I've already got a bunch of reading to do this summer but I came across a book review that may add another book to the list. In the spring 2012 issue of the "Journal of American Psychology" Joachim Krueger of Brown U reviews "everyone's favorite academic psychologist" "Marty" Seligman's new book "Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being". There is good new and bad news:
The good news is Marty is giving up on using the term "happiness". Quoting Krueger quoting Seligman: |In Flourish he writes that he “detest[s] the word happiness, which |is so overused that it is almost meaningless. It is an unworkable term for |science” (p. 10). The departure from the happiness model lies in the |abandonment of the idea that there is a single underlying dimension |along which individuals can be lined up. Well, so much for "authentic happiness". The bad news is that Marty is working with the U.S. military. Quoting Kreuger: |In 2008, at a “Seligman Lunch” at the Pentagon, he is told, |“We have read your books, and we want to know what you |suggest for the army” (p. 126). The chief of staff of the Army, |“the legendary George Casey,” announces that “Dr. Seligman |here is the world’s expert on resilience, and he’s going to tell |us how we are going to do it,” that is, how “resilience will be |taught and measured throughout the United States Army.” |Casey also says, “Dr. Seligman, Comprehensive Soldier |Fitness began two months ago. It is under General Cornum’s |command” (p. 128). And, Casey continues, “General Cornum, |I want you and Marty [Marty!] to put your heads together, put flesh |on the skeleton of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, and report |back to me in sixty days” (p. 129; brackets in the original). |In short, Seligman has to scramble to catch up with the Army |empirically, theoretically, and ideologically. He does nothing |to defuse the impression that his revised theory of well-being |is a response to what the Army had already chosen for him to do. |Says Cornum, “If we had waited [for the science to catch up], |we’d still be talking and planning” (Azar, 2011, p. 32). . Finally, there is this to recommend the book: |Flourish is also a very personal book. I suspect that there is |more candor than the author intended. Throughout the book, |Seligman makes his claim that he is a very, very important |psychologist. If you missed the note on how he was elected |president of the American Psychological Association by the widest |margin of votes ever, [NOTE: This make Marty the "most popular academic psychologist"] |he reminds you of it in the biographical blurb in the back. At the |same time, he confesses to having self-doubts and fears of being a |failure. Happiness theory has not worked for him, it seems. Krueger makes the argument that proponents of, say, a happiness position in psychology are under pressure to be significantly happier than others because, if they are right, they *SHOULD* be happier. Your run of the mill ordinary psychologist doesn't have to pretend to be happy. Or even likable. There's also some gossip in the review but I'll leave that for the interested reader. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] P.S. If one were to play such a game, who would one nominate as the world's most powerful living psychologist? --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=17667 or send a blank email to leave-17667-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
