The New York Times Magazine (sub required) offers a long piece by D.T. Max titled: Happiness 101. The article explores the growing field of positive psychology and takes a look at how the psychology of happiness is being explored and taught throughout the US (including on the campus of George Mason University).
From the piece,
“Positive psychology brings the same attention to positive emotions
(happiness, pleasure, well-being) that clinical psychology has always paid to the negative ones (depression, anger, resentment). Psychoanalysis once promised to turn acute human misery into ordinary suffering; positive psychology promises to take mild human pleasure and turn it into a profound state of well-being. “Under certain circumstances, people — they’re not desperate or in misery — they start to wonder what’s the best thing life can offer,” says Martin Seligman, one of the field’s founders, who heads the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Thus positive psychology is not only about maximizing personal happiness but also about embracing civic engagement and spiritual connectedness, hope and charity. “Aristotle taught us virtue isn’t virtue unless you choose it,” Seligman says.”"
positively posted by David
January 8th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Max’s article provides a thorough overview of positive psychology research to date, but he glosses over positive psych’s emphasis not just on happiness, but on “other-oriented” emotions, such as compassion and empathy. The magazine I edit, Greater Good, explores these topics from a positive psych perspective: http://www.greatergoodmag.org. Essays by Dacher Keltner(http://peacecenter.berkeley.edu/greatergood/archive/2004springsummer) and Frans de Waal (http://peacecenter.berkeley.edu/greatergood/archive/2005fallwinter/) provide useful compliments to Max’s article.