Martin Seligman

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Martin Seligman 2009

Martin EP Seligman (born August 12, 1942 in Albany , New York ) is an American psychologist .

Act

He has been the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania since late 2005 . Here he was previously head of the clinical training program. Seligman served as the director of the clinical psychology department for the American Psychological Association (APA). In 1998, Seligman was elected President of the APA by the largest majority in its history. Seligman is the founding editor of Prevention and Treatment Magazine (the APA electronic journal), serves on the Advisory Committee of Parents Magazine , and chairs the Scientific Committee of the Foresight Institute .

Seligman is arguably best known for his work on the idea of ​​" learned helplessness " and for his contributions to positive psychology , where he was a pioneer. He coined the psychological term Sauce-Béarnaise Syndrome , which describes an aversion to food that arises in connection with nausea , even if this has another cause.

As part of his research on the phenomenon of learned helplessness , Seligman inflicted considerable pain on various dogs with electric shocks in order to investigate the effects of aversive stimuli on the psyche and behavior of these animals. It was found that animals that could not control aversive stimuli show passivity and helplessness in later situations. Seligman worked in particular on therapy. This work was also noticed and used by the US military, so that its findings were applied to soldiers who might come into torture situations. Seligman's research results on learned helplessness and hopelessness are also improperly related to the preparation for white torture in Guantánamo , among others . Seligman himself says: “I have spent my life trying to heal and prevent learned helplessness. I am saddened and appalled that good research that has helped so many people overcome depression could have been used for something as bad as torture. I never helped disapprove of torture in the strongest terms and. "However, Seligman seems even with the development of" enhanced interrogation techniques ", the Advanced interrogation techniques , to have been involved. On the other hand, Seligman's research also brought decisive advances in the treatment of depression.

Seligman is a bestselling author who writes on positive psychology such as: B. The optimistic child ( Optimistic Child ), pessimists kisses not ( Learned Optimism ) and True joy (2002, Authentic Happiness ). He also wrote what you can change and what is not ( not What You Can Change and What You Can ).

Works (selection)

  • 1975: Helplessness. On Depression, Development and Death. San Francisco: Freeman and Comp. ISBN 0-7167-0751-9
    • 1979: Learned helplessness. Munich, Vienna, Baltimore: Urban and Schwarzenberg. ISBN 3-541-08931-8
  • 1990: Learned Optimism . New York: Knopf (reissue edition 1998, Free Press, ISBN 0-671-01911-2 )
  • 1993: What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement . New York: button. ISBN 0-679-41024-4 (Paperback reprint edition, 1995, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-449-90971-9 )
  • 1996: The Optimistic Child: Proven Program to Safeguard Children from Depression & Build Lifelong Resilience . New York: Houghton Mifflin. (Paperback edition 1996, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-097709-4 )
  • 2002: Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment . New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-2297-0 (Paperback edition 2004, Free Press, ISBN 0-7432-2298-9 )
  • 2012: Flourish - How people blossom. The positive psychology of a successful life. Munich: Kösel-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-466-30934-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ US Army employs psychiatrists as interrogation trainers (article on the use of some of Seligman's teachings in the US military's interrogation methods that violate human rights)
  2. ^ Rainer Mausfeld : Psychology, 'white torture' and the responsibility of scientists. In: Psychologische Rundschau Heft 4, 2009.
  3. ↑ APA Monitor September 2009, p. 10.
  4. ↑ New York Times By SCOTT SHANE, Published: August 11, 2009: "INTERROGATION INC. US 2 Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9 / 11's Wake. Start of the Program: In December 2001, a small group of professors and law enforcement and intelligence officers gathered outside Philadelphia at the home of a prominent psychologist, Martin EP Seligman, to brainstorm about Muslim extremism. Among them was Dr. Mitchell, who attended with a CIA psychologist, Kirk M. Hubbard
  5. ↑ How US researchers helped the CIA: The Torture Psychologists (Spiegel article on Seligman's involvement in the CIA)
  6. ↑ Jane Mayer: The dark side: The inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals = Randomhouse 2009, ISBN 978-0307456298 .
personal data
SURNAME Seligman, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seligman, Martin EP (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author and psychologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Albany (New York)