Martin Seligman Is an American psychologist, educator and writer, known for his theory of learned helplessness, the theory of learned optimism and for being one of the pioneers of positive psychology.
He was born on August 12, 1942 in Albany, USA. Currently, Seligman is Professor Zellerbach Family of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and is also the Director of the Center for Positive Psychology at the University.
In 1998, the psychologist was elected president of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was also the first editor-in-chief of Prevention and Treatment, which is the association's electronic newsletter.
Today, at age 72, he is not only one of the Psychological influences Of the era, but also a well-known writer and author of successful books such as The Optimistic Child, Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness, What You Can Change and What You Can not Y Flourish .
Seligman's beginnings in the field of psychology
Seligman began his career as a psychologist at Princeton University. In 1964 he graduated Summa Cum Laude and during his last year he received several offers to continue his studies in the area. Two of these options were to study analytical psychology at the University of Oxford or experimental animal psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Seligman chose this last option and in 1967 obtained his doctorate in Psychology.
During his years of study, Martin Seligman was inspired by the work of one of his professors, Aron T. Beck, who was an eminence in the field of cognitive therapy and an expert in its application for the treatment of depression. Beck's work was based on the idea that people's negative thoughts were the cause of their depressive states.
Seligman decided to work on this postulate and that is why he developed his famous theory "Learned Helplessness" ( Learned helplessness ). She also created an experimental model for the treatment of depression, which was to counteract negative thoughts By means of the disputation skills.
Seligman's idea with this work was to get people to learn to explain or rationalize what happened to them in a positive rather than negative way for Overcome depression .
With this theory, Seligman was also able to create and test new techniques and cognitive exercises that showed that by counteracting negative thoughts it was possible to improve and even prevent depressive states.
But, although his model of intervention became a benchmark in the field of psychology, in 1990 Seligman turned his approach to work. The psychologist went from being a specialist in depression, to becoming an expert of optimism and the happiness .
The Pioneer of Positive Psychology
In 2000 Martin Seligman founded the field of Positive psychology . Since then he has based his career on the study of Positive emotions Such as happiness, hope, strength of character and optimism. Seligman decided to change his approach to psychotherapy and assured his colleagues that the solution was not only to repair what was broken, but also to nurture the positive things that each person has.
According to the definition made by Seligman in 1999, positive psychology is the scientific study of positive experiences. But also other aspects as individual positive factors or the development of programs to improve the quality of life of people.
It can be said that it is a discipline of psychology that affirms that emotional health is much more than the absence of disease. It focuses on the positive qualities and how they can be developed so that the person can have a more satisfactory life and overcome or prevent pathologies.
Beginning in the field of positive psychology, Seligman worked with clinical psychology expert Christopher Peterson to create The Character Strengths and Virtues (Handbook of Virtues and Strengths of Character) Or what they called the counterpart of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) .
The aim of the authors was to create a manual that, instead of focusing on what could go wrong, would focus on what could work out well. In their research on many cultures and their different philosophies and religions, they managed to make a list of the most valued virtues from the times of ancient China and India, Greece and Rome to the most contemporary Western cultures.
This list included six elements: wisdom / knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. Each of these categories could be subdivided into three or five elements. Humanity, for example, included love, kindness, and social intelligence, while courage includes courage, persistence, integrity, and vitality. In addition, the authors did not believe that there was some kind of hierarchy, since none was more important than the other.
From Theory of Authentic Happiness to Well-Being Theory
In 2002 Martín Seligman developed the Theory of Authentic Happiness. With Positive Psychology the author had already directed the attention of the field to human strengths, to highlight everything that allows people to learn, enjoy, be cheerful and optimistic.
Based on his work, Seligman created this theory of happiness, where he affirmed that it was not only possible to achieve it, but could also be cultivated, using the characteristics that are possessed. In the Theory of Authentic Happiness, the theme was happiness and there was talk of how it was measured according to satisfaction with life.
Seligman argued that the solution for people to achieve happiness was to increase their satisfaction with life. By that time Seligman was in agreement with the theory of Aristotle, in which it was affirmed that all that is done is with the objective to look for the happiness.
In this theory, Seligman believed that the term could be divided into three elements: Positive Emotion, which are the positive emotions that contribute to having a pleasant life; Engagement, which is the commitment to some enjoyable activity; And Meaning, which is the meaning or purpose we give to what we do.
The Theory of Authentic Happiness tries to explain happiness as the result of satisfaction in life. This means that whoever has more positive emotions and sense of life, will be the one who is happier. Therefore it is stated that the maximum objective of the human being would be to increase his satisfaction in life in order to be happy.
However, today Seligman has transformed his own theory. In his book Flourish , Published in 2011, the author claims that he detests the word happiness, since its excessive use in the modern world has made it, in his view, meaningless. The author assures that happiness can not be defined by satisfaction with life. That is why he has reformulated his approach by creating the Theory of Welfare.
According to Seligman, well-being is a more complete construct that can better define the goal of the human being. In this theory, since wellbeing is the theme and not happiness, the way to measure it is through positive emotions, commitment, positive relationships, meaning or purpose and achievement.
The five elements that explain well-being
This classification is known as PERMA,
- Positive emotions (Positive emotions): positive emotions remain fundamental to the goal of the human being. But in this case satisfaction in life and happiness are no longer the focal point of positive psychology, but become elements of well-being, new approach to positive psychology.
- Engagement (Commitment): By being fully committed to a situation, task, or project in any area of life, you are more likely to experience a sense of well-being.
- Relationships (Positive relationships): cultivate positive relationships with other people. Being able to share experiences with others nourishes social and inner life, which favors well-being.
- Meaning (Meaning, purpose): being able to give meaning to events or situations allows to achieve personal knowledge.
- Accomplishment (Achievement): are the goals that motivate people to follow. It is about completing goals and being able to feel that you have an established path.
According to what Martin Seligman has proposed in his Theory of Welfare, none of these elements can, on its own, define the concept of well-being. However, each contributes important characteristics that contribute to achieve it.
What is happiness according to Martin Seligman?
To be happy requires much more than satisfaction with life. With the Theory of Welfare, Martin Seligman has rethought his own postulate, demonstrating how happiness is more a matter of well-being. But the author also states that well-being goes beyond smiling and feeling good.
Seligman has explained that it is necessary to change the idea that happiness is to smile and be content always. The author assures that people aspire to have much more than that and that happiness does not imply feeling good at all times.
Knowing what makes the difference between a happy person and one that is not happy has been a question that psychology, and especially Martin Seligman, has tried to find an answer to.
After many years of research and experimentation, the famous psychologist and author is clear. Happiness is not about relationships, money, or luxuries, much less about having a 'perfect' body image. Happiness is to have well-being and well-being is given by the five pillars that make up PERMA.
Beyond his publications, Martin Seligman has spent the last few years lecturing on the new era of positive psychology. The psychologist has differentiated between three happy life types, which means that there is no single model to achieve the longed for happiness.
The first is the pleasant life. It is a life where the person has all the positive emotions that can be had, but in addition to that, also has the abilities to amplify them.
The second is the life of commitment. This is a life in which love, parenting, work, free time, among other things, are the most important thing.
And finally the third, meaningful life, that it is a life in which each person knows their own strengths and also uses them for good.
In describing these three types of life, Seligman asserts that one is no better than the other and that it is only three different"happy lives." Everyone can be happy by reaching their own priorities. However, throughout his time as a lecturer, the author has also shared some ideas of how it is possible to achieve a much more positive life.
Martin Seligman recommends designing a beautiful day and enjoying it. He also points out the importance of thanking those who have contributed their teachings in life and those who have collaborated in the construction of a full life.
In addition, the author reaffirms that the key to wellness lies in enjoying one's own strengths and that is achieved by carrying out activities where the innate abilities of each are put into practice.
Thanks to the many discoveries of positive psychology and the untiring work of Martin Seligman in the area, this field has gained more and more supporters.
Although depression, one of the problems that seeks to attack positive psychology today affects some 350 million people in the world, the advantage is that there are psychological tools and methodologies to help in this battle.