Happiness, Positive Psychology and Martin Seligman

Positive Psychology

Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology. It, among other things, seeks to make normal life more fulfilling. Martin Seligman, the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, is considered to be the “father of positive psychology” As a psychologist and writer who wrote the book, Authentic Happiness, he pioneered a new area of psychology in 1998 when he chose Positive Psychology as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. 

According to him, in the last fifty years, psychology has been primarily dedicated to addressing mental illness rather than mental "wellness”. The pioneering research of a new generation of psychologists has led to a firm scientific foundation for the study of human happiness and optimal function. Researchers in the field of positive psychology is divided into three overlapping areas of research: 

 1. Pleasant Life or the “life of enjoyment”: It examines how people optimally experience, forecast, and savor the positive feeling and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living(e.g. relationships, hobbies, interests, entertainment, etc).

 2, Good Life or the “life of engagement": The research is to investigate the beneficial effects of immersion, absorption, and flow that individuals feel when optimally engaged with their primary activities. These states are experienced when there is a positive match between a person’s strength and the task they are doing. 

 3, Meaningful life or “life of affiliation”: This is to study how individuals derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing back to something larger and more permanent than themselves (e.g. nature, social groups, organizations, movements, traditions, belief systems). 

 The practical application of positive psychology includes helping individuals and organizations correctly identify their strengths and use them to increase and sustain their respective levels of well-being.

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