Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

Martin E.P. Seligman

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Aug 10, 2011 - Self-Help - 336 pages

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The father of positive psychology draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to show you how to overcome depression, boost your immune system, and make yourself happier.

"Vaulted me out of my funk.... So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book." —The New York Times Book Review

Offering many simple techniques anyone can practice, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an “I–give–up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue.

With generous additional advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practical—and valuable for every phase of life.

Contents

• Two Ways of Looking at Life: 3
• Learning to Be Helpless: 17
• Explaining Misfortune: 31
• Changing: 50
• Ultimate Pessimism: 54
• How You Think How You Feel: 71
• The Realms of Life: 93
• Success at Work: 95
• The Origins of Optimism: 116
• School: 136
• Sports: 155
• Health: 167
• A New Psychohistory: 185
• From Pessimism to Optimism: 205
• Notes: 293
• Acknowledgments: 305
• Index: 311

About the author

MARTIN E.P. SELIGMAN, PH.D., professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a past president of the American Psychological Association, is a leading motivational expert and an authority on learned helplessness. His many books include Authentic Happinessand The Optimistic Child. Dr. Seligman's research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Aging, the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
• Author: Martin E.P. Seligman
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011
• ISBN: 0307803341, 9780307803344
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Inspiration & Personal Growth; Psychology / Personality; Self-Help / Personal Growth / Happiness