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Summary: Sorry for spoiling the party
Review: 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.
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Summary: Happiness & Optimism -- can Pessimism be Constructive ?
Review: 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.
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Summary: A Study of Happiness
Review: "Authentic Happiness" is a readable and fascinating, but somewhat academic, treatise about happiness by Martin Seligman. The book begins with a discussion of the nun study-a study that followed nuns throughout their lives and examined factors such as longevity and health. The study found the greatest predictive factor of successful aging and life satisfaction was optimism reflected in essays the young nuns wrote about their lives when they first took their religious vows. Those who were happy and optimistic when young tended to remain happy, healthy, and successful. Those who expressed more pessimism in their essays tended to age less successfully and tended to have less life satisfaction. Other researchers found similar early predictive value using yearbook photos. Seligman writes: "...yearbook photos are a gold mine for Positive Psychology researchers. 'Look at the birdie and smile,' the photographer tells you, and dutifully you put on your best smile. Some of us break into a radiant smile of authentic good cheer, while the rest of us pose politely. There are two kinds of smiles. The first, called a Duchenne smile (after its discoverer, Guillaume Duchenne) is genuine. The corners of your mouth turn up and the skin around the corners of your eyes crinkles (like crow's feet). The muscles that do this, the orbicularis oculi and the zygomticus, are exceedingly difficult to control voluntarily. The other smile, called the Pan American smile (after the flight attendants in television ads for the now-defunct airline), is inauthentic, with none of the Duchenne features. Indeed, it is probably more related to the rictus that lower primates display when frightened than it is to happiness." Follow-up studies of people with Duchenne yearbook photos showed that they tended to have more personal life satisfaction into their thirties, forties, and fifties than did people without Duchenne smiles. Seligman tells us that "external circumstances" only have a minimal effect ("no more than between 8 and 15 percent of the variance...") on happiness. Here are a few circumstances Seligman says tend to correspond slightly with happiness: 1) Living in a wealthy democracy, rather than a poor dictatorship. Unsurprisingly, this has a relatively strong effect on happiness relative to other circumstances. Extreme poverty and dictators are a real bummer. 2) Marriage. Married people tend to be happier. "Marriage is a more potent happiness factor than satisfaction with job, or finances, or community," Seligman writes. 3) Rich social network. Seligman points out that this might not be a causal relationship. In other words, happy people might tend to build richer social networks more naturally. What about staying healthy, getting a good education, and making more money? Seligman says none of these are highly correlated with happiness. Also, it's a person's subjective feeling of health, not objective health that matters for determining happiness. Some people facing extreme illness remain happy, while other people in relatively good health feel they aren't healthy and are depressed about it. Of course, extreme health problems have a tendency to drag us down. I found the relationship between money and happiness fascinating. It appears winning the lottery or extreme wealth won't make a person happy. Seligman writes: "In very poor nations, where poverty threatens life itself, being rich does predict greater well-being. In wealthier nations, however, where almost everyone has a basic safety net, increases in wealth have negligible effects on personal happiness. In the United States, the very poor are lower in happiness, but once a person is just barely comfortable, added money adds little or no happiness. Even the fabulously rich-the Forbes 100, with an average net worth of over $125 million dollars-are only slightly happier than the average American." (I read an article about Jean Chatzky's new book in which people were asked about their overall life happiness. Relative to income, once $50,000 is hit, happiness levels off. If you search google for "happiness money $50,000" you can find the full article online.) However, a person's obsession with making more money can lead to less happiness. Seligman writes: "...people who value money more than other goals are less satisfied with their income and with their lives as a whole ..." While external circumstances account for less than 15% of a person's happiness, Seligman tells us that genetic disposition plays a significant role, probably contributing over 50% to a person's characteristics. So, why do people become unduly pessimistic or unhappy? Seligman argues that negative emotions prepare us for conflicts or for win-lose games. In contrast, positive emotions help us be more creative and helps us to build social and intellectual resources. Happiness prepares us for win-win situations. Seligman writes: "When we are happy, we are less self-focused, we like others more, and we want to share our good fortune even with strangers. When we are down, though, we become distrustful, turn inward, and focus defensively on our own needs. Looking out for number one is more characteristic of sadness than of well-being." In addition to providing us with an understanding of happiness, "Authentic Happiness" provides several tests for evaluating our own happiness. Many of the tests are available online at AuthenticHappiness.org. Seligman also offers a prescription for finding more happiness. He suggests that people are happiest when they're using their signature strengths. Studying major religions and philosophies, Seligman has identified six admirable and largely culturally-independent strengths. They are: * Wisdom and Knowledge
* Courage
* Love and Humanity
* Justice
* Temperance
* Spirituality and Transcendence Seligman says that if we discover a calling, something that links to a greater good, which utilizes our signature strengths, we tend to be happy. The book also has practical advicee for using your knowledge of happiness to improve marriages and help children become more future-oriented. I highly recommend "Authentic Happiness" to readers who are interested in studying happiness, who want to test their own level of happiness, or who want to attain richer, more fulfilling lives.
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Summary: Psychology is taking a positive turn
Review: = POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY =
Until recently psychology has mainly been working within a disease model: a strong emphasis has been placed on discovering deficits in human behavior and finding ways to repair this damage. Psychologist hardly focused on in doing studies acquiring knowledge about healthy functioning and building strengths. In other words: they have focused solely on taking away something negative (the disfunctioning) instead of adding something positive (increasing mental and behavioral health). The result: psychologist know little about healthy and happy functioning. This situation has been changing now since the rise of positive psychology a few years ago. What is Positive Psychology? It is a new movement in psychology, originated by Martin Seligman and a few other prominent psychologists among whom Mihali Csikszentmihalyi (author of FLOW). It aims to be a psychological science about the best things in life. Main topics of study are: positive emotions, positive traits and positive institutions. This book, Authentic Happiness, is the first book on positive psychology. Seligman is its main spokesperson. = HAPPINESS =
This book mainly deals with the phenomenon of happiness. According to Seligman your enduring level op happiness results from three factors: 1) your SET RANGE ( the basic biologically determined range within which your happiness normally will be), 2) the CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR LIFE (some conditions - like being married and living in a democratic country- somehow seem to contribute to happiness, and 3) your VOLUNTARY CONTROL ( the things you can do to get your happiness to the upper part of your set range. Ok, then how to get this done? Before answering this question Seligman explains that happiness/positive emotion can refer to three domains: the PAST (satisfaction, contentment, fulfilment, pride and serenity), the PRESENT (joy, ecstasy, calm, zest, ebullience, pleasure and flow) and the FUTURE (optimism, hope faith, trust). Then the author comes up with suggestions to improve your happiness: = HOW TO INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS =
1) to be happier about your past, you need to: 1) let go of the false belief that your past negative experiences determine your present and future, 2) increase your gratitude about the good things in your past and 3) learn how to forgive past wrongs. 2) to be happier in your present, you need to distinguish between PLEASURES and GRATIFICATIONS. Pleasures are delights that have clear sensory and strong emotional components that require little if any thinking. Gratifications are flow-experiences. They are activities we very much like doing but that are not necessarily accompanied by any raw feelings at all. The gratifications last longer than the pleasures and they are undergirded by our strengths and virtues. The key to happiness in past and future lies in enhancing gratifications. 3) to be happier about your future, you need to change your explanatory style in order to become more optimistic and hopeful (for an explanation read my review of Seligman's book LEARNED OPTIMISM). = AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS BY USING YOUR STRENGTHS =
These explanations imply what Seligman means by AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS. He says we should not rely on shortcuts like television watching, chocolate eating, loveless sex, and buying things to feel happy. He explains that positive emotion alienated from the exercise of character leads to emptiness, to inauthenticity, and to depression. So we want to feel like we deserved our positive feelings. That's why Seligman says UTHENTIC HAPPINESS comes from identifying and cultivating your most fundamental strengths (so-called SIGNATURE STRENGTHS) and using them everyday in work, love, play, and parenting. This message reminds of the one in Csikszentmihalyi's FINDING FLOW (see my review).
= CORE VIRTUES AND STRENGTHS =
Psychology has devised a classification system (language) for describing abnormal behavior and mental diseases. But it lacked a language describing human effectiveness and sanity. That is why Seligman and a team of scholars researched sources from all kinds of cultures and times in history and found that there is a strong convergence in what these traditions consider to be virtues and strengths. This led to the formulation of a classification system of virtues and strengths. SIX CORE VIRTUES: 1) Wisdom and knowledge, 2) courage, 3) Love and humanity, 4) Justice, 5) Temperance, 6) Spirituality and transcendence. Further they identified 24 strengths corresponding to these virtues. This book contains definitions of this taxonomy and some questionnaires for the reader to complete (the questionnaires can be found on the web too, by the way). = CONCLUSION =
Some words about the form and style of the book. It is pleasantly written. Seligman writes in a rather personal and honest style which makes the book lively (for instance he exclaims on page 24: "I am a hideous example of my own theory.") I recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology and in happiness (although it is not a self-help book in the first place, I think). The book ends reflectively dealing with the relationship between positive emotions and win-win situations, and speculating that we may be on the threshold of an era of win-win games and good-felling. I enjoyed reading the book and I like positive psychology. It is in many ways reminiscent of humanistic psychology (which I always liked) but has a more scientific approach. I have a good hope it will be a success. Coert Visser, www.m-cc.nl
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Summary: I agree 100% with the review by Mr. Coffee
Review: A gentleman named Mr. Coffee wrote an excellent review here citing information by the great Dr. Denis Waitley and discusing why optimism is a tonic while pessimism is a poisin. He also cited a review posted here by someone who said that pessimism can be good and that review actually got 34 votes. Mr. Coffee goes on to state that no doubt all 34 votes where from the reviewer who srote it. I couldn't agree more! Who could possibly think that pessimism is anything more than a illness that must be cured. Great book by Dr. Seligman. I also recommend Dr. Waitley. And whoever wrote that review about pessimism being good for you, I submit that you need these books more than anybody!
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Summary: Seligman's Online Site Beats the Book
Review: I heard about this book on NPR a few months ago and checked out the companion website (authentichappiness.org) before buying the book. The site has 17 questionnaires on happiness, optimism, relationships, emotion, and Seligman's trademark Values in Action Signature Strengths. You can take these tests days or weeks apart and track your progress. It's an excellent site and does the job of prompting you to buy the book. The book just isn't as strong as the site. As noted it other reviews it's part autobiography, part research report and part self-help book. You'll get formulas like H = S + C + V (H is enduring level of happiness, S is your set range, C is the circumstances of your life, v is voluntary variables) and lots of self-congratulatory stories about Seligman's friends, colleagues, wife and kids. Not that any of that's bad, but I have to wonder if his editor didn't ask him "Are you sure you want to include this?" Single greatest reminder of something I knew but had forgotten: "You can't change your past, but you can change your perception of it."
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Summary: Optimism is the real tonic
Review: The great Dr. Denis Waitley conducting one of his outstanding "Seeds of Greatness" speeches asked; "Are you happy because you sing or are you singing because you are happy?" What Dr. Waitley was referring to was that our actions can and usually do lead to the way we feel. In this case, singing makes you happy and by being happy you sing even more. Dr. Waitley also went on to say that motion is created by emotion. How we feel can lead to actions that are productive. In this great book by Martin Seligman, you can learn how your feelings can help you succeed. Seligman is no doubt best known for his groundbreaking book Learned Optimism. RE: Optimism is the real tonic. I foundit amusing that one reviewer wrote a review here asking if pessimism can be a tonic and actually got 34 helpful votes (no doubt placed by the reviewer) How in the world can pessimism be a tonic? Unless you enjoy being sad and unhappy, pessimism is a poisin. I really enjoyed Dr. Selligmans newest book. In addition, I recommend Millionaire Habits by Brian Tracy and any book by Dr. Denis Waitley that you can get your hands on.
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Summary: Went from sad and negative to happy & positive!
Review: Over the last few years, like many others, the Clinton recession and bear market has played it's toll on me. I lost a small fortune in the markets and found gaining employment difficult. To make matters worse, several close family members passed away unexpectedly (9 in one month) so I have been tested. A good friend recommended this book to me. Feeling that it was just another "feel good book" loaded with polyanna type nonsense, I resisted. Finally, I borrowed the book from my friend and read it. I have to admit, I felt better, but then again I had proved to myself that this was just a "feel good book." More to the point, I started to apply someof what I had read. I read more and more every day and continued to apply Dr. Seligmans advice. When I called my friend and told him what was happening, he just laughed and siad I told you so. When I returned the book to my friend, he asked me if I was open to more information. "There's more I thought." He gave me a copy of Learned Optimism also by Seligman and The 7 Habits of Highloy Effective People by Dr. Covey. When I finished those he loaned me a few more. My whole attitude had changed from negative to positive. In fact, I no longer refer to positive mind books as "feel good books" in a negative way anymore. Of course they are "feel good books." And when are we at out best, when we feel good or when we feel lousy? Having been sad and negative for a long time and gone to happy and positive, I can tell you that lif is a lot better when you feel good, happy and positive then by being negative, sad and feeling lousy. I highly recommend this great book by Dr. Seligman. Perhaps like me, you will find this the first of many books and also find you whole life changed for the better as a result. Thank you Dr. Seligman!
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Summary: Another great book by Dr. Seligman
Review: I have always enjoyed Dr. Seligmans work and am a big fan of Learned Optimism which probably should be read before this one or at least in addition to it. People are confused and upset today for a lot of different reasons. Are you really happy. Read Dr. Seligmans book and find out what you can do about it. Great work Dr. Seligman.
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Summary: Self-important Author Repackaging Some Good Ideas
Review: I simply cannot understand most of the other reviewers here in their adoration of this book. Primarily, the book draws on insights already expressed by others without giving appropriate credit. One example is John F. Kennedy, who defined happiness as "full use of your powers along the lines of excellence" (compare this to Seligman's defintion: "successfully using your signature strengths to obtain...gratification.)" Another example is Norman Vincent Peale who defined optimism as a "habit of mind" (compare this to Seligman's point that we can achieve optimism by routinely engaging in the "disputing of pessimistic thoughts.") Can you say Positive Thinking? Conciously or unconciously, Seligman has repackaged these thoughts and labeled the package "Positive Psychology." The warming over of these old concepts, in itself, would not be a bad thing because the borrowed concepts have much validity. What IS bad, however, is the way Seligman padded and diluted these nuggets with a lot of personal anecdotes, self congratulation, questionnaires, and psuedo science. And he constantly uses pure trivia as his source for second guessing other great thinkers on the weightiest of subjects. For example, he implies that the enitire book was hatched as the result of an "epiphany" he experienced when his 5 year old daughter called him a grouch. Similarly, all of his self-assured recommendations on child rearing, contained in a long chapter that seems tacked on to the book, are based on the experience of raising his own kids. Seligman apparently is on his second family (his 6 kids include toddlers and near-middle-agers.) Why should I take his advice on child rearing when he admits that, until he bribed her with the offer of a Barbie Doll, he couldn't stop his youngest from hiding, day after day, where her family could not find her? He actually says we should only bribe kids this way "once or twice in a lifetime." Finally, Seligman unlocks the mystery of God for us by engaging in his typical practice of finding answers not in the words of Aristotle, Plato, or Freud but by seeking answers in less less likely places. He goes instead to the world of sci-fi, telling us that his theory on the identity of God was inspired by an Isaac Asimov short story. He unravels this mystery for us by quoting a poolside conversation during which, as he describes it, he dazzled a brilliant writer, Bob Wright, with his profound insight on the Diety. What's the insight? "God comes at the end" but wasn't here in the beginning! If you want to get anything useful out of this book, you have to work hard to separate the meaningful stuff from the self-important fluff. I suggest you instead seek out the thoughts of people like Kennedy and Peale, who were not only better thinkers, but a heck of a lot less arrogant.
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