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Martin E. P. Seligman
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Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life Paperback – January 3, 2006

by Martin E. P. Seligman (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,987 ratings
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The father of positive psychology draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to show you how to overcome depression, boost your immune system, and make yourself happier.

"Vaulted me out of my funk.... So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book." —The New York Times Book Review

Offering many simple techniques anyone can practice, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an “I–give–up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue.

With generous additional advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practical—and valuable for every phase of life.

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  1. Print length
    319 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    January 3, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.12 x 0.74 x 7.96 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1400078393
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1400078394
  8. Lexile measure
    1050L
  9. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
2,987 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book very informative and has good points. They say the content serves a purpose and the principles are powerful and effective. However, some readers feel the pacing is upsetting, misleading, and boring. Opinions are mixed on the ease of use and readability, with some finding it highly readable and great for anyone, while others say it's a bit difficult to read.

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Information qualityEnjoymentEase of useReadabilityPacing
176 customers mention "Information quality"158 positive18 negative

Customers find the book very informative, helpful, and valuable. They say the principles are powerful and effective. Readers also mention the book helps them learn to think differently and is a great reference book.

"...of events, and situations, but also, an overall improved, hopeful and optimistic outlook in general." Read more

"...This content does serve a purpose, at least it did to me...." Read more

"A valuable tool to managing the psyche.Read it." Read more

"...of his research, Seligman offers real, learnable, and proven effective techniques for learning to be more optimistic...." Read more

7 customers mention "Enjoyment"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, engaging, and enlightening. They mention it has a fun self-test.

"...A fun read, rich with experiments and studies to illustrate and prove his points. Martin Seligman has written a masterpiece." Read more

"...It's been another enjoyable & valuable read...." Read more

"...has some fun little checkmark tests you can take and can lead you into bigger and better works by dr. seligman. enjoy" Read more

"...political campaign theory. It has a fun self test. Gets tedious toward the end." Read more

56 customers mention "Ease of use"38 positive18 negative

Customers find the book easy to understand and provides simple, easy-to-remember tools for raising children. They say it's a practical guide and insightful. However, some readers feel the book is a bit academic and tedious. They also say it provides a far too brief introduction of the concept of learned optimism.

"...As a result of his research, Seligman offers real, learnable, and proven effective techniques for learning to be more optimistic...." Read more

"...Also at the end he provides very interesting and logical explainations on why as a country we have seen an overall rise in depression...." Read more

"...this book has a large section of chapters towards the end that are too repetitive and self-fulfilling...." Read more

"...is worth the time to read and it does supply practicable and easily usable techniques to at least try in improving your attitude towards being an..." Read more

39 customers mention "Readability"26 positive13 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some mention it's highly readable and the language is easily understood by a lay person. However, others say it'd be a little bit difficult to read and some of the text is mixed and overlaps.

"...The author not only understands the field as an expert but writes well, and conveys the core ideas in a useful way...." Read more

"...It is a little bit difficult to read because it is not dramatic fiction, so I recommend that you read the chapters that interest you the most first,..." Read more

"...However, the main point and repeated premises are very clear and useful, so I recommend reading it with the following caveat: be willing to skim/..." Read more

"...The prose is very easy to read if you can stick with the story of the science and experimentation...." Read more

10 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive10 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book upsetting, misleading, and boring. They say it's heavy on putting down pessimists and light on instruction on how to do it. Readers also mention the experiment is disgusting and horrific.

"...Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Change Your Life," is not very accurate...." Read more

"...Learned Optimism is boring and could have been written with half the amount of pages. Common sense you that being optimistic is a better choice...." Read more

"This book is heavy on putting down pessimists and very light on instruction on how to become an optimist...." Read more

"...But he only gives one answer, you need to dispute your negative thoughts...." Read more

Eye opening information
5 out of 5 stars
Eye opening information
The first two parts of the book are generally about research and psychological principles. The last three chapters give you the tools/exercises to change from a pessimistic explanatory style to an optimistic explanatory style.I found the research in the first two parts of the book to be extremely interesting. However, if you’re looking for practical methods of changing explanatory patterns, it can be tough to get through all of the background information first.Best of luck on your journey!
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Top reviews from the United States

RR
5.0 out of 5 stars original framework to understand our inner-dialog
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024
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This book is beautifully written, reads like a thriller, and packs plenty of wisdom in each page. The author not only understands the field as an expert but writes well, and conveys the core ideas in a useful way. This book showed me how much of a pessimist I was in certain areas. Many of us "realists" unfortunately are pessimists too - I realized, and limit ourselves unnecessarily in areas where such self-imposed limits are not warranted.

This book has a toolkit for us to evaluate the "narrative" that we have within ourselves, and it also allows us to evaluate the narratives that others have based on statements they make. I have not seen this toolkit presented in this manner anywhere else. The author requires us to behave as a scientist or detective, exploring the inner-dialogs and how it shapes our views and feelings - not just in ourselves but in others too. This ties in to ideas of mindfulness or awareness, because, without mindfulness or deeper awareness, it is difficult to engage in the "watching" of the inner narrative. I was hoping the author provide more details on the CAVE technique that he speaks about, but the specifics of that were not disclosed in this book.

I have added plenty of highlights and notes, and plan to revisit them periodically, also try to practice the techniques that the author shared (ABCDE, PPP etc). I think the techniques in this book will not only lead to better or more accurate cognition of events, and situations, but also, an overall improved, hopeful and optimistic outlook in general.
5 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great magnifying glass on your life
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2023
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While this book could be one third the size, I think a great deal of the extra content can really add a huge amount of emotional and mental investment to acquire that optimism you need, to make your life better. This content does serve a purpose, at least it did to me. It was a magnifying glass for the events and relationships I had growing up that shaped my view point. It allowed me to realize how it all connected and how those connections played a part in my later years.
While some sections can be skipped, I would advise against that as you never really know where that sentence or paragraph that harkens back to your past is hidden. These eureka moments add depth and appreciation for the book, and hopefully brings changes to your life for a lasting better.
3 people found this helpful
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David
5.0 out of 5 stars Great.
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2024
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A valuable tool to managing the psyche.
Read it.
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MaC
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, no fluff, scientifically proven methods
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023
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I cannot say enough positive things about this book. In my opinion, most books in the mental health or "self-help" genre all follow the same outline and are filled with puffy catch phrases and overly simplistic (and I would argue- ineffective) ways to change your mental health positively. However, Dr. Seligman approaches how to change your outlook from pessimistic to optimistic from a scientific, tested, and clinical perspective. I know that doesn't sound appealing but hear me out.

Most self-help books just tell you to smile more and give you a bunch of fluff and demand money for it- but Dr. Seligman and his decades of research can prove clinically how his methods work and how his methods for gaining an optimistic mindset can actually improve your quality of life and physical health. His countless experiments, research, teaching fellowships, and partnerships with some of the biggest names in Psychology have resulted in tangible and measurable proof for his theories and methods. No unmeasurable mysticisms or magic- actual evidence.

I have read other books on mental health, but his book actually helped me and isn't just a money grab.

Full Disclosure: Dr. Seligman began his research in the 70's. What scientists were allowed to do for experiments back then is obviously different then today and Dr. Seligman's Pavlovian experiments on dogs and rats would not necessarily be allowed today. I find such experiments deplorable, but don't let that dissuade you from reading this book and from benefiting from the knowledge gained. What's done is done and the information gained has been gained.
14 people found this helpful
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D. S.
3.0 out of 5 stars Solid tools with some shortcomings
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2019
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I had a very divided reaction to this book.

The Pros:
First of all, ‘learned helplessness’ is quite arguably one of the most important and revolutionary concepts in psychology today. It’s made a wonderful contribution to Aaron Becks’s Cognitive Therapy; cognitive behavioral therapy having an unmatched track record for its treatment of depression – an epidemic in our society today. As a result of his research, Seligman offers real, learnable, and proven effective techniques for learning to be more optimistic. It is certainly one of my favorite concepts in psychology.

Furthermore, I love that he challenges the notion of the exponential rise in depression today as being a largely genetic phenomenon. I found this to be some very refreshing common sense. The unprecedented level of depression in this society today cannot be attributed to biology (or solely to biology) – something else is at work here. I don’t mean to say that there is no biological basis for depression – there most certainly is. However, it only makes sense that something in our society is going on, perhaps at times triggering particular genes on a wide scale, to create such an unprecedented level of depression. I found the last chapter to be very insightful where he examines radical individualism (he calls it the ‘Maximal Self’) as the source of depression from a more sociological position – an often overlooked source for depression in contemporary society.

The three major hypotheses of explanatory style were also quite enlightening: 1) Mother’s Explanatory Style; 2) Adult Criticism: Teachers and Parents; and 3) Children’s Life Crisis. In addition to these hypotheses of explanatory style are the three essential aspects of explanatory style: permanence, pervasiveness and personalization.

The Cons:
While I did obtain some solid information/advice in this book, it has some problems and I believe Seligman has some holes in his argument.

The main problem for me was that Seligman seemed to create too much of a mutually exclusive relationship between optimism and realism. One quote I found rather disturbing to illustrate my point: “The pessimist seems to be at mercy with reality, whereas the optimist has a massive defense against reality that maintains good cheer in the face of a relentless indifferent universe” (p. 111) – Sorry, Dr. Seligman, I may be misreading you, but you lost me here. While this was somewhat remedied toward the end of the book, it felt a little too inconsistent with the rest of the book’s tone.

Tying into this, not only does Seligman not take nearly enough of a look at ‘false’ or ‘misguided’ optimism, he seems to – at times – endorse it. This is a serious problem that has not been examined adequately (I suspect that he generated a lot of empirical data, and was a little too eager to tailor his theory to fit in with this). Having spent some time in corporate America, I believe this false optimism is creating record levels of denial in our country, which seem to be extending at an alarming rate – all in the name of being more optimistic. Only towards the end of the book does he seem to write more about the perils of optimism with a brief section in the middle regarding depressives having a more accurate memory and owning up much more readily to both their failures and their successes rather than the optimists who tend to look upon the past through rose-colored glasses.

In all fairness, he does write a little bit about the problem of a lack of personal responsibility today and how he has no interest in personally endorsing this kind of psychology. Again, I just didn’t feel like he spent enough time here.

Lastly, on a minor note, I believe he is too overconfident in his beliefs why women suffer depression at a rate twice that of men. While this is an established statistic, there is much debate over what this statistic means exactly. Are women somehow biochemically or hormonally predisposed to depression? Perhaps. Or do they report it more readily than men? Do men hide their depression through substance abuse or other non-constructive outlets? – I believe Seligman is too simplistic here in his offered explanation.
103 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Alisa
5.0 out of 5 stars Book came in good condition
Reviewed in Mexico on January 5, 2023
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Great book, came in good condition
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Marc
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous The best book I read in decades
Reviewed in Sweden on July 29, 2024
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Fabulous. It's the best book I read in decades. Very exciting to read. Concrete examples and tools to use.
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Katy Perry
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2023
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I am so lucky to have discovered this book. It has had a profound effect on me. After so many years I know where I am going wrong and more importantly tools to change my way of thinking and beat depression.
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NV
5.0 out of 5 stars Seligman should be taught to all of us at some stage in our lives - the earlier the better.
Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on December 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Came across Seligman and his books about fifteen years ago. I am not qualified to judge his writings from a scientific point of view but as an ordinary person, I can say that his books have -positively- transformed my life. This is my nth purchase of this book, to be given as a gift to people I care about.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars ACC aspiring coach must read
Reviewed in India on August 30, 2023
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Excellent book for coaches for self transformation as well as coachee transformation with flexible optimistic approach. Maximal self has strengths and pitfalls, however this book guides u to overcome walls or pitfalls created by this egoistic self.
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