Dr. Seligman: Resilience is not about being super normal or better than you were, it's about coming back to normal functioning from a bad event. In the middle of this bell-shaped response are people who collapse and become helpless but in the middle is resilience. He says he thinks positive psychology can move a whole distribution toward post-traumatic growth. The GAT test that every soldier takes on their first day of joining the Army predicts if they'll get PTSD. And we've been able to predict who's going to succeed by being a catastrophizer and an exemplary medal winner.
When Marty Seligman started his long scientific career, psychologists concentrated on studying "misery and suffering" and what made people sad. But Marty wanted to discover what made happy people, well, happy. His research laid the foundations of "positive psychology" and the happiness science you hear week after week in this podcast.
Dr Laurie Santos talks to Professor Seligman about his decades of research; the power of optimism; and how he became less of a "grouch" to improve his own personal happiness.
Marty's latest book, TOMORROWMIND: Thriving At Work – Now and in an Uncertain Future, is OUT NOW.
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