Martin Seligman

{{Short description|American psychologist and writer (born 1942)}}

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{{Infobox scientist

| name = Martin Seligman

| image = Martin Seligman Philadelphia 2009.jpg

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| caption = Seligman in 2009

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|08|12}}

| birth_place = Albany, New York, U.S.

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| workplaces = University of Pennsylvania

| fields = Psychology

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James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award (1995)
Joseph Zubin Award (1997)
APA Award for Lifetime Contributions to Psychology (2017)

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Martin Elias Peter Seligman ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|l|ɪ|g|m|ə|n}}; born August 12, 1942) is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Seligman is a strong promoter within the scientific community of his theories of well-being and positive psychology. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists.{{cite book |title=The psychology of learning and motivation: advances in research and theory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-Tk-JHDe58C&pg=PA30 |first=Gordon H. | last=Bower |publisher=Academic Press, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |year=1981|page=30 |isbn=978-0-12-543315-0|quote=The most popular theoretical interpretation of the learned helplessness phenomenon to date is that of Seligman (1975) and Maier and Seligman (1976).}} A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Seligman as the 31st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.{{cite journal |last1=Haggbloom |first1=Steven J. |last2=Warnick |title=The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=139–152 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent.aspx |first2=Renee |last3=Warnick |first3=Jason E. |last4=Jones |first4=Vinessa K. |last5=Yarbrough |first5=Gary L. |last6=Russell |first6=Tenea M. |last7=Borecky |first7=Chris M. |last8=McGahhey |first8=Reagan |last9=Powell |first9=John L. III|s2cid=145668721 | display-authors = 1 }}

Seligman is the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Psychology. He was previously the Director of the Clinical Training Program in the department, and earlier taught at Cornell University.{{cite web| url=http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/martin-seligman.htm| title=A Brief Biography of Psychologist Martin Seligman| website=psychology.about.com}} He is the director of the university's Positive Psychology Center.[http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/aboutus.htm Positive Psychology Center] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703152134/http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/aboutus.htm |date=July 3, 2015 }}, University of Pennsylvania. Seligman was elected president of the American Psychological Association for 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/past-presidents.aspx|title=Former APA Presidents|publisher=American Psychological Association}} He is the founding editor-in-chief of Prevention and Treatment (the APA electronic journal) and is on the board of advisers of Parents magazine.

Seligman has written about positive psychology topics in books such as The Optimistic Child, Child's Play, Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness, and Flourish. His most recent book, Tomorrowmind, co-written with Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, was published in 2023.

Early life and education

Seligman was born in Albany, New York, to a Jewish family. He was educated at a public school and at The Albany Academy. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy at Princeton University in 1964, graduating summa cum laude.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}{{cite web | title=Martin Seligman, Ph.D. | url=https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/faculty-profile/profile-dr-martin-seligmanf }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.{{Cite web|title=The Pennsylvania Gazette: Martin Seligman's Journey|url=https://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0199/hirtz.html|access-date=2021-03-27|website=Upenn.edu}} In June 1989, Seligman received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University, Sweden.{{cite web|url=http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/| title=Honorary doctorates |publisher=Uppsala University, Sweden}}

Learned helplessness

File:Shuttle_Box_Dog_Orange.png

Seligman's foundational experiments and theory of "learned helplessness" began at University of Pennsylvania in 1967, as an extension of his interest in depression. Seligman and colleagues accidentally discovered that the experimental conditioning protocol they used with dogs led to behaviors which were unexpected, in that under the experimental conditions, the recently conditioned dogs did not respond to opportunities to learn to escape from an unpleasant situation ('electric shocks of moderate intensity').{{cite journal |last1=Seligman |first1=M.E.P. |last2=Maier |first2=S.F. |title=Failure to escape traumatic shock |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology |volume=74 |issue= 1|pages=1–9 |year=1967 |doi= 10.1037/h0024514|pmid=6032570|citeseerx=10.1.1.611.8411 }}; {{cite journal |last1=Overmier |first1=J.B. |last2=Seligman |first2=M.E.P. |title=Effects of inescapable shock upon subsequent escape and avoidance responding |journal=Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology |volume=63 |issue= 1|pages=28–33 |year=1967 |doi=10.1037/h0024166 |pmid=6029715 |s2cid=17310110 }} A fictionalised account of the experiment, and illustration of anti-vivisection arguments about the ethics of electrocuting dogs in the name of psychological research, occur in clinical psychologist Guy Holmes' novel The Black Dogs of Glaslyn.{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=G |title=The Black Dogs of Glalsyn |date=2024 |publisher=GHP |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-80381-926-6 |location=Tolworth}} At the time, and in subsequent years, very little ethical critique of the experiment was published, although definitional and conceptual issues were critiqued.{{Cite journal |last=Depue, R.A. & Monroe, S.M. |date=1978 |title=Learned helplessness in the perspective of the depressive disorders: Conceptual and definitional issues. |journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=3-20}}

Seligman developed the theory further, finding learned helplessness to be a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to act or behave helplessly in a particular situation—usually after experiencing some inability to avoid an adverse situation—even when it actually has the power to change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance. Seligman saw a similarity with severely depressed patients, and argued that clinical depression and related mental illnesses result in part from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation.{{cite book |last=Seligman |first=M.E.P. |title=Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death |publisher=W.H. Freeman |location=San Francisco |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-7167-2328-8 }} In later years, alongside Abramson, Seligman reformulated his theory of learned helplessness to include attributional style.{{cite journal |last1=Abramson |first1=L.Y. |last2=Seligman |first2=M.E.P. |title=Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation |journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=49–74 |year=1978 |doi= 10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49 |pmid=649856 |last3=Teasdale |first3=JD|s2cid=2845204 }}

Happiness

In his 2002 book Authentic Happiness, Seligman saw happiness as made up of positive emotion, engagement and meaning.{{Cite web | url=https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/learn/wellbeing | title=What is Well-Being? | Authentic Happiness}}

Positive psychology

Seligman worked with Christopher Peterson to create what they describe as a "positive" counterpart to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). While the DSM focuses on what can go wrong, Character Strengths and Virtues (2004) is designed to look at what can go right. In their research they looked across cultures and across millennia to attempt to distill a manageable list of virtues that have been highly valued from ancient China and India, through Greece and Rome, to contemporary Western cultures.{{cite journal |last1=Linley |first1=P.A. |last2=Maltby |first2=J. |last3=Wood |first3=A.M. |last4=Joseph |first4=S. |last5=Harrington |first5=S. |last6=Peterson |first6=C. |last7=Park |first7=N. |last8=Seligman |first8=M.E.P. |title=Character strengths in the United Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of strengths |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=341–351 |year=2007 |url=http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/VIA.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2006.12.004 |access-date=May 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717135237/http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/VIA.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}

Their list includes six character strengths: wisdom/knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each of these has three to five sub-entries; for instance, temperance includes forgiveness, humility, prudence, and self-regulation.{{cite journal |last1=Linley |first1=P.A. |last2=Maltby |first2=J. |last3=Wood |first3=A.M. |last4=Joseph |first4=S. |last5=Harrington |first5=S. |last6=Peterson |first6=C. |last7=Park |first7=N. |last8=Seligman |first8=M.E.P. |title=Character strengths in the United Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of strengths |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=341–351 |year=2007 |url=http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/VIA.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2006.12.004 |access-date=May 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717135237/http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/VIA.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }} The authors do not believe that there is a hierarchy for the six virtues; no one is more fundamental than or a precursor to the others.

Well-being

In his book Flourish, 2011, Seligman wrote on "Well-Being Theory",{{Cite book|title = Flourish|last = Seligman|first = Martin|publisher = Free Press|year = 2011|isbn = 978-1-4391-9076-0|location = New York|pages = [https://archive.org/details/flourishvisionar0000seli/page/16 16–20]|url = https://archive.org/details/flourishvisionar0000seli/page/16}} and said, with respect to how he measures well-being:

Each element of well-being must itself have three properties to count as an element:

It contributes to well-being.

Many people pursue it for its own sake, not merely to get any of the other elements.

It is defined and measured independently of the other elements.

Seligman concluded that there are five elements to "well-being", which fall under the mnemonic PERMA:

Positive emotion—Can only be assessed subjectively
Engagement—Like positive emotion, can only be measured through subjective means. It is presence of a flow state
Relationships—The presence of friends, family, intimacy, or social connection
Meaning—Belonging to and serving something bigger than one's self
Achievement—Accomplishment that is pursued even when it brings no positive emotion, no meaning, and nothing in the way of positive relationships.

These theories have not been empirically validated.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

In July 2011, Seligman encouraged the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to look into well-being as well as financial wealth in ways of assessing the prosperity of a nation. On July 6, 2011, Seligman appeared on Newsnight and was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman about his ideas and his interest in the concept of well-being.

= MAPP program =

The Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania was established under the leadership of Seligman as the first educational initiative of the Positive Psychology Center in 2003.{{cite web|title=MAPP program|url=http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/graduate/mapp|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|access-date=April 10, 2014}}

Personal life

Seligman plays bridge and finished second in the 1998 installment of one of the three major North American pair championships, the Blue Ribbon Pairs, as well as having won over 50 regional championships.{{OEB|6|732}}

Seligman has seven children, four grandchildren, and two dogs. He and his second wife, Mandy, live in a house that was once occupied by Eugene Ormandy. They have home-schooled five of their seven children.{{cite web|last=Burling|first=Stacey|title=The power of a positive thinker|url=http://articles.philly.com/2010-05-30/news/24964448_1_positive-psychology-positive-thinker-soldiers|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160202234212/http://articles.philly.com/2010-05-30/news/24964448_1_positive-psychology-positive-thinker-soldiers |archive-date=February 2, 2016 |access-date=April 1, 2014|date=May 30, 2010}}

Seligman was inspired by the work of the psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania in refining his own cognitive techniques and exercises.{{cite web|last=Hirtz|first=Rob|title=Martin Seligman's Journey: from Learned Helplessness to Learned Happiness|url=http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0199/hirtz.html|work=The Pennsylvania Gazette|publisher=The University of Pennsylvania|date=January 1999}}

Publications

{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death |publisher=W.H. Freeman |location=San Francisco |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-7167-0752-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/helplessnessonde00seli }} (Paperback reprint edition, W.H. Freeman, 1992, {{ISBN|0-7167-2328-X}})
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-671-01911-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qreACUdDAc0C }} (Paperback reprint edition, Penguin Books, 1998; reissue edition, Free Press, 1998)
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-679-41024-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatyoucanchange00seli }} (Paperback reprint edition, Ballantine Books, 1995, {{ISBN|0-449-90971-9}})
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=The Optimistic Child: Proven Program to Safeguard Children from Depression & Build Lifelong Resilience |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=New York |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-09-183119-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GoMABgcQzs4C}} (Paperback edition, Harper Paperbacks, 1996, {{ISBN|0-06-097709-4}})
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment |publisher=Free Press |location=New York |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7432-2297-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/authentichappine00seli_0|url-access=registration }} (Paperback edition, Free Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7432-2298-9}})
{{cite journal |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=Can Happiness be Taught? |journal=Daedalus |volume=133 |issue=2 |pages=80–87 |date=Spring 2004 |doi=10.1162/001152604323049424 |s2cid=57570511 |doi-access=free }}
{{cite book |last1=Peterson |first1=Christopher |author-link1=Christopher Peterson (psychologist) |last2=Seligman |first2=Martin E. P. |title=Character Strengths and Virtues |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-516701-6 |title-link=Character Strengths and Virtues }}
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being |publisher=Free Press |location=New York |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4391-9075-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/flourishvisionar0000seli|url-access=registration }}
{{cite book |author-mask=1 |last=Seligman |first=Martin E. P. |title=The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist's Journey from Helplessness to Optimism |publisher=PublicAffairs |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-61-039873-2 }}
{{cite book |last1=Rosen Kellerman |first1=Gabriella |last2=Seligman |first2=Martin E. P. |title=Tomorrowmind |publisher=Simon Element/Simon Acumen |location=New York |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-98-215976-4 }}

References

External links

[http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/ Authentic Happiness], Seligman's homepage at University of Pennsylvania
[http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/seligman04/seligman_index.html "Eudaemonia, the Good Life: A Talk with Martin Seligman"], an article wherein Seligman speaks extensively on the topic of eudaemonia
[http://www.positivepsychology.org/ "The Positive Psychology Center"], a website devoted to positive psychology. Martin Seligman is director of the Positive Psychology Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
[http://www.pennpositivepsych.org Program description for Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree] established by Seligman
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150304222550/http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/vitae.htm Martin E. P. Seligman's curriculum vitae] at the University of Pennsylvania
[http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.html TED Talk: Why is psychology good?]
University of Pennsylvania's page on [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/graduate/mapp MAPP] program
{{cite book |title=Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America |author=Barbara Ehrenreich|author-link=Barbara Ehrenreich |url=https://archive.org/details/brightsidedhowre00ehre |year=2010|publisher=Picador |access-date=2021-05-11|chapter=Going to the source|pages=150–158|isbn=978-0-312-65885-4|oclc=555654196}}