Positive Psychology

Many readers will be familiar with the term positive psychology, pioneered by Martin Seligman and his colleagues. Oddly enough, positive psychologists make very little reference to other pioneers in the field such as Abraham Maslow's humanistic psychology. Positive psychology has managed to penetrate some universities to a larger extent than either humanistic or transpersonal psychology. It has always struck me as a huge shortcoming that psychology undergraduates will for the most part have never heard of Ken Wilber, Charles Tart and Stan Grof. That aside, this is an excellent practical introduction to the field. The author reminds us of research indicating that around 40% of what happiness is determined by intentional activities over which we have control. While the main features of positive psychology are thoroughly covered, such as positive emotions and relationships, barriers to well-being, meaning and purpose, character strengths, mindset and accomplishment, the author includes other important lifestyle factors as well - emotional intelligence, appreciative inquiry, gratitude, mindfulness, nutrition, resilience and exercise. There are practical activities interspersed throughout the book so that readers can treat it as a research project. In the final analysis, it is our attitudes that are key, as the author explains in her helpful discussion of different explanatory styles based on optimism and pessimism. She encourages us to savour life rather than spend the average 3.5 hours a day watching TV (over three working days a week!), which doesn't seem to make us happy anyway.