Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of ableism.

Martin E. P. Seligman is widely regarded as one of the most influential psychologists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, having been awarded 10 honorary doctorates for his contributions to the field. Seligman earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Princeton and a doctorate in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves as the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology. Seligman rose to prominence in 1998, when he was elected president of the American Psychological Association, using the role to formally launch Positive Psychology as a new, transformative direction in psychological research and practice. 

Seligman has authored or coauthored more than 30 books and published widely in outlets such as The New York Times, Time, and Newsweek. His writing blends philosophical inquiry with empirical rigor, offering a systematic framework for understanding happiness and human flourishing. While his work is grounded in scientific methods, it reflects a Western, largely individualistic lens on well-being and may not fully consider cultural or systemic influences on emotional life—for instance, the correlation between poverty and psychological stress. In addition, the emphasis on happiness as a learnable skill may be inaccessible for readers with certain mental illnesses or other neurological differences.