Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived

by Corey L.M. Keyes (Editor)

Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA. Text provides the application of scientific analyses to study the 'good' life. Articles are taken from the proceedings of the first Summit of Positive Psychology, held by the Gallup Organization in Lincoln, NE, on September 9-12,1999.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jason Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I really liked Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt and thought this might enrich my understanding of positive psychology. I guess I was a little naive to not understand that this was actually a textbook where each chapter is a review article by some domain experits.



High level terminology aside, I had a hard time reading this because I come from outside the field. I think the chapters I really appreciated are ones that discussed how profession (work) and our moral systems play into our joy / satisfaction in life. I agree that a lot of contemporary psychology attention is given toward negative or abnormal psychology and an investment in understanding what makes people thrive would be really beneficial to our society.



By and large, I wouldn't really recommend this as something to just pick up and read for fun outside of a structured classroom environment.

[AnaMaria Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, with somewhat indepth exploration and analysis of different topics on Positive Psychology. There is great analysis on happiness research and its correlation to different variables such as money, and other very interesting research on resilience. Much has been taken from resilience to almost "dismiss" the effects of a traumatic childhood, however this book gives a great explanation to the results of such analysis.


"Alternatively, the childhood research has increasingly pointed to possible “costs” that may accompany resilient profiles. That is, children of adversity may do well in certain areas (e.g., competence in school) and yet continue to suffer in certain areas of vulnerability (e.g., limited capacity to establish close ties to others). This recognition—that resilience may exact psychosocial tolls that exist side by side with the psychosocial strengths it hones—is an important insight for those attempting to understand flourishing under fire in adulthood and later life."

[Hira Sajid]

Not know