In this event, you’ll learn

When drugs work, and when they stop doing so

Why we need science to back up positive psychology

How one school integrated the positive psychology exercises into their schedule

A better way to measure accomplishment than IQ

Why wealth doesn’t automatically equal well-being

About the Author

Martin E. P. Seligman is the Robert A. Fox Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. His visionary work in Positive Psychology has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Overview

First, Seligman explains that he was never satisfied with the perception that was created by focusing on the word happiness in his popular book, Authentic Happiness. He has shifted his focus from the state of happiness to emphasize the importance of flourishing and well-being. In Flourish Seligman presents the acronym PERMA.

P – Positive Emotions – feeling love, joy and pleasure.

E – Engagement–being in flow and focused on our activities.

R – Relationships – having healthy, supportive and rewarding connections with others.

M – Meaning – giving significance to the events in our lives.

A – Accomplishments – attaining goals that support our core values.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF FLOURISH:

Seligman explores the concepts of self-esteem, optimism, vitality, self-determination and my main interest, resilience. Within the topic of resilience, he describes a process for mental toughness, as well as the elements of Post Traumatic Growth, a most unusual but powerful concept.

Seligman describes the positivity research findings of his colleague, Barbara Fredrickson. She discovered: “Companies with better than a 2.9 ratio for positive to negative statements are flourishing.” He also refers to marriage expert, John Gottman, who discovered that couples who use a ratio of five positive comments to one negative were in healthy and long-lasting relationships.