Martin Seligman Positive Psychology

Notwithstanding the numerous advantages of pessimism, proven by studies, society continues to condemn it. This is particularly due to the fact that optimism is viewed as more superior, compared to pessimism. Author, Jon Gordon, reports, “‘Whether we feed ourselves each day with negative fuel or positive fuel … our optimism has a big impact on our day’” (Gordon). Gordon conveys the fact that, ultimately, optimism determines success, not pessimism. Additionally, Adam Sinicki, a psychology graduate, comments that remaining optimistic during strenuous times will help alleviate the situation because an individual is believing that matters will only mend (Sinicki). While there may be research to support these claims, the truth is, they fail to shed

The first inventory I took was the flourishing scale. In the beginning of the semester I scored a 46 which was below the average by two points. Based on the questions asked I thought I answered pretty high. The second time I took the exam I scored a 50, it went up four points and was rated as highly flourishing. I was not surprised to have gone up in flourishing this semester I definitely made some changes the biggest being my social life. I made more meaningful relationships with people who I actually trust and enjoy being around all the time. I also tried to be more supportive to those around me and encouraging them in their for the future.

Many believe that you can only be optimistic if you are successful, as good things happening to you can cause a better mood. However, Seligman believed the opposite. He thought that having an optimistic outlook creates success. Things cannot go well for you if you always think on the bad side of things, therefore, if you are more optimistic, you will be able to bounce back faster from hardship and be more able to become successful once again. However, pessimism can also be learned. If a person believes that everything bad that happens is their fault, they will become more pessimistic and unwilling to try new things, as they believe they will mess up. This thought can be taught in young children. Often, children who are abused or bullied at a young age can develop a pessimistic outlook as they are told that bad events are their

Every aspect of psychology excites me. As I take more classes, and my exposure to different theories and perspectives as well as topics and fields increases, I want to know more. The possibilities and applications of psychology are endless. When I wrote about peace and positive psychology for a career paper in an English class, my thoughts on psychology's impact expanded. Influenced by humanistic psychology, positive psychology focuses not only on the health or unhealthiness of an individual, but his or her potential to thrive and live a happy life. The prior theories have opened up the long-neglected opposite side of the spectrum of one’s psychological health. I am inspired by countless psychologists, but notably Abraham Maslow and Martin

I decided to read the entire book (349 pages) titled, Flourish, by Martin E.P. Seligman. He sectioned his book into two parts, “A New Positive Psychology” and “The Ways to Flourish.” The first part of the book, Seligman discusses his journey to discover the concept of “positive psychology.” A man who was a part of an anonymous foundation contacted him and presented Seligman with hefty funds for an opportunity of a lifetime—to study and research any subject he wishes and report on it. He chose the topic, “Positive Psychology” as the subject he would then focus a substantial amount of his time and research on. In doing so, he was able to find scientific reasoning for how people achieve happiness in their lives. Once Seligman takes the time and space to explain his concept of flourishing and positive psychology, he then focuses the second part of his book on how to implement and maintain those concepts in your life.

The pursuit of happiness is the universal search for a life an individual can feel content and satisfied with. However, as stated in class, happiness is a fleeting emotion rather than a prolonged state. Once an individual achieves a sense of happiness it is only a matter of time before they return to the starting point of their quest. Therefore, happiness alone is not enough to elicit a good life. On a similar note, in 2004, Professor Martin Seligman gave a TED talk that addressed the current direction of psychology. He believed the extent of psychology had become the ability to “make miserable people feel less miserable” rather than “[making] relatively untroubled people happier.” As a result, he and his colleagues developed positive psychology, a branch of psychology that promotes the components of happiness, well-being, and fulfillment to achieve a satisfactory life. The purpose of this project is to learn about your well-being and discover ways to increase the quality of your life through positive psychology.

According to Peterson (2008), “positive psychology is what makes life most worth living.” Positive psychology is a frame of mind. It is the ability to look at the world, as the glass is half-full and not half empty. It focuses on the positives in your life, not the negative. Most people are resilient, positive psychology capitalizes on this attribute and draws on the great things that occur in your life leading to more fulfilling and productive outcome in your professional

One prominent commitment that Seligman has made for Positive Brain research is his diverse study to make a "definitive order and estimation framework for the human qualities". He and Dr. Christopher Peterson, a top master in the field of trust and hopefulness, attempted to make a grouping framework that would offer clinicians some assistance with measuring positive brain research's viability. They utilized great character to quantify its viability in light of the fact that great character was so reliably and unequivocally connected to enduring bliss. So as to stay consistent with their endeavors to make a general arrangement framework, they tried to look at and research a wide assortment of religious and philosophical writings from everywhere throughout

In class on Monday, we had a very engaging presentation on positive psychology and how flourishing shapes our perspective to be the successful young adults we are today. Positive psychology is the study of promotion for successful functioning. Building enabling conditions for a life worth living is vital to being satisfied with our lives and within ourselves. A few enabling conditions for a life worth living for my own perspectives is my resilience, my supportive buffers, and using my signature strength to help others.

Another point Seligman makes about is how not having positive interventions led to positive psychology. He goes on to say that positive psychology has three main aims. The first aim is psychology should be just as concerned with strength as with weakness. Next, it should be just as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst. Lastly, it should be just as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling and with nurturing high talent as with healing pathology.

The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” (Chuck Palahniuk). The first concept I learned is positive psychology, and unexpectedly I have applied this concept throughout my life for the last sixteen years without realizing it until this course. People who employ positive psychology are those who make people happy throughout the course of their life and are optimistic during difficult times to cope with the challenges (Franzoi, 2014, pg. 8). People who incorporate positive psychology into their life have less stress and are tend to be happier and healthier. Positive psychology brings similar effects to positive emotions like happiness and pleasure as clinical psychology that treats depression and anger (Max, 2007).

The term happiness continues to perplex psychologists. With the recent study of positive psychology or the study of happiness, psychologists have unintentionally attached a negative connotation to all other emotions. However, all emotions, even the ones coined as negative, are valuable to humans. An analysis of human emotions proves that feelings of sadness, anger, fear, and happiness are equally beneficial to human development because they allow for a safer and more open mind-set.

Researchers theorize the use of positive psychology in the treatment of cancer patients can diminish or eliminate depression. Researchers determined a structured positive psychotherapy program, designed to address the psychological challenges that cancer patients traverse. Breast cancer patients are taxed with medical, physical, emotional, and psychological stresses, that consume their lives. The natural instinct to survive allows patients to override the emotional and psychological fallout of the disease and focus on the eliminating the physical attack of the cancer, with medical interventions. This time proves to be chaotic, overwhelming and stressful; with patients inundated with fear, medical jargon, choices,

Martin Seligman used to be the President of the APA (American Psychological Association). When he was President and throughout his tenure thus far as being therapist he conducted a lot of studies. In those studies he learned a lot about positive psychology. He focused on the emotion of happiness. What he found out was that people who have a positive aspects, engagement and meaning in their lives tend to have a very happy and powerful life. Through his TED talk he described how important it is for people to have all three sectors of the positive aspects, engagement, and meaning. "The sum of the whole is greater than the parts" is a quote he mentioned to explain his message that if someone has only positive aspects and no engagement or meaning

Positive psychology, which has emerged recently, is the scientific study of human thriving. Psychology traditionally focuses on dysfunction—on people with mental illness or other psychological problems and how to treat them. Positive psychology, by contrast, is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled. In his 1998 APA presidential address, Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, argued that psychology had become too focused on curing mental illness according to a disease model, and that, for all intents and purposes, it had become a “victimology” (Seligman, 1998). What was needed, he averred, was a new “science of human strengths,” a positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).