Positive Psychology and Positive Education

Creating and measuring well-being, beyond simple economic metrics, have become increasingly important in recent years. Positive psychology is the study of four modes of ‘happiness’ – positive emotion, engagement, meaning and positive relationships. Each of these is separately measurable and each can be learned, and the efficacy of positive interventions that teach each of these modes is reasonably well documented, particularly in schools. In this lecture, Professor Seligman will discuss some of the major interventions and how to deliver them, suggesting that, in the coming decade, psychology will supplement its venerable task of treating mental illness with a new focus on positive education.

Speaker:
Professor Martin Seligman

About the speaker 
Professor Seligman is an American psychologist who is a best-selling author of self-help books. A world-renowned authority on depression and abnormal psychology, he is known for his work on the theory of ‘learned helplessness’. He is the director of the Positive Psychology Center and the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology. He was previously the Director of the Clinical Training Program in the department. Professor Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological Association in 1998. In 2009, he was the inaugural winner of the Academy’s Wiley Prize in Psychology.

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