Dr. Martin Seligman was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in the New York City suburb of Albany. In addition to attending the Albany Academy, he received his early education from public schools in the surrounding area. His undergraduate degree in philosophy was awarded to him by Princeton University in 1964, following his graduation from the university. He turned down offers to study analytic philosophy and animal experimental psychology at Oxford University and the University of Pennsylvania. After this, he was admitted to the psychology department of the University of Pennsylvania (Phan & Ngu, 2017). The university determined that he had been accepted into the psychology department. In 1967, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was recognized for his accomplishments with several awards. Her research writing ventures made him the most supported person that could lead the National Institute of Mental Health. As a director, Dr. Seligman was awarded as a distinguished practitioner by the National Academies of practice.
To recognize his contributions to positive psychology, Martin Seligman was awarded an honorary doctorate by Uppsala University in Sweden on June 2, 1989. Besides having exceeded 250 academic publications, he is also the author of over a dozen books, all published. Approximately 20 different languages have been translated into his writings, according to current estimates. Seligman has spent the majority of his professional life working to enhance the overall quality of life in his community. He and Kerry Mueller had two children together during their marriage, which lasted from 1964 to 1978. Mandy McCarthy, with whom he had a child in 1988, became his wife after the death of his first wife (Phan & Ngu, 2017). He is the father of seven children and the grandfather of four granddaughters. The residence in which he presently resides with his current wife, Mandy, used to be occupied by the legendary singer Eugene Ormandy, who passed away in 2011. The couple has homeschooled five of their seven children, which they believe has been a terrific success for them.
Over the past two decades, there has been a steady increase in optimism in psychology, primarily as a result of the humanitarian philosophy movement and other factors. As a pioneer in the field of positive psychology, Seligman is widely regarded as such, and this is commonly acknowledged in Haggbloom’s 2002 survey of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century. In this survey, he was ranked 31st, and he was also the 13th most frequently referenced psychologist in introductory psychology textbooks, according to the poll.
At the University of Pennsylvania, Seligman conducted his seminal depression research, which began in 1967 and resulted in the concept of “learned helplessness.” It was observed that the dogs exhibited behaviors that the researchers did not intend due to the experimental conditioning method that he and his colleagues utilized in them their experiments (Phan & Ngu, 2017). Upon being placed in practical scenarios, the newly conditioned dogs showed no interest in responding to the learning opportunities that were offered to them at that time. A significant addition to the development of the idea was made by Martin Seligman later on in his career. As a result of his research, he concluded that people and animals might develop a psychological condition known as “learned helplessness,” in which they become experts at responding or behaving helplessly under specific situations. Because of an incapacity to avoid a negative outcome, the failure to prevent a negative consequence occurs. The next year, Seligman collaborated with Abramson to enhance his theory of learned helplessness, which now includes an additional component based on attributional style.
Martin Seligman’s attitude on life and the focus of his studies were radically affected in 1995 after he had a chance encounter with his daughter, who was visiting from the United States. The father of two daughters, singing and screaming at his daughter, became agitated and started to pull away from the grass. Since she was five years old, his daughter claims that she has not whined once. He believes that if she has successfully quit complaining, he will be able to do the same. When Seligman was younger, he noticed that clinical psychology was largely about supporting people who were depressed or anxious.
He decided to pursue a profession in clinical psychology as his career path. Studying psychology was essential if one wanted to build and create healthy brains in the first place (Phan & Ngu, 2017). He was particularly interested in the elements that led to people’s emotions of pleasure and satisfaction. He was born into a family of scientists. He was born into a family of scientists, which explains his interest in the subject. He wanted mental health to encompass more than just the absence of illness and include the lack of symptoms, rather than simply focusing on what was wrong with us. He hoped to impact the direction of psychology in the future, particularly in the area of what causes people to feel satisfied and fulfilled, as well as how they can acquire these feelings.
Individuals with Personality Characteristics and Qualities are more concerned with what goes right than what goes wrong, in contrast to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The researchers looked at cultures throughout history, attempting to extract reasonable characteristics that had already been identified (Phan & Ngu, 2017). They began with historical China and India and progressed through Greece and Rome to present-day western civilized countries. Each of the six-character strengths listed above was possessed by individuals who had these characteristics: discernment, bravery; humanism; justice; fairness; temperance, and transcendence. To be more specific, each one is comprised of three to five virtues. For instance, temperance is composed of the virtues of tolerance, prudence, forgiveness, and self-control. According to the authors, no one of the six virtues is more important than the others in terms of importance than the others.
Within the pages of his 2011 book “Flourish,” Seligman discussed the Well-Being Theory and shared some observations about how he evaluates the well-being of individuals. The Individuals’ pursuit of their objectives and perceived freedom from the other variables were all considered when determining each component’s contribution to well-being. After doing the study, he determined that there are five variables that influence one’s well-being. A sense of purpose, accomplishment, well-being, and relationships are some of the things that can help you succeed. When assessing levels of engagement and positive feelings, subjective measurements can be used (Phan & Ngu, 2017). These aspects, on the other hand, have not yet been scientifically confirmed and so are not considered fully reliable.
Instead of focusing on how successful society is, Seligman urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to look at how well and how much money it has rather than how successful the society is itself. Jeremy Paxman interrogated him about his thoughts during his appearance on Newsnight on July 6, 2011. He was questioned about his involvement in popularizing and understanding the notion of well-being in general, as well as the concept of well-being in particular.
As President of the historic American Psychological Association in 1996, Dr. Martin Seligman got the largest number of public votes in the organization’s history, establishing him as the most popular choice in the organization’s long history of presidential elections. More than fifteen languages have been translated into his works, which have become best sellers in the United States and other parts of the world (Phan & Ngu, 2017). The psychologist has been featured on numerous television and radio shows and given talks on a wide range of themes related to the science and application of psychology in a variety of situations. In addition, he has authored essays on various topics, including education and violence, among others. He talked on TED to inspire people about the state of psychology and the basic tenets of conveying a historical analysis of a new era in positive psychology. He has also produced studies on a variety of issues, including treatment. As well as speaking to and inspiring a varied range of audiences worldwide, he has addressed and inspired groups ranging from educators to industrialists to business owners to parents to war veterans to mental health specialists from around the world. The research conducted by Dr. Martin on learned helplessness conditioned the aversive stimulus theory that many human beings are subject to their mentality.
References
Phan, H. P., & Ngu, B. H. (2017). Positive psychology: the use of the Framework of Achievement Bests to facilitate personal flourishing. Well-being and Quality of Life, 19-33.
Thompson, B. Y. (2021). Bright sided: Positive psychology and its adaptation to digital nomadism. In Digital Nomads Living on the Margins: Remote-Working Laptop Entrepreneurs in the Gig Economy. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Yakushko, O. (2021). On the dangers of transnational influences of Western psychology: Decolonizing international perspectives on women and therapy. Women & Therapy, 44(1-2), 193-211.