Flourish
A New Understanding of Happiness and Wellbeing: The practical guide to using positive psychology to make you happier and healthier
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
'Admirable and exciting' -Sunday Times
'His most personal and boldest book so far' -Nature
'This book will help you flourish.' With this promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, the first book to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr Seligman has led for 15 years, is different - it's about actually raising the bar for the human condition.
Flourish builds on Dr Seligman's game-changing work on optimism, motivation and character to show how to get the most out of life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seligman, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the guru of the "positive psychology" movement, abandons his previous emphasis on happiness, which he now views as simplistic, to examine how individuals might achieve a richer, multilayered goal: a life of well-being. He identifies four factors that can help individuals thrive: positive emotion, engagement with what one is doing, a sense of accomplishment, and good relationships. Those expecting a guide on how to achieve these goals will be disappointed; Seligman's approach is largely conceptual and empirical, although he has some useful things to say, such as how even soldiers with PTSD can be taught resilience to recover and even grow from their traumas, and how students of all ages can be taught focus, delayed gratification, and GRIT, a combination of drive and perseverance. But Seligman includes too much on the mechanics of conducting his studies. Also, he can be self-congratulatory regarding his own theory, and harsh and reductionist on traditional treatments ("psychology-as-usual the psychology of victims and negative emotions and alienation and pathology and tragedy"). This is a potentially important book whose impact may be limited by its flaws.
