The new era of positive psychology | Martin Seligman

Summary

Martin Seligman argues that psychology has made major progress in treating mental illness but has focused too narrowly on reducing suffering. Its next task, he says, should be to study and build the conditions that help people flourish.

What psychology achieved—and what it neglected

For roughly 60 years, psychology largely worked within a disease model. Seligman credits that work with creating rigorous ways to measure and classify mental illnesses, investigate their causes, and test treatments. Many disorders that once had no effective treatment can now be treated, and some can be cured.

But he identifies three costs of this emphasis:

• It diminished personal agency: People in difficulty were often viewed mainly as victims of circumstances, with too little attention to choice and responsibility.
• It neglected ordinary lives: Psychology paid less attention to helping people who were not seriously ill become happier, more fulfilled, and more productive.
• It focused on repairing damage rather than building well-being: The field did not develop enough interventions designed to increase happiness.

Positive psychology and its three aims

Seligman describes positive psychology as a complement to, not a replacement for, treating mental illness. It aims to:

• Study human strengths as seriously as human weaknesses.
• Build strengths rather than focus only on repairing damage.
• Help ordinary people lead more fulfilling lives and nurture exceptional talent.

Researchers have begun measuring positive states, classifying strengths and virtues, investigating the causes of well-being, and testing interventions with rigorous methods. Seligman also cautions that one finding—that very happy people tend to be highly social—is correlational, not proof that socializing causes happiness.

Three routes to a happier life

Seligman distinguishes three kinds of “happy life,” each supported by different practices:

1. The pleasant life: Increase positive emotion and learn to savor it. Practices such as mindfulness can help people notice and extend pleasurable experiences. But positive emotion, he says, is partly heritable, difficult to change substantially, and prone to fading through habituation.
2. The life of engagement: Become absorbed in meaningful activities, or experience “flow,” when concentration is intense and time seems to stop. One way to pursue this is to identify personal strengths and reshape work, relationships, leisure, or parenting to use them more often.
3. The meaningful life: Use one’s strengths in service of, and connection to, something larger than oneself.

His example of Len illustrates that low outward cheerfulness does not necessarily mean unhappiness. Len experiences deep engagement in his work and bridge playing, even though he is introverted and not especially expressive.

Interventions and practical exercises

Seligman says positive psychology interventions are being tested through randomized, placebo-controlled studies and longer-term follow-ups. He describes several exercises:

• Design a beautiful day: Set aside a day, plan enjoyable activities, and use mindfulness and savoring to pay closer attention to the pleasures.
• Make a gratitude visit:
  1. Think of someone living who made an important positive difference in your life but whom you never properly thanked.
  2. Write that person a testimonial of about 300 words.
  3. Call to arrange a visit without explaining the reason.
  4. Read the testimonial to them in person.

Seligman reports that participants were happier and less depressed at follow-ups.

• Plan a strengths date: Partners identify their strongest qualities and arrange an evening in which both can use them. Seligman says this can strengthen relationships.
• Compare fun with helping someone: The talk contrasts the short-lived boost from a pleasurable activity with the more lasting effect of doing something altruistic.

What contributes most to life satisfaction

Across multiple replications, Seligman says the pursuit of meaning has the strongest relationship to life satisfaction, with engagement also making a strong contribution. The pursuit of pleasure alone contributes relatively little. Pleasure becomes an added benefit when combined with engagement and meaning. He calls a life containing all three the “full life.”

He raises—but does not present as settled—the question of whether the same pattern might relate to physical health, longevity, and productivity.

Broader conclusion

Seligman extends the argument beyond psychology to technology, entertainment, and design. These fields can relieve misery, but reducing misery is not the same as creating happiness. He argues that they could also support positive emotion, engagement or flow, and meaning. In his view, their potential to help people lead pleasant, engaged, and meaningful lives is a reason for optimism.

Speakers and sources featured

• Martin Seligman — The speaker and principal source of the talk.
• Mihaly (Mike) Csikszentmihalyi — Referenced for his work on flow.
• Nancy Etcoff and Dan Gilbert — Named as fellow contributors to positive psychology.
• Matthieu — Mentioned in connection with techniques for increasing positive emotion; no surname is given in the subtitles.
• Laura Lee and Chris — Referenced in the talk; the subtitles do not fully identify their roles or provide further details.
• Buddha and Tony Robbins — Cited as examples from a long history of proposed approaches to happiness.
• Len — Seligman’s anecdotal example illustrating engagement and flow.
• CNN interviewer/editor and the editor of Discover — Mentioned in the opening anecdote.
• NIMH — Cited in connection with investment in mental-health research.
• TED audience and other conference speakers — Referenced in Seligman’s closing remarks.