Flourish A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

by Seligman, Martin E. P.

• ISBN13: 9781439190760
• ISBN10: 1439190763
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-07
• Publisher: Atria Books

Summary

“This book will help you flourish.” With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten yearsand the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led for fifteen years, is differentit’s about actually raising the bar for the human condition. Flourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism, motivation, and character to show how to get the most out of life, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good lifefor individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about. While certainly a part of well-being, happiness alone doesn’t give life meaning. Seligman now asks, What is it that enables you to cultivate your talents, to build deep, lasting relationships with others, to feel pleasure, and to contribute meaningfully to the world? In a word, what is it that allows you to flourish? “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the five pillars of Positive Psychology, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishmentor PERMA, the permanent building blocks for a life of profound fulfillment. Thought-provoking in its implications for education, economics, therapy, medicine, and public policythe very fabric of society Flourish tells inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action, including how the entire U.S. Army is now trained in emotional resilience; how innovative schools can educate for fulfillment in life and not just for workplace success; and how corporations can improve performance at the same time as they raise employee well-being. With interactive exercises to help readers explore their own attitudes and aims, Flourish is a watershed in the understanding of happiness as well as a tool for getting the most out of life. On the cutting edge of a science that has changed millions of lives, Dr. Seligman now creates the ultimate extension and capstone of his bestselling classics, Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism.

Author Biography

Martin e.p. Seligman, Ph.D., the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, works on positive psychology, learned helplessness, depression, ethnopolitical conflict, and optimism. Dr. Seligman's work has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 1
A New Positive Psychology	p. 3
What Is Weil-Being?	p. 5
The Birth of a New Theory	p. 9
The Original Theory: Authentic Happiness	p. 11
From Authentic Happiness Theory to Well-Being Theory	p. 13
Well-Being Theory	p. 14
The Elements of Well-Being	p. 16
Kindness Exercise	p. 21
Flourishing as the Goal of Positive Psychology	p. 26
Creating Your Happiness: Positive Psychology Exercises That Work	p. 30
The Gratitude Visit	p. 30
Can Well-Being Be Changed?	p. 31
What-Went-Well Exercise	p. 33
Positive Psychology Interventions and Cases	p. 35
Signature Strengths Exercise	p. 38
Positive Psychotherapy	p. 40
The Dirty Little Secret of Drugs and Therapy	p. 45
Cure Versus Symptom Relief	p. 46
The 65 Percent Barrier	p. 47
Active, Constructive Responding	p. 48
Dealing with Negative Emotions	p. 51
A New Approach to Cure	p. 53
Applied Psychology Versus Basic Psychology: Problems Versus Puzzles	p. 55
Wittgenstein, Popper, and Penn	p. 56
Teaching Well-Being: The Magic of MAPP	p. 63
The First MAPP	p. 64
Ingredients of Applied Positive Psychology	p. 66
Intellectually Challenging Applicable Content	p. 66
Personal and Professional Transformation	p. 70
Transformations	p. 71
Called to Positive Psychology	p. 75
Positive Education: Teaching Well-Being to Young People	p. 78
Should Well-Being Be Taught in School?	p. 79
The Penn Resiliency Program: A Way to Teach Well-Being in School	p. 81
Three-Good-Things Exercise	p. 84
Using Signature Strengths in New Ways	p. 84
The Geelong Grammar School Project	p. 85
Teaching Positive Education	p. 89
Embedding Positive Education	p. 90
Living Positive Education	p. 92
Positive Computing	p. 93
A New Measure of Prosperity	p. 96
The Ways to Flourish	p. 99
GRIT, Character, and Achievement: A New Theory of Intelligence	p. 101
Success and Intelligence	p. 102
Positive Character	p. 103
Drawn by the Future, Not Driven by the Past	p. 104
What Intelligence Is	p. 106
Speed	p. 106
The Virtue of Slowness	p. 110
Executive Function	p. 112
Rate of Learning: The First Derivative of Speed	p. 113
Self-Control and GRIT	p. 115
GRIT Versus Self-Discipline	p. 118
High Human Accomplishment	p. 119
GRIT's Benefits	p. 122
Building the Elements of Success	p. 124
Army Strong: Comprehensive Soldier Fitness	p. 126
A Psychologically Fit Army	p. 126
Global Assessment Tool (GAT)	p. 129
Online Courses	p. 137
Emotional Fitness Module	p. 139
Family Fitness Module	p. 142
Social Fitness Module	p. 143
Spiritual Fitness Module	p. 149
Turning Trauma into Growth	p. 152
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	p. 152
Post-Traumatic Growth	p. 159
Post-Traumatic Growth Course	p. 161
Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory	p. 161
Master Resilience Training	p. 163
Building Mental Toughness	p. 167
The Hot Seat: Fighting Catastrophic Thoughts in Real Time	p. 169
Hunt the Good Stuff	p. 171
Character Strengths	p. 171
Building Strong Relationships	p. 173
The Rollout	p. 177
Positive Physical Health: The Biology of Optimism	p. 182
Turning Medicine on Its Head	p. 182
Origins of Learned Helplessness Theory	p. 184
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)	p. 190
Infectious Illness	p. 194
Cancer and All-Cause Mortality	p. 200
Is Well-Being Causal, and How Might It Protect?	p. 204
Positive Health	p. 208
Army Database: A National Treasure	p. 211
Cardiovascular Health Assets	p. 213
Exercise as a Health Asset	p. 214
The Politics and Economics of Well-Being	p. 221
Beyond Money	p. 221
The Divergence Between GDP and Well-Being	p. 222
The Financial Downturn	p. 228
Ethics Versus Values	p. 228
Optimism and Economics	p. 232
Reflexive and Nonreflexive Reality	p. 234
PERMA 51	p. 237
Appendix: Signature Strengths Test	p. 243
Thanks and Acknowledgments	p. 267
Notes	p. 271
Index	p. 321
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