Seligman's Flourishing: An Appraisal of What Lies beyond Happiness

Seligman's flourishing: An appraisal of what lies beyond happinessBook Title: Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being Author: Martin E.P. Seligman ISBN: 978-1-4391-9075-3 Publisher: Free Press, New York, 2011, 349 pp., US$26.00* *Book price at time of reviewIntroductionProfessor Martin Seligman is considered to be the most influential psychologist, researcher and author of modern times (Lyubomirsky, 2011; Van Zyl & Du Toit, 2013). Many psychologists have labelled him as the 'father' of positive psychology (Lyubomirsky, 2011) based on his inaugural lecture as president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, in which he called for a more 'positive approach' towards understanding the domain of psychology (Wong, 2011b). According to Wong (2011a), Seligman's inaugural lecture focused on a call for understanding and investigating that which is 'good' or 'excellent' in human nature, or 'what makes happy people, happy'. This gave rise to Seligman's (2002) book Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment, in which he argues that happiness is the result of living a 'pleasant', 'good' and 'meaningful life'. This book (Seligman 2002) popularised the concept of human happiness in both the academic and self-help spheres. Since its publication in 2002, more than 7600 academic articles have been written on Seligman's conceptualisation of the topic. However, this approach received much critique from both practitioners and researchers (Sheldon, Kashdan & Steger, 2011; Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2012). Researchers argued that lasting happiness cannot be obtained merely through focusing on the philosophical paradigms and that more attention needs to be given to moderating factors influencing the experience (Wong, 2011a). Practitioners indicated that the effects of interventions structured around the approach are not sustainable (Van Zyl & Du Toit, 2013). Seligman's response was a new book aimed at addressing the scientific concerns emanating from the critique and moving 'beyond happiness to understanding human flourishing'. This new book, aptly titled Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being, was an attempt to comment on the critique of researchers and to build out his previous theory on the concept of happiness. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief report and evaluation of the scientific merits of Flourish.General overviewThe book follows a ten chapter structure similar to many mass market psychology texts. It starts with a general report on Seligman's new approach towards well-being, highlighting the historical developments in the field of positive psychology and concluding with his contribution to these progressions. Seligman (p. 26) argues that the goal of the book is to highlight the intended focus of positive psychology as a paradigm: 'to determine the contributors which enhances flourishing'. The first chapter provides an introduction to Seligman's PERMA theory on human flourishing. This new theory builds upon the original conceptualisation of authentic happiness (comprised of pleasure, meaning and engagement) with two new additions: (1) positive relationships and (2) accomplishments. A brief attempt to conceptualise each component is presented in the first 30 pages of Flourish. This chapter briefly highlights the proposed components of the model and attempts to draw theoretical links between the variables and the concept of flourishing. In summation of this chapter, Seligman argues that the top end of human happiness or 'flourishing' is the result of the interaction and experience of PERMA:Positive emotionEngagement in life and workPositive RelationshipsMeaning in life and workAccomplishmentsThe second and third chapters provide the reader with various approaches and applications of positive psychological interventions (PPIs) to enhance PERMA. …