For every hundred scientific journal articles on sadness, there
is only one for happiness. The science of psychology has always
been about what is wrong with a person, Martin Seligman notes,
and in the last 50 years it has become pretty successful at
diagnosing and treating mental illness. But this focus has meant
much less attention has been given to finding out what makes
people happy or fulfilled. For the first 30 years of his working
life, Seligman himself worked in the field of abnormal
psychology, but his work on feelings of helplessness and
pessimism led him to research optimism and positive emotion, and
how their presence could be increased in our lives. This work
caused him to rethink the larger purpose of psychology, and he
is now known as the founder of the 'Positive Psychology'
movement. While his 1991 book Learned Optimism is an
acknowledged classic, Authentic Happiness has also had a
significant impact as a sort of manifesto for positive
psychology, and has much to teach us about leading a good