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

by Martin E. P. Seligman

Overview

A national bestseller, Authentic Happiness launched the revolutionary new science of Positive Psychology—and sparked a coast-to-coast debate on the nature of real happiness.

According to esteemed psychologist and bestselling author Martin Seligman, happiness is not the result of good genes or luck. Real, lasting happiness comes from focusing on one’s personal strengths rather than weaknesses—and working with them to improve all aspects of one’s life. Using practical exercises, brief tests, and a dynamic website program, Seligman shows readers how to identify their highest virtues and use them in ways they haven’t yet considered. Accessible and proven, Authentic Happiness is the most powerful work of popular psychology in years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743247887
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	10/02/2002
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	176,609
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Martin Seligman, PhD, is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Positive Psychology Center, and former president of the American Psychological Association. He received his BA in philosophy from Princeton University, and his PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds ten honorary doctorates. He was named the most influential psychologist in the world by Academic Influence. Along with writing for numerous scholarly publications and appearing in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, and many others, he is also the author and coauthor of over thirty books, including Flourish, Authentic Happiness, and Tomorrowmind.

Read an Excerpt

In Authentic Happiness, 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. Happiness can be cultivated by identyfying and using many of the strengths and traits that listeners already possess -- including kindness, originality, humor, optimism, and generosity. By frequently calling upon their "signature strengths," listeners will develop natural buffers against misfortune and the experience of negative emotion -- elevating their lives to a fresh, more positive place.

Drawning 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 strengthts can be nurtured throughout our lives, yielding benefits to our health, relationships, and careers.

Seligman provides the "Signature Strengths Survey" that can be used to measure how much positive emotion listeners experience, in order to help determine what their highest strengths are. Authentic Happiness shows how to identify the very best in ourselves, so we can achieve new and sustainable levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
Part I	Positive Emotion
1.	Positive Feeling and Positive Character	3
2.	How Psychology Lost Its Way and I Found Mine	17
3.	Why Bother to Be Happy?	30
4.	Can You Make Yourself Lastingly Happier?	45
5.	Satisfaction about the Past	62
6.	Optimism about the Future	83
7.	Happiness in the Present	102
Part II	Strength and Virtue
8.	Renewing Strength and Virtue	125
9.	Your Signature Strengths	134
Part III	In the Mansions of Life
10.	Work and Personal Satisfaction	165
11.	Love	185
12.	Raising Children	208
13.	Reprise and Summary	247
14.	Meaning and Purpose	250
Appendix	Terminology and Theory	261
	Acknowledgments	265
	Endnotes	271
	Index	305

What People are Saying About This

Oliver

To read this book is to walk with your head floating in clouds of possibility while your feet tread firmly on the ground of scientific research. Dr. Seligman gives us the tools to tap into our greatest strengths, so that we can live more joyously while making a greater contribution to loved ones, work and community.
— Joan Oliver Goldsmith, author of How Can We Keep from Singing: Music and the Passionate Life

Mary Pipher

Seligman takes the best, most recent science in psychology and applies it to our oldest, most basic human questions-how can we be happy? And how can we be good? His book is ground-breaking, heart-lifting and, most importantly, deeply useful. With pun intended, I'm optimistic about its success.
— Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia

Andrew Weil

Martin Seligman is the leading spokesman for the new movement of positive psychology, which focuses on mental health rather than mental illness. In this most helpful book he identifies characteristics and strategies of people with positive outlooks and explains how you can cultivate and experience authentic happiness and other desirable emotional states more of the time. Professor Seligman makes me optimistic and authentically happy about the future of psychology.

Aaron T. Beck

Seligman has done it again! Authentic Happiness raises our understanding of human nature to a new level. His brilliant explanation of the role of virtue, hopefulness and strength in producing happiness is inspiring as well as informative.
— Aaron T. Beck, M.D., author of Love is Never Enough

George Vaillant

Authentic Happiness is written with grace, power, eminent intelligence, incisive scholarship and-equally important-kindness. Seligman has provided readers from every walk of life with one of the very few authentic self-improvement books in existence.
— George Vaillant, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and author of Aging Well

Kathleen Hall

Some books introduce new ideas; others entertain. Some challenge entrenched attitudes; others offer guiding principles. Authentic Happiness does all of this and more. A life changing book.
— Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dean, The Annenberg School for Communication

Diane Ackerman

The Constitution may guarantee the right to pursue happiness, but it doesn't offer clear paths to follow through the wilderness. Seligman does. By turns smart, funny, irreverent, and insightful, he is the perfect guide, someone who can make such a difference in life, and lives. A world hungry for happiness will love his new book.
— Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses

Kay Redfield

Authentic Happiness is an excellent book about emotions that are vital, positive, and lend great strength to our lives. Martin Seligman, a pioneer in the field of positive emotions, has written a book that will make a real difference to many people.
— Kay Redfield Jamison, author of An Unquiet Mind

Cheryl Richardson

Authentic Happiness is one of the most important books of our time. It offers a powerful message of hope for millions who long for a deeply satisfying life. Highly accessible and filled with practical advice, if you read it and use it, it will change your life.
— Cheryl Richardson, author of Stand Up for Your Life

Jonathan Kellerman

Martin Seligman is one of the most original thinkers the social sciences have produced in our century. Authentic Happiness is a fascinating, compelling look at a body of ground-breaking research. An important book.
— Jonathan Kellerman, author of Flesh and Blood

Don Clifton

Authentic Happiness is a must read for two groups of people: anyone interested in a deeper, sophisticated, more integrated treatment of the Positive Psychology movement; and those people who struggle for greater contentment in their daily lives. This book can make the world a better place for all human beings. I intend to buy it for all of my friends who have visions of a better world.
— Don Clifton, author of Now, Discover Your Strengths

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

A revolutionary perspective on psychology, Seligman's Authentic Happiness is a beacon for human behavior in the new century. Laypersons and professionals alike will find this book enormously enriching. It summarizes a huge literature, it provides concrete self-assessment tools, and it speaks with a joyful voice about what it means to be fully alive.
— Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Steven Pinker

A highly insightful scientific and personal reflection on the nature of happiness, from one of the most creative and influential psychologists of our time.
— Steven Pinker, Peter de Florez Professor of Psychology, MIT, and author of The Language Instinct

Daniel Goleman

At last, psychology gets serious about glee, fun and happiness. Martin Seligman has given us a gift-a practical map for the perennial quest for a flourishing life.
— Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

Stephen R. Covey

An amazing book! Absolutely full of practical wisdom and its authentic sources. What depth of understanding! Seligman affirms our power of choice with a perspective on old and new psychology I found compelling and fascinating. This book will help restore the Character Ethic.
— Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Robert Wright

Martin Seligman, one of America's most eminent psychologists, is on a mission: to take the rich and surprising findings of a young field called "positive psychology" and use them to improve the mental, moral, and spiritual well-being of his readers. Being positive psychology's founder, as well as a vivid, inspiring writer, he is uniquely qualified for this job. Only one person could have written Authentic Happiness, but millions could benefit from it.
— Robert Wright, author of The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are-The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology

Howard Gardner

An impressive achievement. This book will change how people view psychology and how all of us view ourselves.
— Howard Gardner, Harvard University, author of Multiple Intelligences

Editorial Reviews

Happiness isn't just a gift; it's a skill that can be learned and cultivated. According to psychology professor Dr. Martin Seligman, everyone has the power to infuse real joy into his or her life. To teach ourselves happiness, he recommends that we identify and develop our personal "signature strengths." By incorporating these attributes into the crucial arenas of our lives, we can enhance our lives and experience real fulfillment. This is an orthodox but sensible life-changing lesson.

bn.com

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. Agent, Richard Pine. (Sept. 4) Forecast: A first serial in Newsweek, an appearance on Good Morning America and an author tour not to mention Seligman's name recognition as a longtime proponent of positive psychology should help the publisher sell out its first printing of 125,000 copies. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Caroline Myss Author of Sacred Contracts Authentic Happiness is delightful and richly insightful. Martin Seligman has written a very practical book, guiding readers to make positive choices in life.

Steven Pinker Author of The Language Instinct A highly insightful scientific and personal reflection on the nature of happiness, from one of the most creative and influential psychologists of our time.

Elle A bold new plan for taking control of your life and finding lasting happiness.

From the Publisher