“POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY”: SOME PLUSSES AND SOME OPEN ISSUES Emory L. Cowen University of Rochester Ryan P. Kilmer University of North Carolina at Charlotte  This commentary considers aspects of the recent American Psychologist Special Issue (SI) on “Positive Psychology.” Strong points of this new thrust include: (a) a focal concern with insufficiencies in the current medical model in mental health; (b) a core focus on positive outcomes; and (c) the belief that such outcomes may, in the long run, be the most efficacious way of reducing psychological dysfunction.The approach’s major current limitations include: (a) its relative insulation from closely related prior work in primary prevention and wellness enhancement; (b) its lack of a cohesive undergirding theoretical framework; and (c) its prime adult, cross-sectional approach, which does not sufficiently reflect key life history and developmental pathways and determinants of specific positive outcomes. The movement’s wholesome future development stands to profit from careful attention to these lacunae. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Historically, mental health fields have functioned in a “passive-receptive” mode, i.e., waiting for troubles to become manifest and, at that point, doing the best that can be done to contain or repair malfunction. However understandable the emergence of that model—often called the “medical model”—and whatever its successes, it has become increasingly clear that it is: ~a! insufficient as a comprehensive societal model; and ~b! often doomed to failure before it can even come into play ~Cowen, 1994, 1999; Emory L. Cowen passed away on November 30, 2000, following a long illness. A pioneer in community psychology, wellness enhancement, and prevention, he was strongly invested in the views expressed in this article, his final first-authored conceptual work. A respected scholar, valued mentor, trusted colleague, and cherished friend to many, he will be missed. Correspondence to: Ryan P. Kilmer, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223–0001; E-mail: rpkilmer@email.uncc.edu COMMENTARY JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 30, No. 4, 449–460 (2002) © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jcop.10014