Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being [Hardcover]

Martin E. P. Seligman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2011

“This book will help you flourish.” With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten years—and the first 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 fifteen 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, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good life—for individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about. While certainly a part of well-being, happiness alone doesn’t give life meaning. Seligman now asks, What is it that enables you to cultivate your talents, to build deep, lasting relationships with others, to feel pleasure, and to contribute meaningfully to the world? In a word, what is it that allows you to flourish?

“Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the five pillars of Positive Psychology, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—or PERMA, the permanent building blocks for a life of profound fulfillment. Thought-provoking in its implications for education, economics, therapy, medicine, and public policy—the very fabric of society—Flourish tells inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action, including how the entire U.S. Army is now trained in emotional resilience; how innovative schools can educate for fulfillment in life and not just for workplace success; and how corporations can improve performance at the same time as they raise employee well-being.

With interactive exercises to help readers explore their own attitudes and aims, Flourish is a watershed in the understanding of happiness as well as a tool for getting the most out of life. On the cutting edge of a science that has changed millions of lives, Dr. Seligman now creates the ultimate extension and capstone of his bestselling classics, Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism.

Editorial Reviews

From 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. (Apr.)
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Review

"Repaves the path to true happiness. A relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness." –Kirkus

"Important" --Publishers Weekly

"I was immediately charmed... Seligman's intentions are admirable and exciting. He is consumed by his mission, which is to take psychology on from its traditional role in alleviating misery, and broaden it into positive psychology -- the entirely different art of teaching us how to be wiser, stronger, more generous to others, more self-disciplined, and more capable of dealing with difficulty and rejection... The book is full of nuggets about why positive approaches work."

The Sunday Times

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (April 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439190755
• ISBN-13: 978-1439190753
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Emotions
  • #49 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Behavioral Sciences > Cognitive Psychology
  • #84 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Happiness

More About the Author

Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., is the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, the director of the Positive Psychology Network, and former president of the American Psychological Association. Among his twenty books are Learned Optimism and The Optimistic Child.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

141 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Passionate Defense of Something Important, April 9, 2011

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Book Fanatic - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (Hardcover)

This is not a great book and it certainly has its flaws. However, it is a fairly well written book by Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, and provides a passionate argument for his latest thinking on well being. He has changed his views over the last decade and he explains how and why in this book. The topic is important and if Seligman is right, he has made a major contribution to human flourishing with his work.

I read Barbara Ehrenrich's Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America a while back and I admit that it caused me to doubt to some degree Seligman's credibility. Shame on me and this book showed me how wrong I was to let her influence me in that regard.

If you are looking for a step-by-step recipe for flourishing, a traditional type of self-help book, you will not find it here. This book is much more theoretical and it spends a lot of time on the evidence and research for Seligman's views on well being. Having said that, you certainly can glean what it takes to flourish from reading it. I just want to make clear this book is mostly about theory and evidence and not about practical steps individuals can take on their own.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it spends too much time detailing specific projects the author is currently working on or has worked on in the past. He spends two full chapters on his work with the army. He does that to support his argument and to some degree I think to establish his credibility. While it is somewhat interesting, it's just too much.

If you are interested in a theory of human flourishing then I think this book would be a valuable addition to your library. I definitely recommend it.

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delicious appetizer but lacking the main course, April 12, 2011

By 

Peter Davies (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (Hardcover)

Dr. Seligman starts off reviewing why he has moved on from authentic happiness to well-being. While not giving up on authentic happiness, he argues that while happiness is an important concept, the notion of well-being involves a number of factors in addition to happiness.
The book is comprehensive in nature, covering everything from happiness to sex in space to a denial that he ever helped the U.S. military develop torture techniques. That comprehensiveness, is however, the book's weakness as well as its strength. The book does start with ways to achieve well-being at a personal level, including some exercises to do so. Just as it began to get interesting on that topic, the author switches to introducing well-being into the education system and just as that becomes interesting he switches to well-being in the military and so on. He also has a tendency to go off on tangents throughout the book, further diminishing the book's focus. Because of this it was hard to discern the target audience of the book, with some parts being suitable to the lay-person while others were best suited to psychologists or similar professionals.
Having said all that, I did enjoy the book and found the occasional gem of wisdom. However as stated in a previous critique, this is not a self-help book and those wishing to learn how to flourish will be disappointed. I would recommend his prior book Authentic Happiness for those wanting to learn self-improvement. For those wanting an overview of positive psychology and the various settings it could be used in, the book does provide a basic overall introduction to the subject area. However it does not contain much information that would be useful to the lay-person or to clinicians and their clients.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed., June 25, 2011

By 

Runnymead - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (Hardcover)

I agree with the reviews by Davies, Chuck, Schonzeist, George, and Ahari that point out that Seligman starts out in Chapters 1 & 2 with an important thesis. We can all help our selves to flourish and have a better life. Unfortunately after that the author looses his way. There is too much self-congratulation and too much name dropping. Too many testimonials and too little factual information. The book seems to waver between a guide to flourishing for the intelligent lay person to a guide for professionals to help others flourish. Consequently it is unsatisfactory for either audience. I would hope the author would try again as the topic is of great practical relevance for overcoming the general negativity found in the world today.