1flourish,a new understanding of happiness and wellbeing

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The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to

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Flourish: a new understanding of happiness and well-

being and how to achieve them, by Martin E.P.

SeligmanRonan Conway

a

aSchool of Psychology, NUI, Galway, Ireland

Version of record first published: 16 Dec 2011.

To cite this article:Ronan Conway (2012): Flourish: a new understanding of happiness and well-being and how to achievethem, by Martin E.P. Seligman, The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting goodpractice, 7:2, 159-161

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The Journal of Positive Psychology

Vol. 7, No. 2, March 2012, 159161

BOOK REVIEW

Flourish: a new understanding of happiness and well-

being and how to achieve them, by Martin E.P.

Seligman, London, Free Press, 2011, 321 pp.,US$26.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-4391-9075-3

Happiness and well-being are topics of discussion that

have a special allure. The philosophical musings of

Socrates on virtue, the hedonistic dialogues of

Aristippus of Cyrene and the modern television

preachings of Oprah are all distinct illustrations of

the way the human mind has turned to the subject of

happiness and well-being, that pinnacle of life evolving

and often elusive pursuit of the masses. When I was a

psychology undergraduate student, the discussion of

happiness and well-being was regularly met with a

gentle smile and a nonchalant dismissal from profes-sors this is a subject of effusion for the enthusiastic,

nave scholars not yet privy to the hard-nosed reality of

psychological research. In the words of the nineteenth

century American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, happi-

ness is just an illusion caused by the temporary

absence of reality. At the same time, even professors

of psychology may hope for some modicum of

happiness in their life, and some may even harbour a

desire to flourish.

Flourish, the new book by Dr Martin Seligman,

attempts to broaden the revolution of positive psy-

chology and the scientific study of happiness and well-

being. The goal of the book is quite simple; to help

readers to increase their well-being and to help

everyone flourish. This goal is elaborated by reference

to a new definition of well-being, in addition to a

plethora of research findings and descriptions of

practical exercises aimed at encouraging readers to

apply psychological science to their life. Seligman

describes the evolution of positive psychology from its

inception and proposes a re-focus of positive psychol-

ogy beyond happiness to the broader concept of

well-being.

The first half of the book (Chapters 16) presents

the argument for the shift in theoretical orientationtowards well-being, with a focus on defining the

ingredients of well-being, and a number of strategies

that can be used to boost well-being. Chapter 1 seeks to

differentiate well-being from happiness, and establishes

a conceptualisation of well-being around the five

pillars of: positive emotion, engagement, relationships,

meaning and accomplishment (PERMA). Chapters 2

and 3 describe exercises for increasing well-being and

illustrate the utility of positive psychology in contrast

to the limited traditional psychology approaches of

drugs and therapy. The central message of thesechapters is that well-being is amenable to change, in

general and, most encouragingly, in clinical popula-

tions. An optimistic new approach to curing lifes

maladies espouses a view on treatment as more than

merely relieving symptoms and minimising negative

emotions, to building the enabling components of well-

being throughout the life course (e.g. PERMA).

Chapter 4 describes how well-being interventions can

be delivered to a wider audience, and details the

establishment and ongoing work of the Masters in

Applied Positive Psychology at Penn University.

Chapter 5 describes efforts to teach positive

psychology and promote well-being in young people

in educational settings, while arguing that by imple-

menting a positive psychology focus in schools it is

possible to decrease the prevalence of depression,

increases life satisfaction and improve learning and

creative thinking. Examples of the Penn Resiliency

Program and Geelong Grammar School provide

concrete, and possibly generalisable, examples of how

positive education may be assimilated into school

communities.

Chapter 6 describes the underlying ingredients of

achievement from Seligmans perspective. Intelligence,

self-control and GRIT (a combination of perseveranceand drive) are seen as central to accomplishment, and

consequently flourishing.

In the second half of the book (Chapters 710),

Seligman moves to describe specific examples of how

positive psychology and the theory of well-being have

been applied in different settings. In Chapters 7 and 8,

a vision of the benefit of a psychologically fit army is

portrayed. In line with the previous chapters which

espoused a shift in perspective, these chapters look to

move the focus of army psychology from reaction to

adversity (i.e. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)

to advancing resilience and growth.

Chapter 9 turns to positive psychology and physical

health. The chapter outlines the applicability of

positive psychology in promoting resilience to illness,

with a special focus on cardiovascular disease, infec-

tious disease and all-cause mortality and cancer. The

key message from this chapter is that those who suffer

from a variety of illnesses may benefit from increases in

positive mood and learned optimism. Seligman also

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attempts to posit tentative pathways by which well-

being may protect an individual from illness.

Chapter 10 is Seligmans description of positive

psychologys moon-shot. As positive psychology

learns to measure the pillars of flourishing, it should

be possible to measure levels of flourishing throughout

nations, cities, corporations, communities, schools and

homes. Seligmans belief is that by creating a public

policy perspective that emphasises the attainment of

well-being as the ultimate goal of society, above and

beyond the attainment of wealth, we can begin to

design a world where flourishing is the focal point of

all decisions. This is similar to the argument proposed

by Sam Harris in his recent book, The Moral

Landscape. However, unlike Harris, Seligman at least

attempts to generate a theory of the components of

well-being, each of which is presumably open to

reliable and valid measurement.

The theory of well-being, made up of the pillars of

PERMA, is the centrepiece of Seligmans book. The re-focus beyond happiness to well-being allows the field

of positive psychology to attend to the character of

individuals, and it helps Seligman to dismiss any idea

of hedonic quests within this field of science. By

attending to these qualities of lives, namely positive

emotion, engagement, close relationships, meaning and

accomplishment, well-being can be increased, and life

maladies can be decreased or prevented. For example,

the Strath Haven High School programme was

designed based on the pillars of PERMA. A range of

encouraging outcomes were observed, for example,

increased student enjoyment, increased engagement in

school and increased well-being, while simultaneouslyenhancing the traditional goals of classroom learning

and reducing bad conduct. The description of

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness training (Chapter 7)

is also intuitively useful, with modules designed

specifically for emotional, family, social and spiritual

psychological fitness.

The writing style of the book is varied, as Seligman

offers a summary of contemporary thought alongside a

plethora of autobiographical stories and anecdotes.

The autobiographical stories that are generously

peppered throughout the text, including the description

of cloak-and-dagger meetings with anonymous donors

who hand over large multi-million dollar cheques, also

engage and draw the curious reader into the exciting

world of positive psychology. On the other hand,

Seligmans tone is unnecessarily pointed and aggressive

when describing detractors of optimism (e.g. Barbara

Ehrenreich). A more tempered discussion of criticisms,

such as the brief discussion of reflexive reality (Chapter

10), may have been better in other places throughout

the text. However, overall, Seligman captivates the

reader as he weaves together the historical develop-

ments, colourful anecdotes and useful positive psy-

chology exercises, all the while supporting his stance

with research findings, thus providing a book that is

entertaining, useful and scientifically appealing.

Although the book divulges an appealing narrative

full of fascinating detail, there is still room for

criticism. Since the goal of the book is to increase

flourishing in ones own life and on the planet, a

discussion of the pillars of flourishing above the

individual, subjective level would have been useful,

for example, flourishing communities and institutions

(interpersonal level), and the dynamic interrelations

between the individual and context. Seligman describes

evidence of the utility of positive character (e.g.

empathy) from an evolutionary perspective, and

presses for the inclusion of well-being indicators in

addition to gross national product as measures of

prosperity, but he fails to explicitly describe how

cultivating character is good for anything beyond the

individual (e.g. group problem solving and adaptation

of groups to complex, dynamic environments). While

Seligman strives to broaden the theory of happiness, hemisses the opportunity to provide a functioning

framework to elucidate the complex and multidimen-

sional nuances that compose well-being for both an

individual and a society. For example, even at the

subjective level, the complexity of the relationship

between personality and well-being is illustrated in the

context of research suggesting that people are generally

neither simple pessimists nor optimists, but have

complex personality structures where it is possible to

be both strongly optimistic and strongly pessimistic,

depending on the circumstances (Norem, 2001).

Furthermore, at the group design level, Seligman says

nothing about the problem of catalysing collectiveaction and designing environments that foster well-

being (Warfield, 2006). For example, pragmatic

systems science may provide a perspective, an inte-

grative framework, and set of methodologies in which

the multilayered science of well-being may be best

conceptualised and applied at the group design level

(Warfield, 2006; Warfield & Ca rdenas, 1994), but

Seligman has nothing to say on the subject of

pragmatic systems science. Furthermore, an area that

has immensely benefited from a systems theory

approach is contemporary developmental theory and

research. This research has focused on understanding

systemic (bidirectional) relations between individuals

and contexts as providing the basis of human

behaviour and developmental change (e.g. Damon,

1998; Lerner, Dowling, & Anderson, 2003).

Ultimately, Seligmans proposed theory is firmly

camped in the science of description. The theory of

well-being, simplified to PERMA, will eventually

require a framework derived from systems science to

further support the use of evidence from the sciences of

description (biological, psychological and social

science) in the context of a science of design, complex-

ity and collective action. It is only then that positive

160 Book Review


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psychology will have the profound impact that

Seligman hopes for at the public policy and societal

design level.

Using research findings and anecdotal illustrations,

Flourishdescribes contemporary thought in the field of

positive psychology in an engaging and colourful

manner. Although a more coherent flow and logical

approach to argumentation may have been useful in

places throughout the book, Seligman provides an

interesting account of developments within the field of

positive psychology. From a student-centred perspec-

tive, this book provides a very rich and broad

introduction to work in the positive psychology

movement and therefore would be an excellent

introductory text for students entering this field

of study.

Seligmans work has helped to make happiness and

well-being an energised focus of ongoing scientific

research. Seligman has helped to facilitate a new

cultural revolution and a welcome evolution inpsychological thought over the past decade. By

building an underlying perspective on systems and

systems design, Seligman and other positive psychol-

ogists may well be instrumental in achieving the

broader goal of synthesising knowledge and practice

from multiple lines of basic and applied traditional

and positive psychology research and thus, push a

resolved psychology field forward in its purpose of

enhancing lives and enriching society.

References

Damon, W. (Ed.). (1998). Handbook of child psychology

(5th ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.

Lerner, R.M., Dowling, E.M., & Anderson, E.M. (2003).

Positive youth development: Thriving as the basis of

personhood and civil society. Applied Developmental

Science, 7, 172180.

Norem, J.K. (2001). The positive power of negative thinking.

Cambridge, MA: Basic Books.

Warfield, J.N. (2006). An introduction to systems science.

Singapore: World Scientific.

Warfield, J.N., & Cardenas, A.R. (1994). A handbook of

interactive management (2nd ed.). Ames, IA: Iowa StateUniversity Press.

Ronan ConwaySchool of Psychology, NUI, Galway, Ireland

Email: [email protected]

Book Review 161

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