research.
Methods:
The Web of Science Core Collection was searched for 4,378 papers on positive psychology between 1999 and 2021. The features of positive psychology research were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2013, VOSviewer (1.6.17), and CiteSpace (5.8.R1).
Results:
The findings demonstrate a steady growth in positive psychology publications from 1999 to 2021. The United States (1,780) and Harvard University (104), respectively, were the most productive nations and organizations in this subject. Frontiers in Psychology was the most productive journal (288), while the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology had the most co-citations (8,469). Seligman was the most influential author, with 3,350 citations and 5,020 co-citations. The top ten co-cited references, in terms of citation explosion, suggesting that these papers provide the foundation for the growth of this discipline. The systematic review, character strengths, positive psychology intervention, language pleasure, and the COVID-19 pandemic are the focal points of research and development developments in this discipline.
Conclusion:
These findings have helped researchers in positive psychology find new ways to collaborate with partners, hot topics, and research frontiers.
Related Concept Videos
Humanistic Psychology
This approach...
Contemporary Psychology
Biopsychology
Biopsychology, also known as biological psychology or behavioral neuroscience, focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior and mental processes. It...
Introduction to Personality Psychology
Early Theories of Personality
The study of...
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Regression Toward the Mean
Psychology as a Science
The scientific method in psychology involves six critical steps: making observations, formulating hypotheses, conducting tests, analyzing...

