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 the new science of positive psychology and author of Authentic Happiness draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to demonstrate how optimism enchances the quality of life, and how anyone can learn to practice it. Offering many simple techniques, 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. These skills can help break up depression, boost your immune system, better develop your potential, and make you happier..

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.

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

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - JenniferRobb - LibraryThing

Is the glass half empty or half full? Seligman attempts to provide tools to help change the habitual pessimistic self talk to something that's more realistic and hopeful. I found the included test hard to follow as they asked us to analyze the answers.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - AshRyan - LibraryThing

Learned Optimism is exactly what it sounds like. Dr. Seligman teaches you how to identify your explanatory style in positive or negative situations---how you explain them to yourself---and identifies ...

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