Positive Psychology

An Introduction

Martin E. P. Seligman University of Pennsylvania

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Claremont Graduate University

A science of positive subjective experience, positive indi- become a science largely about healing. It concentrates on
vidual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve repairing damage within a disease model of human func-
quali~.' of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when tioning. This almost exclusive attention to pathology ne-
life is barren and meaningless. The exclusive focus on glects the fulfilled individual and the thriving community.
pathology that has dominated so much of our discipline The aim of positive psychology is to begin to catalyze a
results in a model of the human being lacking the positive
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change in the focus of psychology from preoccupation only

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

features that make life worth living. Hope, wisdom, cre- with repairing the worst things in life to also building
ativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsi- positive qualities.
bility, and perseverance are ignored or explained as trans- The field of positive psychology at the subjective level
formations of more authentic negative impulses. The 15 is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, con-
articles in this millennial issue of the American Psycholo- tentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism
gist discuss such issues as what enables happiness, the (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present). At
effects of autonomy and self-regulation, how optimism and the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the
hope affect health, what constitutes wisdom, and how talent capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill,
and creativity come to fruition. The authors outline a aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality,
framework .['or a science of positive psychology, point to future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom. At
gaps in our knowledge, and predict that the next century the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the insti-
will see a science and profession that will come to under- tutions that move individuals toward better citizenship:
stand and build the factors that allow individuals, commu- responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,
nities, and societies to flourish.
tolerance, and work ethic.
Two personal stories, one told by each author, explain

E
r
ntering a new millennium, Americans face a histor-
ical choice. Left alone on the pinnacle of economic
and political leadership, the United States can con-
tinue to increase its material wealth while ignoring the
human needs of its people and those of the rest of the
how we arrived at the conviction that a movement toward
positive psychology was needed and how this special issue
of the American Psychologist came about. For Martin E. P.
Seligman, it began at a moment a few months after
being elected president of the American Psychological
planet. Such a course is likely to lead to increasing self- Association:
ishness, to alienation between the more and the less fortu- The moment took place in my garden while I was
nate, and eventually to chaos and despair. weeding with my five-year-old daughter, Nikki. I have to
At this juncture, the social and behavioral sciences can confess that even though I write books about children, I ' m
play an enormously important role. They can articulate a really not all that good with children. I am goal oriented
vision of the good life that is empirically sound while being and time urgent, and when I ' m weeding in the garden, I ' m
understandable and attractive. They can show what actions
actually trying to get the weeding done. Nikki, however,
lead to well-being, to positive individuals, and to thriving
was throwing weeds into the air, singing, and dancing
communities. Psychology should be able to help document
around. I yelled at her. She walked away, then came back
what kinds of families result in children who flourish, what
and said,
work settings support the greatest satisfaction among work-
ers, what policies result in the strongest civic engagement,
and how people's lives can be most worth living. Editor's note. Martin E. P. Setigman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Yet psychologists have scant knowledge of what served as guest editors Ibr this special issue.
makes life worth living. They have come to understand
quite a bit about bow people survive and endure under Author's note. Martin E. P. Seligman, Department of Psychology, Uni-
conditions of adversity. (For recent surveys of the history versity of Pennsylvania; Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Department of Psy-
of psychology, see, e.g., Benjamin, 1992; Koch & Leary, chology, Claremont Graduate University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mar-
1985; and Smith, 1997.) However, psychologists know tin E. P. Seligman, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylva-
very little about how normal people flourish under more nia, 3813 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3604. Electronic mail
benign conditions. Psychology has, since World War II, may be sent to [email protected].

January 2000 American Psychologist

Copyright2000 by the AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.lnc. 0003-066X/00/$5.00
Voh 55. No. 1. 5 14 DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5
 (Terman, 1939) and marital happiness (Terman, Butten-
wieser, Ferguson, Johnson, & Wilson, 1938), Watson's
writings on effective parenting (Watson, 1928), and Jung' s
work concerning the search for and discovery of meaning
in life (Jung, 1933). Right after the war, two events--both
e c o n o m i c - - c h a n g e d the face of psychology: In 1946, the
Veterans Administration (now Veterans Affairs) was
founded, and thousands of psychologists found out that
they could make a living treating mental illness. In 1947,
the National Institute of Mental Health (which, in spite of
its charter, has always been based on the disease model and
should now more appropriately be renamed the National
Instilute of Mental Illness) was founded, and academics
found out that they could get grants if their research was
about pathology.
This arrangement has brought many benefits. There
have been huge strides in the understanding of and therapy
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for mental illness: At least 14 disorders, previously intrac-

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table, have yielded their secrets to science and can now be

Martin E. P. either cured or considerably relieved (Seligman, 1994). The
Seligman downside, however, was that the other two fundamental
Photo by Bachrach missions of psychology--making the lives of all people
better and nurturing genius--were all but forgotten. It
wasn't only the subject matter that was altered by funding,
but the currency of the theories underpinning how psychol-
"Daddy, I want to talk to you." ogists viewed themselves. They came to see themselves as
"Yes, Nikki?" part of a mere subfield of the health professions, and
"Daddy, do you remember before my fifth birthday?
psychology became a victimology. Psychologists saw hu-
From the time I was three to the time I was five, I was a
man beings as passive foci: Stimuli came on and elicited
whiner. I whined every day. When I turned five, I decided
responses (what an extraordinarily passive word!). Exter-
not to whine anymore. That was the hardest thing I've ever
nal reinforcements weakened or strengthened responses.
done. And if I can stop whining, you can stop being such
[)rives, tissue needs, instincts, and conflicts from childhood
a grouch."
pushed each of us around.
This was for me an epiphany, nothing less. I learned
Psychology's empirical locus shifted to assessing and
something about Nikki, about raising kids, about myself,
curing individual suffering. There has been an explosion in
and a great deal about my profession. First, I realized that
research on psychological disorders and the negative ef-
raising Nikki was not about correcting whining. Nikki did
fects of environmental stressors, such as parental divorce,
that herself. Rather, I realized that raising Nikki is about
taking this marvelous strength she h a s - - I call it "seeing the deaths of loved ones, and physical and sexual abuse.
into the soul"--amplifying it, nurturing it, helping her to Practitioners went about treating the mental illnesses of
lead her life around it to buffer against her weaknesses and patients within a disease framework by repairing damage:
the storms of life. Raising children, I realized, is vastly damaged habits, damaged drives, damaged childhoods, and
more than fixing what is wrong with them. It is about damaged brains.
identifying and nurturing their strongest qualities, whal Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi realized the need for a pos-
they own and are best at, and helping them find niches in itive psychology in Europe during World War II: As a
which they can best live out these strengths. child, I witnessed the dissolution of the smug world in
As for my own life, Nikki hit the nail right on the which I had been comfortably ensconced. I noticed with
head. I was a grouch. I had spent 50 years mostly enduring surprise how many of the adults I had known as successful
wet weather in my soul, and the past 10 years being a and self-confident became helpless and dispirited once the
nimbus cloud in a household full of sunshine. Any good war removed their social supports. Without jobs, money, or
fortune I had was probably not due to my grumpiness, but status, they were reduced to empty shells. Yet there were a
in spite of it. In that moment, I resolved to change. few who kept their integrity and purpose despite the sur-
However, the broadest implication of Nikki's teaching rounding chaos. Their serenity was a beacon that kept
was about the science and profession of psychology: Be- others from losing hope. And these were not the men and
fore World War II, psychology had three distinct missions: women one would have expected to emerge unscathed:
curing mental illness, making the lives of all people more ]'hey were not necessarily the most respected, better edu-
productive and fulfilling, and identifying and nurturing cated, or more skilled individuals. This experience set me
high talent. The early focus on positive psychology is [hinking: What sources of strength were these people draw-
exemplified by work such as Terman's studies of giftedness ing on?

6 January 2000 American Psychologist

 A decade later, the "third way" heralded by Abraham
Maslow, Carl Rogers, and other humanistic psychologists
promised to add a new perspective to the entrenched clin-
ical and behaviorist approaches. The generous humanistic
vision had a strong effect on the culture at large and held
enormous promise. Unfortunately, humanistic psychology
did not attract much of a cumulative empirical base, and it
spawned myriad therapeutic self-help movements. In some
of its incarnations, it emphasized the self and encouraged a
self-centeredness that played down concerns for collective
well-being. Future debate will determine whether this came
about because Maslow and Rogers were ahead of their
times, because these flaws were inherent in their original
vision, o1" because of overly enthusiastic followers. How-
ever, one legacy of the humanism of the 1960s is promi-
nently displayed in any large bookstore: The "psychology"
section contains at least 10 shelves on crystal healing,
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aromatherapy, and reaching the inner child for every shelf

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of books that tries to uphold some scholarly standard.

Whatever the personal origins of our conviction that
Mihaly the time has arrived for a positive psychology, our message
Csikszentmihalyi is to remind our field that psychology is not just the study
of pathology, weakness, and damage; it is also the study of
strength and virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is
broken; it is nurturing what is best. Psychology is not just
Reading philosophy and dabbling in history and reli- a branch of medicine concerned with illness or health; it is
gion did not provide satisfying answers to that question. I much larger. It is about work, education, insight, love,
found the ideas in these texts to be too subjective, to be growth, and play. And in this quest for what is best,
dependent on faith or to be dubious assumptions; they positive psychology does not rely on wishful thinking,
lacked the clear-eyed skepticism and the slow cumulative faith, self-deception, fads, or hand waving; it tries to adapt
growth that I associated with science. Then, for the first what is best in the scientific method to the unique problems
time, I came across psychology: first the writings of Jung, that human behavior presents to those who wish to under-
then Freud, then a few of the psychologists who were stand it in all its complexity.
writing in Europe in the 1950s. Here, I thought, was a What foregrounds this approach is the issue of pre-
possible solution to my quest--a discipline that dealt with vention. In the past decade, psychologists have become
the fundamental issues of life and attempted to do so with concerned with prevention, and this was the presidential
the patient simplicity of the natural sciences. theme, of the 1998 American Psychological Association
However, at that time psychology was not yet a rec- convention in San Francisco. How can psychologists pre-
ognized discipline. In Italy, where I lived, one could take vent problems like depression or substance abuse or schizo-
courses in it only as a minor while pursuing a degree in phrenia in young people who are genetically vulnerable or
medicine or in philosophy, so I decided to come to the who live in worlds that nurture these problems? How can
United States, where psychology had gained wider accep- psychologists prevent murderous schoolyard violence in
tance. The first courses I took were somewhat of a shock. children who have access to weapons, poor parental super-
It turned out that in the United States, psychology had vision, and a mean streak? What psychologists have
indeed became a science, if by science one means only a learned over 50 years is that the disease model does not
skeptical attitude and a concern for measurement. What move psychology closer to the prevention of these serious
seemed to be lacking, however, was a vision that justified problems. Indeed, the major strides in prevention have
the attitude and the methodology. I was looking for a come largely from a perspective focused on systematically
scientific approach to human behavior, but I never dreamed building competency, not on correcting weakness.
that this could yield a value-free understanding. In human Prevention researchers have discovered that there are
behavior, what is most intriguing is not the average, but the human strengths that act as buffers against mental illness:
improbable. Very few people kept their decency during the courage, future mindedness, optimism, interpersonal skill,
onslaught of World War II; yet it was those few who held faith, work ethic, hope, honesty, perseverance, and the
the key to what humans could be like at their best. How- capacity for flow and insight, to name several. Much of the
ever, at the height of its behaviorist phase, psychology was task of prevention in this new century will be to create a
being taught as if it were a branch of statistical mechanics. science of human strength whose mission will be to under-
Ever since, I have struggled to reconcile the twin impera- stand and learn how to foster these virtues in young people.
tives that a science of human beings should include: to Working exclusively on personal weakness and on
understand what is and what could be. damaged brains, however, has rendered science poorly

January 2000 American Psychologist 7

 equipped to effectively prevent illness. Psychologists need and Ryan and Deci (2000, this issue) on self-determination.
now to call for massive research on human strengths and Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, and Gruenwald (2000, this
virtues. Practitioners need to recognize that much of the issue), and Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, and Steward
best work they already do in the consulting room is to (2000, this issue) report on the relationship between posi-
amplify strengths rather than repair the weaknesses of their tive emotions and physical health.
clients. Psychologists working with families, schools, reli- These topics can, of course, be seen as statelike or
gious communities, and corporations, need to develop cli- traitlike: One can investigate either what accounts for mo-
mates that foster these strengths. The major psychological ments of happiness or what distinguishes happy from un-
theories have changed to undergird a new science of happy individuals. Thus, the second thread in these articles
strength and resilience. No longer do the dominant theories is the theme of the positive personality. The common
view the individual as a passive vessel responding to stim- denominator underlying all the approaches represented
uli; rather, individuals are now seen as decision makers, here is a perspective on human beings as self-organizing,
with choices, preferences, and the possibility of becoming self-directed, adaptive entities. Ryan and Deci (2000) focus
masterful, efficacious, or in malignant circumstances, help- on self-determination, Baltes and Staudinger (2000, this
less and hopeless (Bandura, 1986; Seligman, 1992). Sci- issue) on wisdom, and Vaillant (2000, this issue) on mature
ence and practice that rely on this worldview may have the defenses. Lubinski and Benbow (2000, this issue), Simon-
direct effect of preventing many of the major emotional ton (2000, this issue), Winner (2000, this issue), and Larson
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disorders. They may also have two side effects: They may (2000, this issue) focus on exceptional performance (i.e.,
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make the lives of clients physically healthier, given all that creativity and talent). Some of these approaches adopt an
psychologists are learning about the effects of mental well- explicit developmental perspective, taking into account that
being on the body. This science and practice will also individual strengths unfold over an entire life span.
reorient psychology back to its two neglected missions-- The third thread that runs through these contributions
making normal people stronger and more productive and is the recognition that people and experiences are embed-
making high human potential actual. ded in a social context. Thus, a positive psychology needs
to take positive communities and positive institutions into
About This Issue account. At the broadest level, Buss (2000, this issue) and
The 15 articles that follow this introduction present a Massimini and Delle Fave (2000) describe the evolutionary
remarkably varied and complex picture of the orientation in milieu that shapes positive human experience. Myers
psychology--and the social sciences more generally--that (200(I) describes the contributions of social relationships to
might be included under the rubric of positive psychology. happiness, and Schwartz (2000, this issue) reflects on the
Of course, like all selections, this one is to some extent necessity for cultural norms to relieve individuals of the
arbitrary and incomplete. For many of the topics included burden of choice. Larson (2000) emphasizes the impor-
in this issue, the space allotted to an entire issue of the tance of voluntary activities for the development of re-
American Psychologist would be needed to print all the sourceful young people, and Winner (2000) describes the
contributions worthy of inclusion. We hope only that these effects of families on the development of talent. In fact, to
enticing hors d'oeuvres stimulate the reader's appetite to a degree that is exceedingly rare in psychological literature,
sample more widely from the offerings of the field. every' one of these contributions looks at behavior in its
As editors of this special issue, we have tried to be ecologically valid social setting. A more detailed introduc-
comprehensive without being redundant. The authors were tion to the articles in this issue follows.
asked to write at a level of generality appealing to the
greatly varied and diverse specialties of the journal's read- Evolutionary Perspectives
ership, without sacrificing the intellectual rigor of their The first section comprises two articles that place positive
arguments. The articles were not intended to be specialized psychology in the broadest context within which it can be
reviews of the literature, but broad overviews with an eye understood, namely that of evolution. To some people,
turned to cross-disciplinary links and practical applications. evolutionary approaches are distasteful because they deny
Finally, we invited mostly seasoned scholars to contribute, the importance of learning and sell:determination, but this
thereby excluding some of the most promising young re- need not be necessarily so. These two articles are excep-
searchers--but they are already preparing to edit a section tional in that they not only provide ambitious theoretical
of this journal devoted to the latest work on positive perspectives, but--mirabile dictu--they also provide up-
psychology. lifting practical examples of how a psychology based on
There are three main topics that run through these evolutionary principles can be applied to the improvement
contributions. The first concerns the positive experience. of the human condition.
What makes one moment "better" than the next? If Daniel In the first article, David Buss (2000) reminds readers
Kahneman is right, the hedonic quality of current experi- that the dead hand of the past weighs heavily on the
ence is the basic building block of a positive psychology present. He focuses primarily on three reasons why positive
(Kahneman, 1999, p. 6). Diener (2000, this issue) focuses states of mind are so elusive. First, because the environ-
on subjective well-being, Massimini and Delle Fave (2000, ments people currently live in are so different from the
this issue) on optimal experience, Peterson (2000, this ancestral environments to which their bodies and minds
issue) on optimism, Myers (2000, this issue) on happiness, have been adapted, they are often misfit in modern sur-

8 January 2000 American Psychologist

 roundings. Second, evolved distress mechanisms are often existence. In practice, subjective well-being is a more sci-
functional--for instance, jealousy alerts people to make entific-sounding term for what people usually mean by
sure of the fidelity of their spouses. Finally, selection tends happiness. Even though subjective well-being research re-
to be competitive and to involve zero-sum outcomes. What lies primarily on rather global self-ratings that could be
makes Buss's article unusually interesting is that after criticized on various grounds, its findings are plausible and
identifying these major obstacles to well-being, he then coherent. Diener's account begins with a review of the
outlines some concrete strategies for overcoming them. For temperament and personality correlates of subjective well-
instance, one of the major differences between ancestral being and the demographic characteristics of groups high in
and current environments is the paradoxical change in subjective well-being. The extensive cross-cultural re-
people's relationships to others: On the one hand, people search on the topic is then reviewed, suggesting interesting
live surrounded by many more people than their ancestors links between macrosocial conditions and happiness. A
did, yet they are intimate with fewer individuals and thus central issue is how a person's values and goals mediate
experience greater loneliness and alienation. The solutions between external events and the quality of experience.
to this and other impasses are not only conceptually justi- These investigations promise to bring psychologists closer
fied within the theoretical framework but are also emi- to understanding the insights of such philosophers of an-
nently practical. So what are they? At the risk of creating tiquity as Democritus or Epictetus, who argued that it is not
unbearable suspense, we think it is better for readers to find what happens to people that determines how happy they
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out for themselves. are, but how they interpret what happens.
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Whereas Buss (2000) bases his arguments on the solid One dispositional trait that appears to mediate be-
foundations of biological evolution, Fausto Massimini and tween external events and a person's interpretation of them
Antonella Delle Fave (2000) venture into the less explored is optimism. This trait includes both little optimism (e.g., "I
realm of psychological and cultural evolution. In a sense, will find a convenient parking space this evening") and big
they start where Buss leaves off: by looking analytically at optimism (e.g., "Our nation is on the verge of something
the effects of changes in the ancestral environment and by great"). Christopher Peterson (2000) describes the research
looking specifically at how the production of memes (e.g., on this beneficial psychological characteristic in the second
artifacts and values) affect and are affected by human article of this set. He considers optimism to involve cog-
consciousness. They start with the assumption that living nitive, emotional, and motivational components. People
systems are self-organizing and oriented toward increasing high in optimism tend to have better moods, to be more
complexity. Thus, individuals are the authors of their own persevering and successful, and to experience better phys-
evolution. They are continuously involved in the selection ical health. How does optimism work? How can it be
of the memes that will define their own individuality, and increased'? When does it begin to distort reality? These are
when added to the memes selected by others, they shape some of the questions Peterson addresses. As is true of the
the future of the culture. Massimini and Delle Fare make other authors in this issue, this author is aware that complex
the point--so essential to the argument for positive psy- psychological issues cannot be understood in isolation from
c h o l o g y - t h a t psychological selection is motivated not the social and cultural contexts in which they are embed-
solely by the pressures of adaptation and survival, but also ded. Hence, he asks questions such as the following: How
by the need to reproduce optimal experiences. Whenever does an overly pessimistic culture affect the well-being of
possible, people choose behaviors that make them feel fully its members? And conversely, does an overly optimistic
alive, competent, and creative. These authors conclude culture lead to shallow materialism?
their visionary call for individual development in harmony David Myers (2000) presents his synthesis of research
with global evolution by providing instances drawn from on happiness in the third article of this section. His per-
their own experience of cross-cultural interventions, where spective, although strictly based on empirical evidence, is
psychology has been applied to remedy traumatic social informed by a belief that traditional values must contain
conditions created by runaway modernization. importanl elements of truth if they are to survive across
generations. Hence, he is more attuned than most to issues
Positive Personal Traits that are not very fashionable in the field, such as the
The second section includes five articles dealing with four often-found association between religious faith and happi-
different personal traits that contribute to positive psychol- ness. The other two candidates for promoting happiness
ogy: subjective well-being, optimism, happiness, and self- that Myers considers are economic growth and income (not
determination. These are topics that in the past three de- much there, after a minimum threshold of affluence is
cades have been extensively studied and have produced an passed) and close personal relationships (a strong associa-
impressive array of findings--many of them unexpected tion). Although based on correlational survey studies of
and counterintuitive. self-reported happiness, the robustness of the findings, rep-
The first article in this set is a review of what is known licated across time and different cultures, suggests that
about subjective well-being written by Edward Diener these findings ought to be taken seriously by anyone inter-
(2000), whose research in this field now spans three de- ested in understanding the elements that contribute to a
cades. Subjective well-being refers to what people think positive quality of life.
and how they feel about their lives--to the cognitive and In the first of two articles that focus on self-determi-
affective conclusions they reach when they evaluate their nation, Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (2000) discuss

January 2000 American Psychologist 9

 another trait that is central to positive psychology and has though Vaillant still uses the pathocentric terminology of
been extensively researched. Self-determination theory in- defenses, his view of mature functioning, which takes into
vestigates three related human needs: the need for compe- full account the importance of creative, proactive solutions,
tence, the need for belongingness, and the need for auton- breaks the mold of the victimology that has been one
omy. When these needs are satisfied, Ryan and Deci claim legacy of psychoanalytic approaches.
personal well-being and social development are optimized. It is generally assumed that it is healthy to be rigor-
Persons in this condition are intrinsically motivated, able to ously objective about one's situation. To paint a rosier
fulfill their potentialities, and able to seek out progressively picture than the facts warrant is often seen as a sign of
greater challenges. These authors consider the kinds of pathology (cf. Peterson, 2000; Schwartz, 2000; and Vail-
social contexts that support autonomy, competence, and lant, 2000, in this issue). However, in the second article of
relatedness, and those that stand in the way of personal this section, Shelley Taylor and her collaborators argue that
growth. Especially important is their discussion of how a unrealistically optimistic beliefs about the future can pro-
person can maintain autonomy even under external pres- tect people from illness (Taylor et al., 2000). The results of
sures that seem to deny it. Ryan and Deci's contribution numerous studies of patients with life-threatening diseases,
shows that the promises of the humanistic psychology of such as AIDS, suggest that those who remain optimistic
the 1960s can generate a vital program of empirical show symptoms later and survive longer than patients who
research. confront reality more objectively. According to these au-
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Is an emphasis on autonomy an unmitigated good? thors, the positive effects of optimism are mediated mainly
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

Barry Schwartz (2000) takes on the subject of self-deter- at a cognitive level. An optimistic patient is more likely to
mination from a more philosophical and historical angle. practice habits that enhance health and to enlist social
He is concerned that the emphasis on autonomy in our support. It is also possible, but not proven, that positive
culture results in a kind of psychological tyranny--an affective states may have a direct physiological effect that
excess of freedom that may lead to dissatisfaction and retards the course of illness. As Taylor et al. note, this line
depression. He finds particularly problematic the influence of research has enormously important implications for
of rational-choice theory on our conception of human mo- ameliorating health through prevention and care.
tivation. The burden of responsibility for autonomous At the beginning of their extensive review of the
choices often becomes too heavy, leading to insecurity and impacts of a broad range of emotions on physical health,
regrets. For most people in the world, he argues, individual Peter Salovey and his coauthors (Salovey et al., 2000)
choice is neither expected nor desired. Cultural constraints ruefully admit that because of the pathological bias of most
are necessary for leading a meaningful and satisfying life. research in the field, a great deal more is known about how
Although Ryan and Deci's (2000) self-determination the- negative emotions promote illness than is known about
ory takes relatedness into account as one of the three how positive emotions promote health. However, as posi-
components of personal fulfillment, Schwartz's argument tive and negative emotions are generally inversely corre-
highlights even further the benefits of relying on cultural lated, they argue that substituting the former for the latter
norms and values. can have preventive and therapeutic effects. The research
considered includes the direct effects of affect on physiol-
Implications for Mental and Physical Health ogy and the immune system, as well as the indirect effects
One of the arguments for positive psychology is that during of affect, such as the marshalling of psychological and
the past half century, psychology has become increasingly social resources and the motivation of health-promoting
focused on mental illness and, as a result, has developed a behaviors. One of the most interesting sets of studies they
distorted view of what normal--and exceptional--human discuss is the one that shows that persons high in optimism
experience is like. How does mental health look when seen and hope are actually more likely to provide themselves
from the perspective of positive psychology? The next with unfavorable information about their disease, thereby
three articles deal with this topic. being better prepared to face up to realities even though
Beethoven was suicidal and despairing at age 31, yet their positive outcome estimates may be inflated.
two dozen years later he composed the "Ode to Joy,"
translating into sublime music Schiller's lines, "Be em- Fostering Excellence
braced, all ye millions . . . . " What made it possible for him If psychologists wish to improve the human condition, it is
to overcome despair despite poverty and deafness? In the not enough to help those who suffer. The majority of
first article of this section, the psychiatrist George Vaillant "normal" people also need examples and advice to reach a
(2000) reminds readers that it is impossible to describe richer and more fulfilling existence. This is why early
positive psychological processes without taking a life span, investigators, such as William James (1902/1958), Carl
or at least a longitudinal, approach. "Call no man happy till Jung (1936/1969), Gordon Allport (1961), and Abraham
he dies," for a truly positive psychological adaptation Maslow (1971), were interested in exploring spiritual ec-
should unfold over a lifetime. Relying on the results ob- stasy, play, creativity, and peak experiences. When these
tained from three large samples of adults studied over interests were eclipsed by medicalization and "physics
several decades, Vaillant summarizes the contributions of envy," psychology neglected an essential segment of its
mature defenses--altruism, sublimation, suppression, hu- agenda. As a gesture toward redressing such neglect, the
mor, anticipation--to a successful and joyful life. Even last section of this issue presents six articles dealing with

10 January 2000 American Psychologist

 phenomena at the opposite end of the pathological tail of against oppressive rules are followed a generation later by
the normal curve--the end that includes the most positive greater frequencies of creative output.
human experiences. The topics of giftedness and exceptional performance
Wisdom is one of the most prized traits in all cultures; dealt with in the previous two articles are also taken up by
according to the Old Testament, its price is above rubies Ellen Winner (2000). Her definition of giftedness is more
(Job 28:18). It is a widespread belief that wisdom comes inclusive than the previous ones: It relates to children who
with age, but as the gerontologist Bernice Neugarten used are precocious and self-motivated and approach problems
to say, "You can't expect a dumb youngster to grow up to in their domain of talent in an original way. Contrary to
be a wise senior." Although the first president of the some of the findings concerning creative individuals just
American Psychological Association, G. Stanley Hall, tried mentioned, such children tend to be well-adjusted and to
to develop a model of wisdom in aging as far back as 1922 have supportive families. Winner describes the current
(Hall, 1922), the topic has not been a popular one in the state of knowledge about this topic by focusing on the
intervening years. Recently, however, interest in wisdom origins of giftedness; the motivation of gifted children; and
has revived, and nowhere more vigorously than at the Max the social, emotional, and cognitive correlates of excep-
Planck Institute of Berlin, where the "Berlin wisdom par- tional performance. As is true of most other contributors to
adigm" has been developed. Paul Baltes and Ursula this issue, this author is sensitive throughout to the practical
Staudinger (2000) report on a series of studies that has implications of research findings, such as what can be done
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

resulted in a complex model that views wisdom as a cog- to nurture and to keep giftedness alive.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

nitive and motivational heuristic for organizing knowledge Developing excellence in young people is also the
in pursuit of individual and collective excellence. Seen as theme of Reed Larson's (2000) article, which begins with
the embodiment of the best subjective beliefs and laws of the ominous and often replicated finding that the average
life that have been sifted and selected through the experi- student reports being bored about one third of the time he
ence of succeeding generations, wisdom is defined as an or she is in school. Considering that people go to school for
expert knowledge system concerning the fundamental at least one fifth of their lives, this is not good news. Larson
pragmatic issues of existence. argues that youths in our society rarely have the opportu-
nity to take initiative, and that their education encourages
The second article in this section, by David Lubinski
passive adaptation to external rules instead. He explores the
and Camilla Benbow (2000), deals with excellence of a
contribution of voluntary activities, such as participation in
different sort. In this article, the authors review the large
sport, art, and civic organizations, to providing opportuni-
literature concerning children with exceptional intellectual
ties for concentrated, self-directed effort applied over time.
abilities. If one asked a layperson at what point in the
Although this article deals with issues central also to pre-
distribution of intelligence the largest gap in ability is
vious articles (e.g., Massimini & Delle Fave, 2000; Ryan &
found, the modal answer would probably be that it is the
Deck 2000: Winner, 2000), it does so from the perspec-
gifted people in the top 1% or 2% who differ most in ability
tive of naturalistic studies of youth programs, thereby
from the rest of the population. As the authors point out,
adding a welcome confirmatory triangulation to previous
however, one third of the total ability range is found within
approaches.
the top 1%--a child with an IQ of 200 is quite different and
needs a different educational environment from a gifted Challenges for the Future
student with "only" an IQ of 140. Lubinski and Benbow
consider issues of how to identify, nurture, counsel, and The 15 articles contained in this issue make a powerful
teach children in these high ability ranges, arguing that contribution to positive psychology. At the same time, the
neglecting the potentialities of such exceptional children issues raised in these articles point to huge gaps in knowl-
would be a grievous loss to society as a whole. edge that may be the challenges at the forefront of positive
One of the most poignant paradoxes in psychology psychology. What, can we guess, are the great problems
concerns the complex relationships between pathology and that will occupy this science for the next decade or two?
creativity. Ever since Cesare Lombroso raised the issue
over a century ago, the uneasy relationship between these The Calculus of Well-Being
two seemingly opposite traits has been explored again and One fundamental gap concerns the relationship between
again (on this topic, cf. also Vaillant, 2000, in this issue). A momentary experiences of happiness and long-lasting well-
related paradox is that some of the most creative adults being. A simple hedonic calculus suggests that by adding
were reared in unusually adverse childhood situations. This up a person's positive events in consciousness, subtracting
and many other puzzles concerning the nature and nurture the negatives, and aggregating over time, one will get a
of creativity are reviewed in Dean K. Simonton's (2000) sum that represents that person's overall well-being. This
article, which examines the cognitive, personality, and de- makes sense, up to a point (Kahneman, 1999), but as
velopmental dimensions of the process, as well as the several articles in this issue suggest, what makes people
environmental conditions that foster or hinder creativity. happy in small doses does not necessarily add satisfaction
For instance, on the basis of his exhaustive historiometric in larger amounts; a point of diminishing returns is quickly
analyses that measure rates of creative contributions decade reached in many instances, ranging from the amount of
by decade, Simonton concludes that nationalistic revolts income one earns to the pleasures of eating good food.

January 2000 American Psychologist 11

 What, exactly, is the mechanism that governs the rewarding Collective Well-Being
quality of stimuli?
This question leads directly to the issue of the balance
The Development of Positivity between individual and collective well-being. Some hedo-
nic rewards tend to be zero-sum when viewed from a
It is also necessary to realize that a person at time N is a systemic perspective. If running a speedboat for an hour
different entity from the same person at time N + 1; thus, provides the same amount of well-being to Person A as
psychologists can't assume that what makes a teenager reading from a book of poems provides to Person B, but the
happy will also contribute to his or her happiness as an speedboat consumes 10 gallons of gasoline and irritates
adult. For example, watching television and hanging out 200 bathers, should the two experiences be weighed
with friends tend to be positive experiences for most teen- equally? Will a social science of positive community and
agers. However, to the extent that TV and friends become positive institutions arise?
the main source of happiness, and thus attract increasing
amounts of attention, the teenager is likely to grow into an Authenticity
adult who is limited in the ability to obtain positive expe- It has been a common but unspoken assumption in the
riences from a wide range of opportunities. How much social sciences that negative traits are authentic and posi-
delayed gratification is necessary to increase the chances of tive traits are derivative, compensatory, or even inauthen-
long-term well-being? Is the future mindedness necessary tic, but there are two other possibilities: that negative traits
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

for serious delay of gratification antagonistic to momentary

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

are derivative from positive traits and that the positive and
happiness, to living in the moment? What are the childhood negative systems are separate systems. However, if the two
building blocks of later happiness or of long-lasting systems are separate, how do they interact? Is it necessary
well-being? to be resilient, to overcome hardship and suffering to
experience positive emotion and to develop positive traits?
Neuroscience and Heritability Does too much positive experience create a fragile and
A flourishing neuroscience of pathology has begun in the brittle personality?
past 20 years. Psychologists have more than rudimentary
ideas about what the neurochemistry and pharmacology of Buffering
depression are. They have reasonable ideas about brain loci As positive psychology finds its way into prevention and
and pathways for schizophrenia, substance abuse, anxiety, therapy, techniques that build positive traits will become
and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Somehow, it has gone commonplace. Psychologists have good reason to believe
unobserved (and unfunded) that all of these pathological that techniques that build positive traits and positive sub-
states have their opposites (LeDoux & Armony, 1999). jective experiences work, both in therapy and perhaps more
What are the neurochemistry and anatomy of flow, good importantly in prevention. Building optimism, for example,
cheer, realism, future mindedness, resistance to temptation, prevents depression (Seligman, Schulman, DeRubeis, &
courage, and rational or flexible thinking? Hollon, 1999). The question is, how? By what mechanisms
Similarly, psychologists are learning about the herita- does courage or interpersonal skill or hope or future mind-
bility of negative states, like aggression, depression, and edness buffer against depression or schizophrenia or sub-
schizophrenia, but they know very little of the genetic stance abuse?
contribution of gene-environment interaction and covari-
ance. Can psychologists develop a biology of positive Descriptive or Prescriptive
experience and positive traits? Is a science of positive psychology descriptive or prescrip-
tive? The study of the relations among enabling conditions,
Enjoyment Versus Pleasure individual strengths, institutions, and outcomes such as
In a similar vein, it is useful to distinguish positive expe- well-being or income might merely result in an empirical
riences that are pleasurable from those that are enjoyable. matrix. Such a matrix would describe, for example, what
Pleasure is the good feeling that comes from satisfying talents under what enabling conditions lead to what kinds
homeostatic needs such as hunger, sex, and bodily comfort. of outcomes. This matrix would inform individuals'
Enjoyment, on the other hand, refers to the good feelings choices along the course of their lives, but would take no
people experience when they break through the limits of stand on the desirability of different life courses. Alterna-
homeostasis--when they do something that stretches them tively, positive psychology might become a prescriptive
beyond what they were--in an athletic event, an artistic discipline like clinical psychology, in which the paths out
performance, a good deed, a stimulating conversation. En- of depression, for example, are not only described, but also
joyment, rather than pleasure, is what leads to personal held to be desirable.
growth and long-term happiness, but why is that when
given a chance, most people opt for pleasure over enjoy-
Realism
ment? Why do people choose to watch television over What is the relationship between positive traits like opti-
reading a challenging book, even when they know that their mism and positive experiences like happiness on the one
usual hedonic state during television is mild dysphoria, hand, and being realistic on the other? Many doubt the
whereas the book can produce flow? possibility of being both. This suspicion is well illustrated

12 January 2000 American Psychologist

 in the reaction attributed to Charles de Gaulle, then Presi- There are also historical reasons for psychology's
dent of the French Republic, to a journalist's inquiry: negative focus. When cultures face military threat, short-
"Mr. President, are you a happy man?" ages of goods, poverty, or instability, they may most nat-
"What sort of a fool do you take me for?" urally be concerned with defense and damage control.
Is the world simply too full of tragedy to allow a wise Cultures may turn their attention to creativity, virtue, and
person to be happy? As the articles in this issue suggest, a the highest qualities in life only when they are stable,
person can be happy while confronting life realistically and prosperous, and at peace. Athens in the 5th century B.C.,
while working productively to improve the conditions of Florence in the 15th century, and Victorian England are
existence. Whether this view is accurate only time will tell; examples of cultures that focused on positive qualities.
in the meantime, we hope that you will find what follows Athenian philosophy focused on the human virtues: What
enjoyable and enlightening to read. is good action and good character? What makes life most
worthwhile? Democracy was born during this era. Florence
Conclusions chose not to become the most important military power in
We end this introduction by hazarding a prediction about Europe, but to invest its surplus in beauty. Victorian En-
psychology in the new century. We believe that a psychol- gland affirmed honor, discipline, valor, and duty as central
ogy of positive human functioning will arise that achieves human virtues.
We are not suggesting that American culture should
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a scientific understanding and effective interventions to

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

build thriving in individuals, families, and communities. now erect an aesthetic monument. Rather, we believe that
You may think that this is pure fantasy. You may the nation--wealthy, at peace, and stable--provides the
think that psychology will never look beyond the victim, world with a historical opportunity. Psychologists can
the underdog, and the remedial, but we want to suggest that choose to create a scientific monument--a science that
the time is finally right for positive psychology. We well takes as its primary task the understanding of what makes
recognize that positive psychology is not a new idea. It has life worth living. Such an endeavor will move all of the
many distinguished ancestors, and we make no claim of social sciences away from their negative bias. The prevail-
originality. However, these ancestors somehow failed to ing social sciences tend to view the authentic forces gov-
attract a cumulative, empirical body of research to ground erning human behavior to be self-interest, aggressiveness,
their ideas. territoriality, class conflict, and the like. Such a science,
Why didn't they attract this research, and why has even at its best, is by necessity incomplete. Even if utopi-
psychology been so focused on the negative? Why has anly successful, it would then have to proceed to ask how
psychology adopted the premise--without a shred of evi- humanity can achieve what is best in life.
d e n c e - t h a t negative motivations are authentic and posi- We predict that positive psychology in this new cen-
tive emotions are derivative? There are several possible tury will allow psychologists to understand and build those
explanations. Negative emotions and experiences may be factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies
more urgent and therefore may override positive ones. This to flourish. Such a science will not need to start afresh. It
would make evolutionary sense. Because negative emo- requires for the most part just a redirecting of scientific
tions often reflect immediate problems or objective dan- energy. In the 50 years since psychology and psychiatry
gers, they should be powerful enough to force people to became healing disciplines, they have developed a highly
stop, increase their vigilance, reflect on their behavior, and transferable science of mental illness. They developed a
change their actions if necessary. (Of course, in some usable taxonomy, as well as reliable and valid ways of
dangerous situations, it is most adaptive to respond without measuring such fuzzy concepts as schizophrenia, anger,
taking a great deal of time to reflect.) In contrast, when
and depression. They developed sophisticated methods--
people are adapting well to the world, no such alarm is
both experimental and longitudinal--for understanding the
needed. Experiences that promote happiness often seem to
causal pathways that lead to such undesirable outcomes.
pass effortlessly. Therefore, on one level, psychology's
Most important, they developed pharmacological and psy-
focus on the negative may reflect differences in the survival
chological interventions that have allowed many untreat-
value of negative versus positive emotions.
Perhaps, however, people are blinded to the survival able mental disorders to become highly treatable and, in a
value of positive emotions precisely because they are so couple of cases, even curable. These same methods and in
important. Like the fish who is unaware of the water in many cases the same laboratories and the next generation
which it swims, people take for granted a certain amount of of scientists, with a slight shift of emphasis and funding,
hope, love, enjoyment, and trust because these are the very will be used to measure, understand, and build those char-
conditions that allow them to go on living. These condi- acteristics that make life most worth living. As a side effect
tions are fundamental to existence, and if they are present, of studying positive human traits, science will learn how to
any number of objective obstacles can be faced with equa- buffer against and better prevent mental, as well as some
nimity and even joy. Camus wrote that the foremost ques- physical, illnesses. As a main effect, psychologists will
tion of philosophy is why one should not commit suicide. learn how to build the qualities that help individuals and
One cannot answer that question just by curing depression; communities, not just to endure and survive, but also to
there must be positive reasons for living as well. flourish.

January 2000 American Psychologist 13

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14 January 2000 American Psychologist