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The Three Dimension of Happiness According to Seligman

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The Three Dimensions of Happiness [Positive Psychology] takes you through the countryside of pleasure and gratification, up into the high country of strength and virtue, and finally to the peaks of lasting fulfillment: meaning and purpose (Seligman 2002, p. 61). According to Seligman, we can experience three kinds of happiness: 1) pleasure and gratification, 2) embodiment of strengths and virtues and 3) meaning and purpose. Each kind of happiness is linked to positive emotion but from his quote, you can see that in his mind there is a progression from the first type of happiness of pleasure/gratification to strengths/virtues and finally meaning/purpose. The Pleasant Life: Past, Present & Future Seligman provides a mental “toolkit” to …show more content…

132). They were surprised to find 6 particular virtues that were valued in almost every culture, valued in their own right (not just as a means to another end) and are attainable. These 6 core virtues are: 1. wisdom & knowledge 2. courage 3. love & humanity 4. justice 5. temperance 6. spirituality & transcendence Strengths For Seligman, the strengths are the “route” through we achieve virtues in our life. Seligman clarifies the difference between talents and strengths by defining strengths as moral traits that can be developed, learned, and take effort. Talents, on the other hand, tend to be inherent and can only be cultivated from what exists rather than what develops through effort (Seligman 2002, p. 134). For example, many people consider musical ability as more or less inherent and can only be strengthened. On the other hand, one can cultivate the strength of patience, which can lead to the virtue of temperance Seligman provides a detailed classification of the different virtues as well as a strengths survey that is available on his website: www.authentichappiness.org. Seligman sees the healthy exercise and development of strengths and virtues as a key to the good life – a life in which one uses one’s “signature strengths every day in the main realms of your life to bring abundant gratification and authentic happiness.” The good life is a

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