Psychology
Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman is a prominent figure in the field of positive psychology, known for his work on learned helplessness and the concept of "positive psychology." He has contributed significantly to understanding human well-being and happiness, emphasizing the importance of focusing on strengths and virtues to improve mental health. Seligman's research has had a profound impact on the field of psychology.
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No longer available |Learn morePsychology Applied to Modern Life
Adjustment in the 21st Century
- Wayne Weiten, Dana Dunn, Elizabeth Hammer(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Perhaps the individual is someone who sees the pro- Mario Tama/Getty Images News/Getty Images The miraculous safe landing by US Air 1549 evoked feelings of awe that elevated the spirits of observers around the world. Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 486 CHAPTER 16 arm of psychology with potentially beneficial side effects, including the opportunity to prevent mental illness and reduce discontent by cultivating human strengths, such as courage, hope, and resilience, and helping people flourish in their lives (Seligman, 1998, 2011). What led psychologists to con- sider developing a new subfield, espe- cially one named positive psychology? As a researchable and teachable topic, positive psychology was not identified and named until 1998. During his year as president of the American Psycho- logical Association (APA), psycholo- gist Martin Seligman developed posi- tive psychology as a counterweight to the discipline’s negatively oriented his- tory (Seligman, 1999). He was well known for his research on learned helplessness, depres- sion, and the acquisition of phobias—downbeat topics that fit comfortably within psychology’s traditional emphasis on the negative. So what prompted his sudden interest in the potential power of people’s positive natures? Seligman (2002) reported that an exchange with his 5-year-old daughter Nikki piqued his interest and triggered the chain of events that led to the founding of positive psychology.
eBook - ePubHealth Psychology
Revisiting the Classic Studies
- Mark Tarrant, Martin S. Hagger, Mark Tarrant, Martin S. Hagger(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
14 Positive Psychology: Revisiting Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005)Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.Ryan J. Goffredi, Christopher A. Sanders, Kennon M. Sheldon, and Laura A. KingBackground
Philosophers, scholars, theologians, and laypeople alike have pondered the question of how to live in a way that ultimately leads to happiness, thriving, and optimal functioning. What factors, actions, or material things (if any) promise to enhance happiness, not just temporarily but in the long run? This broad question has been approached in a multitude of ways over millennia, from the writings of Aristotle and religious scriptures to the more contemporary self-help movement. However, often lacking from these perspectives are prescriptions for happiness based on scientific evidence. Only relatively recently have some answers been provided by empirical research, particularly in the domain of positive psychology.What is positive psychology?
Positive psychology is a sub-field of psychology that is concerned with ‘understanding and building the qualities that make life worth living’ (Seligman, 1999, p. 3). More specifically, positive psychology is the study of positive emotions and experiences, the personality characteristics linked to these, and the institutions that foster them (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).As a discipline, positive psychology encompasses the work of researchers studying topics such as happiness, joy, gratitude, love, hope, optimism, forgiveness, flow, mastery, self-compassion, mindfulness, and meaning in life (Lopez & Snyder, 2009; Peterson, 2006). The focus of researchers working in this discipline extends beyond the individual to include relationships, families, communities, and societies (Peterson, 2006). Furthermore, positive psychology should be considered as capturing more than the study of happiness or well-being alone, but happiness is certainly a central focus.1
eBook - PDFVirtues and Vices in Positive Psychology
A Philosophical Critique
- Kristján Kristjánsson(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
In any case, when Virtues and Vices in Positive Psychology 16 I speak of ‘positive psychology’ in this book, it should be taken to mean ‘third-generation positive psychology’. 1.3. the philosophical context Positive psychologists want to contribute to a traditional province within moral philosophy and moral education: virtue and virtue education. Now, I am all for academic trespassing and have long held the view that there is only so much philosophy can settle on its own in moral matters without sup- port from psychological and other social scientific material (Kristjánsson, 2006, chap. 1; Kristjánsson, 2010a, pp. 16–18). Just as the cloistered attitude of pure moral philosophising tends to issue in the vacuous and banal, so does raw social scientific evidence on morality, uninformed by philosophi- cal considerations and conceptual constraints, typically lack rigour and trac- tion. By all means, let us try to weave the warp of moral theory and the weft of common-sense views, attitudes and beliefs about morality together! Admittedly, crossover work between radically different provinces can cause disastrous results: I am no fonder than most readers probably are of that infamous Placido Domingo-John Denver ‘Perhaps Love’ duet! Psychology is not exactly John Denver to philosophy’s Domingo, however; rather psychol- ogy is an established academic discipline in its own right and can more than stand its ground in collaborative work with philosophy. That said, experi- ence tells us that mere interest in philosophical issues is not always commen- surate with the facility to pursue them. But Seligman, having been taught by such legends as Robert Nozick, does have a first degree in philosophy, and went into psychology only after turning down a fellowship to do a postgrad- uate degree in analytic philosophy at Oxford (Seligman, 2011, p. 58). So he, at least, seems to have the wherewithal to think through philosophical issues or to collaborate successfully with people who can.
- Stephen F. Davis, William Buskist, Stephen F. Davis, William F. Buskist(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
Notable figures in the history of positive psychology (and their respective areas of research) include Albert Bandura (self-efficacy), Mihaly Positive Psychology • 203 Csikszentmihalyi (flow), Ed Diener (subjective well-being), Chris Peterson (character strengths), Carol Ryff (psycho-logical well-being), Martin Seligman (learned optimism), and C. R. Snyder (hope). Each of these researchers has been a leader in positive psychology for over a decade, and each has helped to provide the foundation of the positive psychology movement as it currently stands. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY Before describing specific areas of positive psychology, it may be useful to identify and counter some common misconceptions about the nature and goals of positive psy-chology. Positive psychology is not happyology. Although happiness is an important goal for humanity and a wor-thy topic of study, positive psychology does not focus exclusively on the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure. Positive psychology also is not a condemnation of previous psycho-logical research. An unfortunate implication of the title of positive psychology is that the rest of psychology is “nega-tive psychology,” which is an unintentional, unfortunate, and unfair characterization. The goal of positive psychol-ogy is not to replace past psychological research, but rather to augment and balance the progress psychologists have made in understanding and treating mental illness with an improved understanding of the nature of mental health as well as the factors that can promote well-being. Finally, positive psychology should not be confused with so called “pop-psychology” methods and practices that have little to no empirical basis. The results of posi-tive psychology research have a tremendous potential to facilitate optimal human functioning, but just like clinical psychology practice, it is critical that the applied practice of positive psychology be firmly grounded in empirical sci-ence.
- Jennifer S. Cheavens, David B. Feldman(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
… Raising children, I real- ized, is vastly more than fixing what is wrong with them. It is about identifying and nurturing their strongest qualities” (Seligman, 2002b, p. 4). In that moment, Seligman discovered the focus of his APA presidency and the rest of his career: positive psychology. Today, Seligman is widely viewed as the fa- ther of contemporary positive psychology. He deserves great credit for beginning a movement within the field of psychology that legitimized and encouraged the study of optimal human functioning. But Seligman was hardly the first scholar to study human strengths and the fac- tors that create good lives. As we’ll discuss in detail in Chapter 8, the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle focused much of his writing on what constituted human virtue. One could even argue that great spiritual and religious figures like Abraham, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammad, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha, among others, were primarily concerned with what makes a person “good” and how people can live “good” lives. Seligman also wasn’t the first APA president to encourage the study of such topics. In his presidential address to the association in 1906, William James pondered why some individuals live to their fullest capacities and others don’t. He posed two inter- related questions: “(a) What were the limits of human energy? and (b) How could this energy be stimulated and released so it could be put to optimal use?” (Rathunde, 2001, p. 136). This perspective was consistent with the broad themes of the field of psychology before World War II. In fact, during the first half of the twentieth century, psychology had three distinct missions: curing mental illness, making the lives of all people more productive and fulfilling, and identifying and nurturing high talent (Seligman, 2002b).
- David Pilgrim, Anne Rogers, Bernice Pescosolido, David Pilgrim, Anne Rogers, Bernice Pescosolido(Authors)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
Ever since, research on well-being and happiness has increased. In 1998, the US psychologist Martin Seligman adopted Maslow’s term ‘positive psychology’ to group previous studies and initiate a further boost of research (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In the meantime, positive psychology has greatly expanded. Research centres, academic conferences, awards, a dedi-cated section of the America Psychological Association, an Oxford University Press Series, Master’s study schemes and a significant number of book publica-tions all contain the label ‘positive psychology’. Moreover, the amount of journal publications devoted to the study of happiness and human flourishing has seen a tremendous upsurge. In addition, positive psychologists have published self-help books, as well as specific practical applications and interventions for counsellors and therapists (e.g. Magyar-Moe, 2009). So far, positive psychology has predom-inantly been rooted in and promoted by the work of North American researchers. It is yet becoming increasingly international. Central assumptions of positive psychology Positive psychology studies ‘the processes and conditions that contribute to optimal functioning and flourishing in human beings’ (Lucas, 2007b: 686). THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS 52 Its starting assumption is that people all over the world seek happiness and well-being (Diener et al., 2003a: 420). Individual happiness is seen as a source of health, prosocial behaviour, work productivity and other markers of success and functioning (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). It helps individuals to broaden and build resources for the future, for example to acquire new skills (Fredrickson, 2001). Thus, it is considered as beneficial for both the individual and society. The notions of well-being and happiness are often used interchangeably. In the narrow sense, happiness is a specific emotion referring to feelings of pleasure or comfort.
eBook - ePub- Emmy van Deurzen(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
The main authors of this movement are people like Seligman and his concept of authentic happiness (Seligman, 2002), Diener and his notion of subjective well being (Diener, 2000; Diener and Suh, 2000) and before that Veenhoven (1984), who has the merit of having surveyed various countries and classes of society to draw conclusions about the state of happiness in various parts of the world. All these authors have wonderful intentions of improving the human condition and are well worth reading. Their books are certainly more inspiring than many other psychology books and go some way to counterbalance psychologists’ preoccupation with pathology. But at the end of their rhetoric we are left with the same old human quandaries and there is a possibility that their strong desire to make things better can only make things worse by making us expect more than is reasonable. Any system that doesn’t face the negatives of life and fails to integrate them is doomed to making a big mistake.And yet this new branch of psychology has some important contributions to make in providing us with information and research on aspects of human living that other approaches have missed out. Take for instance Seligman’s investigation of signature strengths, which can help us to inventorize a person’s virtues and character strengths, putting the emphasis on potential instead of on character flaws and pathology, as standard personality inventories tend to do. If we want to systematize psychology, we might as well do it in a positive way and help individuals articulate what they are best at in order to maximize these strengths. The values that Seligman describes (2002) sound familiar. He speaks of:- Wisdom
- Courage
- Love
- Justice
- Temperance
- Transcendence
These concepts can be found in many philosophical and pastoral systems and introducing them into psychology seems like a good thing. But there is also a real danger of reducing philosophical thinking to its bare bones and cheapening the ideas in the process. Concepts that are complex and deserve debate and in depth reflection get minimized and used in an instrumentalist fashion. They become narrowly defined and turned into a manualized commodity for mass consumption. Is this the way to teach people how to live their lives better? Or is this another example of using the latest technology to simplify our lives only to find that we have missed out the essentials? Building high rise apartment blocks that use the latest technology but still provide second rate living conditions is not progress. Helping people to get access to a place they can truly call home and that is worth investing in and looking after and where they can cultivate their own garden is far more worthwhile. In this case this would mean teaching people to think about living rather than telling them how to do it.
eBook - PDFWhat Is the Good Life?
Perspectives from Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology
- Drew Collins, Matthew Croasmun, Drew Collins, Matthew Croasmun(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Baylor University Press(Publisher)
In the initial description 204 Robert A. Emmons and Roxanne N. Rashedi of the field of PP, Martin Seligman connected positive psychology to the rich philosophical tradition of the investigation and cultivation of the “good life.” He claimed that positive psychology could articulate a vision of the good life that is empirically sound and, at the same time, understandable and attractive. We can show the world what actions lead to well-being, to positive individuals, to flourishing communities, and to a just society. 3 Understanding the factors that move a person closer to flourishing is a vital step in helping people live good lives. At the outset, we wish to point out that the vision of human flour- ishing that positive psychology advocates is compatible with a number of philosophical and religious traditions, including those represented in this volume, as well as those that are not depicted here (e.g., Native Ameri- can traditions, Sikhism). For example, Christian thought has promoted human flourishing throughout its history, with its focus on both individ- ual and communal virtues. The former include faith, hope, self-control, righteousness, wisdom, and humility, and the latter compassion, generos- ity, gratitude, love, and forgiveness. Religious views, such as those offered by Christian theology, have, at least implicitly, contributed substantially to positive psychology. Conversely, positive psychology can, and has begun to, identify the psychological mechanisms responsible for how and why these virtues enable flourishing. Clearly, the teleology between positive psychology and Christian theology approaches differs in major ways. The telos for positive psychology might be defined as optimal function- ing, in the form of maturity or flourishing of individuals and society. In the Christian narrative, the telos is a right relationship with God through identification with the finished work of Jesus Christ.
eBook - ePubEducation and Schmid's Art of Living
Philosophical, Psychological and Educational Perspectives on Living a Good Life
- Christoph Teschers(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Chapter 5 , can broaden this understanding and provide a more holistic view on the topic.4.1 The relevance of positive psychology for an art of living
Psychology is traditionally a science concerned with the question of what is wrong with people. The art of living, on the other hand, is more concerned about how to get it right. Therefore, it seems necessary to give a short introduction about how these two areas are connected and why this connection is important for an educational approach.Beginning in the middle of the 20th century an increasing number of psychologists shifted their focus of research from the pathological question of “What is wrong with humans?” to the more positive research question of “What is right?”. This new focus became known later as the field of positive psychology, which was introduced under this name around the year 2000 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who have since been known as the founders of this new area of psychological research. The term positive psychology subsumes a range of areas, including flow, positive emotions, wisdom and knowledge, happiness and well-being, creativity, strengths and values, (life) goals, positive coping strategies, humour and many more (Boniwell 2008, 1–6). As this area of research has grown significantly in the last 15 years, the focus in this chapter lies on Martin Seligman’s (2010) book Authentic Happiness, which provides a good overview of positive psychology, and the book Flow from Michael Csikszentmihalyi (2008), which offers insights in one of the main theories for happiness and well-being. Csikszentmihalyi also includes some thoughts about the history and development of happiness in humanity.The contribution positive psychology can make to an educational approach to the art of living is manifold and singular at the same time. The main focus of positive psychology lies in explaining and increasing happiness and positive emotions, which appears to be a singular topic. On the other hand, research shows that such an increase has a positive effect on health, performance, creativity and coping with negative emotions, and it also prolongs life1
eBook - PDFWell-Being
Individual, Community and Social Perspectives
- J. Haworth, G. Hart, J. Haworth, G. Hart(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
Seligman, M. (1998) Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New York: Pocket Books. Seligman, M. (2002) Authentic Happiness. New York: Free Press. Seligman, M. (2004) ‘Keynote Presentation to the 2nd European Positive Psycho- logy Conference’, Verbania, Italy. Seligman, M. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000) An Introduction to Positive Psycho- logy. Seligman, M., Park, N. and Peterson, C. (2005) ‘Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions’, American Psychologist, 60, 5: 411–21. Sheldon, K. and Lyubomirsky, S. (2004) ‘Achieving Sustainable New Happiness: Prospects, Practices and Prescriptions’, in P. A. Linley and S. Joseph (eds), Positive Psychology in Practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Snyder, C. R. and Lopez, S. J. (eds) (2002) Handbook of Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. Taylor, S. and Brown, J. D. (1994) ‘Positive Illusions and Mental Well-Being Revisited: Separating Fact from Fiction’, Psychological Bulletin, 116, 1: 21–7. Vallaint, G. E. (1993) The Wisdom of the Ego. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press. Van Eeden, C. et al. (2006) ‘Character Strengths in South African Young Adults’, paper presented to the 3rd European Positive Psychology Conference, Braga, Portugal. 40 Well-Being Veenhoven, R. (2003) ‘World Database of Happiness’, www.eur.nl/fsw/research/ happiness. Warr, P. (1999) ‘Well-Being and the Workplace’, in E. Kahneman, E. Diener and N. Schwartz (eds), Well-Being: the Foundations of Hedonic Psychology. New York: Russell Sage. Websites www.enpp.org www.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness www.positive psychology.org 2 Individual Development and Community Empowerment: Suggestions from Studies on Optimal Experience Antonella Delle Fave In the social and behavioural sciences, the concepts of selection and adaptation have been fruitfully applied to the analysis of human behaviour.
- Ciarrochi, Joseph V., Kashdan, Todd B.(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Context Press(Publisher)
CHAPTER 8 On Making People More Positive and Rational: The Potential Downsides of Positive Psychology Interventions Mairéad Foody Yvonne Barnes-Holmes Dermot Barnes-Holmes National University of Ireland, Maynooth H aving a sense of self is essential for achieving your values (i.e., because they are “your” values). And so, it is not surprising that common forms of mental distress, such as anxiety, have been associated with problems of the self (e.g., Ingram, 1990). Although clinical practitioners and researchers across the domain of psychology have long recognized the importance of a sense of self in almost every- thing we do, there is no coherent account of what it is or how it works. On Making People More Positive and Rational 167 The Role of Self in Positive Psychology As a discipline, positive psychology attempts to investigate and promote optimum human functioning, including positive and prosocial behavior (Duckworth, Steen, & Seligman, 2005; Gable & Haidt, 2005), and a range of strategies are employed toward this aim (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). The most commonly recommended include savoring peak positive moments; identifying talents and strengths of character and finding new opportunities to use them; and building a regular practice of contemplating and expressing gratitude to people (Seligman et al., 2005). An obvious thread across these practices is an emphasis on the self and promoting commitment to your personal projects and values (often referred to as flourishing). Indeed, positive psychologists employ numer- ous self-related concepts. These include hypo-egoic self-regulation (Leary, Adams, & Tate, 2006); self-compassion (Neff, 2003); self-esteem (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1999); self-efficacy (Bandura, 1999); and self-worth (Crocker & Park, 2004). Consistent with this array of self-based concepts, numerous positive psychology interventions focus specifically on the self.
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