Show Top reviews from the United StatesThere was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2010 This book is of immense value simply by virtue of the fact that it opens up the conversation on what is probably the most important topic, period: What constitutes a life well-lived? What priorities are most sensible and condusive to happiness/satisfaction/reward/contentment/(whatever you want to use as the most fundamental term). But unfortunately, the connection between the two key areas of the book is not drawn very clearly, limiting its utility considerably. First, Seligman introduces the equation H = S + C + V, (other reviewers have adequately explained it, so I won't) which is quite useful. But he doesn't flesh this out as well as he could have, and doesn't return to it enough after introducing it. S, we are to understand, is the set range, which seems to be basically genetically imposed temperament, but this isn't as clear as it should be. It seems to me that many of the factors included under V are also determined by S. Part 1 of the book is essentially a taxonomy of positive experiences, divided by temporal orientation (toward past, present, and future) and intensity level. He separates purely bodily/sensate pleasures from "higher pleasures" which involve mentation to a greater degree. This is very helpful. One can quibble with this choices, but it's helpful to have a frame. He then makes a loose but important distinction between the two sets of aforementioned pleasures on the one hand and "gratifications" on the other. Although he does not reject pleasures and indeed offers helpful tips on enhancing them, his (quite reasonable) assertion is that gratifications are the most important component of authentic happiness. Unfortunately, given the importance that he ascribes to the gratifications, he barely defines them except to equate them very vaguely with "flow states." This is the crucial flaw of the book. A more thorough analysis would have been helpful here. After failing to adequately characterize the gratifications, he moves on to Part 2, which is essentially a taxonomy of "character strengths and virtues." Again, this is a helpful frame. But it hasn't been related to Part 1 very well. I guess his assertion is that character strengths, when cultivated, lead to flow states which are gratifying, and these flow states constitute the "gratifications." But this is not at all clear or very explicit. It is not at all self-evident that the exercise of character and virtue leads to flow states. In fact, it seems like the two are only tangentially related, at best. Further, if under gratifications we would include qualities other than flow states (and again this point is quite muddled), I would distinguish between gratifications which are healthy from those that aren't - the latter might include vengeance, for instance, and getting away with a crime. I would also include other gratifications which are morally ambiguous - social status, for instance. Even if social status doesn't lead to happiness inherently (although I think it can to some degree, or at least the absence of it can lead to unhappiness), it mediates ones access to some extent to a number of the circumstantial happiness factors (namely mate selection, social circle and wealth). Although some of that status does of course derive from character strengths and virtues, a considerable amount of it also derives from talents, over which (as Seligman points out) we have little control. It also seems to me that many of the character strengths and virtues lead to what Seligman calls "higher pleasures" just as often as they lead to "gratification flow state." How do genuineness and gratitude lead to flow state, for instance? Altogether, the book is an important step toward a vital conversation and has a number of really helpful aspects, but it is conceptually somewhat muddled. Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2015 I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the line virtue became a dirty word. You can’t say it without getting weird looks. You can’t even think it without feeling like a hypocrite. Virtue? Isn’t that something Victorians believed in? Look where that got us: a world so full of oppression that the sun never sets on it. I used to be in that camp. Virtue was a guilty pleasure of mine. I believed in it (sort of). But I always felt like either a faker or a cultural imperialist for doing so. Whenever the word popped into my mind, I gave myself one good mental flogging as penance. The field of psychology seems to have been beset by similar demons. Much of the research agenda has been dedicated to identifying pathology (things gone very wrong), and mitigating it where possible. That is, until now (or, to be more accurate, until about ten years ago). Martin Seligman is one of the founders of the field of Positive Psychology, a new branch of research that tries to identify what can go very right. His findings are compiled in Authentic Happiness. The book has vindicated virtue, at least in my mind. Seligman has spent the last decade plus trying to identify the sources of human flourishing. He has found a combination of six such sources appearing in literature from the Indus Valley to the Japanese Archipelago to the Mediterranean Sea (how about South America, Africa, or the annals of the Iroquois Nation? I’m not sure. I bet you’d find these traits in abundance there, too, if you looked). The six (drumroll please) more-or-less ubiquitous human virtues as uncovered by Seligman’s team of graduate students are…. Ha! As if I’m going to just tell you. Go read the book! Sike. I’ll tell you. 1) Wisdom and Knowledge Quibble as you will, this seems like a good place to start. The first step to becoming a better person is believing that it is possible. For a long time I didn’t. I thought that the best I could do was keep to myself; I cowered in fear of offending anyone’s sensibilities with my notions of good and bad, or of taking on a model I couldn’t live up to. I’m done with that. I may go down, but at least I’ll go down swinging. Top reviews from other countries3.0 out of 5 stars Serious flaws in basic premises and coverage of topics Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2013 While I understand Seligman's thesis in this book and find his analysis and argument interesting, I am left wondering if this thesis isn't just a more sophisticated version of the old song: "You've got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative...." Moreover, Seligman's thesis reminds me of the dictum: "Play to your strengths." This is particularly true in his encouragement to maximize happiness via one's signature strengths and achievement of flow. Thus, it is not clear to me what is really new here. Seligman states clearly that he is not trying to offer advice that will resolve any current mental illness but rather provide options and avenues for increasing current levels of happiness. In doing so, he argues that the past is for naught and that early trauma of any kind should not prevent one from increasing one's present amount and type of happiness. Yet the past is not so easily dismissed, especially when childhood trauma remains heavily imprinted on one's consciousness. So, in this respect, I find Seligman's basic premise to be fragile in the extreme and his subsequent arguments wide open to challenge. Finally, a major omission is Seligman's choice not to address the negativity imposed on us by others or by our environment. This omission is especially evident in his discussion of married love. This chapter offers little new beyond classic psychology. It was even quite galling to read the simplistic assertion that married life is happier while ever one can maintain the illusion of one's partner's virtues....Yes, of course, but what about the case of long-marrieds who know each other inside out and whose illusions faded long ago? To me this chapter was a cop out, nothing more or less. Interested readers may also benefit from visiting the website that accompanies the book, in order to participate in the numerous surveys there. In my opinion, the website is worth more than the book itself, in terms of providing useful insights into the foundations of happiness and methods for increasing one's own personal quota. 3.0 out of 5 stars Old but with few good details Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2022 I think the book is old and does not fit with the contemporary meaning of happiness and so most of the context is out of date. Also, much of the work in detail is not relevant. 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book that shows how we become really happy through ... Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2015 Excellent book that shows how we become really happy through positive thinking and the thoughts that occupy our mind. Quite simply, we are what we think, and we can only feel good by entertaining positive thoughts about ourselves and environment. A very good read with some eye opening findings and useful activities. 5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting take on psychology. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2017 This has always been my personal philosophy - to remain positive throughout all the events of my life. However, I am aware that this is my own natural bent and attitude towards life and that others are different. So what they may make of it, who knows? I enjoyed it though. 4.0 out of 5 stars Half of the book is technically and the other half more for normal people Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2020 It has very technical parts but at the end of the book I found it very interesting the chapter about parents and children What are the three great realms of life?The eminent clinical psychologist Martin Seligman remarked that the three great realms of life are love, work, and play.
What are the 3 components of happiness according to Martin Seligman?Seligman's conclusion is that happiness has three dimensions that can be cultivated: the Pleasant Life, the Good Life, and the Meaningful Life. The Pleasant Life is realised if we learn to savour and appreciate such basic pleasures as companionship, the natural environment and our bodily needs.
What are the 3 types of happiness?Positive psychologists talk of three types of happiness – the “pleasant life” which is filled with positive emotion, the “good life” in which engagement in work and play makes time stand still, and the “meaningful life” in which a person uses his or her character strengths in service to a larger effort.
What is Martin Seligman's theory?The most famous work of Martin Seligman is his research on the theory of learned helplessness. “Learned helplessness is a term specifying an organism learning to accept and endure unpleasant stimuli, and unwilling to avoid them, even when it is avoidable.”
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Which of the following are considered to be the three greatest realms of life according to Martin Seligman?
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