April 25, 2003

Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment

by Martin E. P. Seligman

Book Description

Over a decade ago, Martin Seligman charted a new approach to living with "flexible optimism." Now, in his most stimulating and persuasive book to date, the bestselling author of Learned Optimism introduces the revolutionary, scientifically based idea of "Positive Psychology." Positive Psychology focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses, asserting that happiness is not the result of good genes or luck. Seligman teaches readers that happiness can be cultivated by identifying and using many of the strengths and traits that they already possess -- including kindness, originality, humor, optimism, and generosity. By frequently calling upon their "signature strengths" in all the crucial realms of life, readers will not only develop natural buffers against misfortune and the experience of negative emotion, they will move their lives up to a new, more positive plane.

Drawing on groundbreaking psychological research, Seligman shows how Positive Psychology is shifting the profession's paradigm away from its narrow-minded focus on pathology, victimology, and mental illness to positive emotion, virtue and strength, and positive institutions. Our signature strengths can be nurtured throughout our lives, with benefits to our health, relationships, and careers.

Seligman provides the Signature Strengths Survey along with a variety of brief tests that can be used to measure how much positive emotion readers experience, in order to help determine what their highest strengths are. The life-changing lesson of Authentic Happiness is that by identifying the very best in ourselves, we can improve the world around us and achieve new and sustainable levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.

The author of the bestselling Learned Optimism proposes ratcheting the field of psychology to a new level. "Relieving the states that make life miserable... has made building the states that make life worth living less of a priority. The time has finally arrived for a science that seeks to understand positive emotion, build strength and virtue, and provide guideposts for finding what Aristotle called the `good life,' " writes Seligman. Thankfully, his lengthy homage to happiness may actually live up to the ambitious promise of its subtitle. Seligman doesn't just preach the merits of happiness e.g., happy people are healthier, more productive and contentedly married than their unhappy counterparts but he also presents brief tests and even an interactive Web site (the launch date is set for mid-August) to help readers increase the happiness quotient in their own lives. Trying to fix weaknesses won't help, he says; rather, incorporating strengths such as humor, originality and generosity into everyday interactions with people is a better way to achieve happiness. Skeptics will wonder whether it's possible to learn happiness from a book. Their point may be valid, but Seligman certainly provides the attitude adjustment and practical tools (including self-tests and exercises) for charting the course.

Editorial Reviews :

From Publishers Weekly
In his latest user-friendly road map for human emotion, the author of the bestselling Learned Optimism proposes ratcheting the field of psychology to a new level. "Relieving the states that make life miserable... has made building the states that make life worth living less of a priority. The time has finally arrived for a science that seeks to understand positive emotion, build strength and virtue, and provide guideposts for finding what Aristotle called the `good life,' " writes Seligman. Thankfully, his lengthy homage to happiness may actually live up to the ambitious promise of its subtitle. Seligman doesn't just preach the merits of happiness e.g., happy people are healthier, more productive and contentedly married than their unhappy counterparts but he also presents brief tests and even an interactive Web site (the launch date is set for mid-August) to help readers increase the happiness quotient in their own lives. Trying to fix weaknesses won't help, he says; rather, incorporating strengths such as humor, originality and generosity into everyday interactions with people is a better way to achieve happiness. Skeptics will wonder whether it's possible to learn happiness from a book. Their point may be valid, but Seligman certainly provides the attitude adjustment and practical tools (including self-tests and exercises) for charting the course.

Reader Reviews:

an important book, March 4, 2003

I'm the author of "Fevers of the Mind", a memoir about bipolar disorder. "Authentic Happiness" addresses the complex issue of what makes us happy and how we might more effectively pursue happiness. I was actually a bit disappointed in the book, though I did learn of a concept that's new to me: flow. I think Seligman is arguing that we should pursue endeavors that use our fundamental strengths, achieve flow in doing so, and in the process experience authentic happiness. This seems reasonable, and if so the book is worth a read

An extremely worthwhile book, March 4, 2003

As a psychologist, I completely understand Martin Seligman's drive to free psychology from its obsession with negativity. Freud, he writes, made many people "unduly embittered about their past and unduly passive about their future," while clinical psychology focussed on diagnosing and treating mental disorders. In his new book, Authentic Happiness, Seligman goes a long way towards breaking psychology free from its love affair with pathology and replacing it with a far more positive approach.

I don't know of anyone with better credentials to guide readers through what psychology has discovered about happiness. Seligman's own research has contributed greatly to our understanding of the entire range of human experience from profound depression to "abundant gratification." His early, groundbreaking studies of learned helplessness provided great insight into inescapable trauma as a major source of helplessness and depression. He went on to study "learned optimism" as a powerful antidote to depression--his earlier book by that name is invaluable.

Now, Seligman sets out to provide readers with the insights and tools from the relatively new field of positive psychology. He does this with a rich mixture of anecdotes, personal revelations and research. In addition, he provides frequent self-assessments and exercises. I think that almost anyone who takes the time to read what Seligman has to say, who takes and thinks about the self assessments, and who does the exercises, will start thinking and acting in ways that lead to lasting happiness.

It's important to realize that Seligman is not a self-help guru by any stretch of the imagination. He is a leading research psychologist who builds on solid experimental findings. (Although the book is vividly written for the most part, at times Seligman's reliance on research findings slows things down.) Still, he is also devoted to the idea of making those often dry experiments as meaningful and useful as possible. He doesn't promise limitless bliss, but what he does offer may actually be reachable by ordinary, unenlightened people like us.

Early in the book Seligman makes the point that pleasure in itself is not the road to happiness. As we all know, pleasure is fleeting, and pursuing it can easily turn into addiction or futility. Instead Seligman identifies and values a set nearly universal virtues which he believes lead to deep and lasting gratification. These include wisdom and knowledge, courage, love and humanity, justice, temperance, spirituality and transcendance. "The good life," he writes, "is using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification."

What I liked most about this book is that it made me feel good about myself, other people, and the "simple" virtues that make up much of the fabric of life, but which are often ignored and devalued. Kindness, tolerance, competence, interpersonal skills, a work ethic, and faith emerge as vital ingredients of a good, gratifying, happy life.

Authentic Happiness is not a miracle cure for all unhappiness. It is, however, a wise, well-informed, and extremely valuable guide to a more grounded, heartfelt and gratifying life.

Tentative thoughts....., February 14, 2003

Admittedly I have not read this entire book in depth or done all of the excercises. I have skimmed it , read parts and done a couple of the excercises online just in case I found it to be worth the 26.00 dollars.I didn't. All in all it seems to me to be a quasi-religious,fuzzy notioned, naive tome of utopian collectivism.But what do I really think? Well for one I don't like his seeming endorsement of fundamentalist religion as indicitive of a superior method for happiness. This seems like the old ignorance is bliss arguement to me and he seems to endorse it. I'll take a little pessimism over arbritrary conformity and "playing by the rules" just to not encounter any "unhappiness".I think the cognitive guys have more to offer as in David Burns "Feeling Good" books and Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Therapy oriented books.One can bear a little unhappiness in the search for integrity and self-respect even if it means bucking the system and not being "Positive Polly".

You want to be happy?, February 5, 2003

Here are the books I would recommend you read in your quest for happiness: What Happy People Know, Happiness Is Free, The Little Guide To Happiness, and this book, Authentic Happiness. I've read alot of book on happiness. I'm almost an expert myself now on the subject. Plus, I'm pretty darn happy. So, take my advice. Any one of these are excellent choices

A Good Book for Some (at least), January 15, 2003

"Authentic Happiness" is an informative and/or helpful book for some people, perhaps many people. Other people might find a different book to be more informative and/or helpful for them. Isn't that the whole point of the personality psychology of individual differences? It seems unlikely that any one book, by itself, could be exactly right for every person, no matter what her or his personality, background, current life situation, or future aspirations are. Personally, I think this book is quite good for what it aims to be. And its web site is interesting. But one should look before one leaps -- read descriptions for several books, compare them & etc.. To search to find books that match one's present context seems a sensible strategy. But to expect one particular book to be either very good or very bad for all people would be inconsistent with decades of research findings from the personality psychology of individual differences. Not to mention, inauthentic and unhappy.

Describes happiness, doesn't say how to get there, January 12, 2003

If you are new to the word "happy" and want a dictionary definition that lasts the length of a book, here is your ticket. If, on the other hand, you want tips for experiencing more happiness yourself, look elsewhere...this work is all theory, no practice.

Loved it., January 11, 2003

This book is excellent if you want to be happy. I am troubled by a review below me however. Someone recommended "The negative power of positive thinking". That has got to be the worst most boring book I ever read.

Sorry for spoiling the party, December 29, 2002

This is not the review I hoped to write. Personally, I am alarmed by the emerging trends in the area of "negative" psychology and it's far from too early to try finding what the positive can offer. Martin Seligman impresses me as a kind, modest, intelligent and educated man, and I also enjoyed his sense of humor. And yet, I think this book is problematic, and here is why. Good things first, though: This book is very interesting in both meanings, enjoyable to read and provides information that can be helpful, if not for making the reader a happier person, then at least for understanding ourselves and others. The author appears as very knowledgeable and a critical thinker. The problem: Frequently he isn't. One very common mistake he does is the mundane one - confusing correlation with cause and effect relation: Examples: Does happiness results longevity, or both are results of a common reason? Do chores make children successful as adults, or are characteristics that make a child likely to help at home also makes her likely to be successful later in life? Other examples of questionable claims: Is depression becoming more prevalent or is it diagnosed more? (Some of his data would point to the later). Is giving a child chores that takes her personal "strengths" is expected to be beneficial for her future, or does it defies the basic idea? One can argue that doing what one is good at is "no biggie", what we really better be prepared to is doing things we are not so good at, things we don't like to do, and the supportive surrounding of our close family is the safest place to start experiencing it. I can imagine this being argued instead, and the same people would wipe the same tears and say the same "This is SO true!" But which one it is? To the best of my knowledge it is not clear at this time, while the best evidence suggest that neither. (However, if I'm wrong and chores are beneficial, I invite the Seligmans - eight of them, to clean my place. I guarantee a tremendous feeling of well-deserved satisfaction upon completion).

Indeed, the chapter about parenting is especially perplexing. It is mainly a collection of anecdotes of how the Seligmans handled, successfully according to their own judgment, conflict they had with their children, with the assumption that this will effect their future for the better, and an even broader assumption that this is also true for every child. Not that it wasn't a pleasure to read; witnessing affectionate relations between parents and their children is one of the most charming thing there is. Yet this is unfair for those who worked hard to find what really affect children, and it seems that professor Seligman is not very proficient in this sub-field. Indeed, both assumptions are unsupported by research (if genetic is control for, see The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris, The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker). Also, one "common sense" advice contradicts the other: His "reciprocity game", of family members mimicking a toddler gesture to give her a feeling she is important and loved - isn't it an example of false reassurance (since regularly adults would not bang a table in the end of a meal), against which he next advises?

The book presents very interesting insights into happiness. However, at least for two main themes, "flow" and "strengths", a crucial question is still open: Do those concepts suggest a therapeutic approach, or do they merely a description of enjoying emotional well-being? Especially, consider strengths, which are human traits that are appreciated in many cultures. Yet, this is not because they are happiness initiators; on the contrary, those who exhibit such strengths are admired for enduring the emotional cost associated with being kind, self-controlled, truth seeker, etc.

It is with regret that I criticize a book that is written with such a noble and important intention, especially since it seems to contain important grains of truth and interesting leads. Unfortunately, other readers' reviews only confirm my fear, that because of the author credentials and trust-worthy appearance, readers can easily be mislead; it is very difficult to get the substantiated facts from the wishful thinking, even more so for those who are outsiders to social sciences. I really wish a lot of success to the branch of positive psychology, and will certainly look forward for progress in deciphering authentic happiness. There is a little doubt on my mind that we can expect a lot from Martin Seligman's leadership. This book, though, leaves much to desire for.

Didn't he write this book ten years ago?, December 20, 2002

Liked the book....Liked the exercises. The book offered some good insights, the exercises allowed me to view myself from a different light. I find nothing wrong with the message of the book or the validity of Seligmans research.

But three stars is all I can give because those of us who read "Learned Optimism" had seen most of these arguments and taken most of these tests before. Granted doing them online made it a bit easier----but I can't give a superior review to a re-hashed work.

Furthermore, while the material on evaluating yourself is thorough, the material about what to actually do with this information is a lot less clear. While knowing "who you are" is certainly half the battle in any self-help program, the other half "how you are going to change" is every bit as important. Seligman's answers are often imcomplete, sometimes silly.

But I'm getting to harsh. The book is an easy read and the exercises are interesting and fun. I DID learn plenty about myself. Definitely one of the better in the self-help genre.

Happiness & Optimism -- can Pessimism be Constructive ?, December 14, 2002

The author, Dr. Seligman, is famous for his book Learned Optimism. And his new book, Authentic Happiness, is a useful addition with an especially good web site. Not all psychologists have agreed with, or found research support for, Dr. Seligman's theory of optimism. Some parts of Positive Psychology have been found to be too one-sided and unrealistic about optimism. The academic book about that research and theory is Optimism and Pessimism edited by Dr. Chang. That book has a chapter about constructive pessimism by Dr. Norem, the author of the Positive Power of Negative Thinking. Some psychologists say Dr. Seligman's theory of Positive Psychology is too much a 'one size fits all' model of healthy personality. Individual and cultural differences seem to be more important than Dr. Seligman says. So some people may want to compare his theory to the psychology of constructive pessimism. The surge of research on Resiliency in psychology indicates that individual differences in personality are fundamental -- what helps me won't necessarily help you. Keeping an open mind while exploring psychological health seems to be the key. In any case, Dr. Seligman does present some of the answers for some of the people, and that is worthwhile.

Helpful book, especially with supplement for the negatives, November 13, 2002

My experience with Dr. Seligman's book and its website of personality tests has been very positive overall. So I do recommend this book. One limitation for me, which might also apply to some other readers, is that Authentic Happiness is a little incomplete on advice for people who are not optimistic by nature. My solution to this was to also read another new book --The Positive Power of Negative Thinking by psychologist Julie Norem. Her book and her personality test for 'constructive pessimism' balanced things for me, giving me helpful coverage of realistic individual differences -- so I pass that recommendation along, too.

prescription for a happy, fulfilled life, October 31, 2002

After wide-reaching research across time and cultures, Martin Seligman has identified six virtues: Wisdom and learning, courage, love and humanity, justice, temperance, spirituality and transcendence. In "Authentic Happiness" he describes how to strengthen your character in order to develop these life-affirming virtues. Unlike traditional psychotherapy, which revolves around a "talking cure" and seeks to identify traumatic events in a person's past, and even to assign blame, Seligman's Positive Psychology focuses on developing your "signature strengths", and on learning what you will find genuinely fulfilling in life.

Using personal anecdotes in addition to well-documented (and in some cases, surprising) studies, he demonstrates how we can avoid being trapped by the downward spiral of negativity and depression. This is a remarkable book that defies classification. It should not be limited to the "self-help" genre, as Seligman goes far beyond that to introduce a new way of thinking about individual potential. Highly recommended.

This book is a must read!, October 21, 2002

Dr, Seligman's books are the best works I have ever read on this subject. Most of the books you read on this subject matter. Are usually filled with ancient philosophy or the author's own personal feelings on the subject. This book is based in clinical research. Dr Seligman has turned the World of Psychology inside out and wipes away long held beliefs. Unless your a grad student, the writing will challenge your vocabulary at times. I found myself with a dictionary a number of times. I am looking forward to Dr, Seligmans next book.

So who can be against being positive?, October 19, 2002

Professor, "no mind" embraces authentic happiness and authentic pessimism, unauthentic happiness and unauthentic pessimism--and all such things apart from your Buddha Nature. In saying what you have said, you have said exactly nothing. Herr Hitler apparently found great contentment in knowing his strengths and actualizing them. I think he was utterly convinced that what he was trying to do was for the good of all and profoundly positive.

Authentic happy -- and negative -- feelings, September 25, 2002

Dr. Seligman's new book deserves its 5-star rating and best-seller status, for helpfulness in the wonderful tradition of the Handbook of Humanistic Psychology !! The "Authentic Happiness" book's web site for testing one's 'signature strengths' is also a real plus. The only leftover question is: What about the authenticity of negative feelings? Can anxiety, worry, and caution be authentic and even constructive parts of human experience too, as some psychologists in the book Optimism and Pessimism report. It seems that positive, humanistic psychology is helpful toward becoming authentically happy and self-actualized, as long as human negativity is also seen in its proper psychological perspective

Personality council in what may seem new to the..., September 16, 2002

If you are a traditional councilor or stickler to proven past behaviour analysis this book breaks the historical bonds, but as rationally as humanly possible. It would be worthless as a professional to break down the methodology here in a book review, other than say I agree in theory this is a workable therapy. Can a book bring happiness?, not at all but the methods for positive thinking definitely will hit home runs for many personalities. The one ommission here, that I experience in every case is the existence or non-existence of a God in authentic happiness. For that a book which uses positive psychology with and without God I highly recommend is SB: 1 or God by Karl Mark Maddox.

As a physician, September 1, 2002

As a physician who has treated clinical depression and anxiety the past 16 years, I have studied the best of pop psychology [Burns, Peurifoy, Bourne]. The standout feature of Seligman is that he is able to take high level scientific data and incorporate it into his lay literture. It provides for a strong argument in trying to convince the reader of the topic a hand. Also, Seligman is able to provide us with a progression of any of his previous written work. So 10 years ago, he presented us with "flexible" or learned optimism. Now, he has acquired enough data to back-up that basic concept and lay the foundation for the whole new field of "Positive Psychology". He truly is a visionary in this field. And yes, he most likely will succeed in cultivating a new branch of psychology.

A Profound Gift to Humanity, August 31, 2002