Emotional Intelligence explores how thoughts create feelings.  Here’s a deceptively simple tool.  When I’m caught in a worry cycle, I can use this flowchart as a good reminder.  I can examine my situation and take action.  One action is changing my thoughts –which will change my feelings.

Patty & I were talking about Abby Sunderland’s press conference and a comment she made.  Why is the “big story” the accident and rescue — instead of a 16 year old succeeding to sail 12,000 miles?  I don’t know about you, but I heard nothing about the first 11,999 miles… it wasn’t a “story” until she was lost.  It raises important questions about where we, the media-plugged-in-world, choose to put our attention.

Is this the norm, and how does that affect the way we see the world?

In our daily lives, and all the ups and downs we face a dozen times a day, where do we each choose to focus?  And how does that focus affect us?

Max, Emma, Patty and I regularly listen to audiobooks in the car.  There are amazing EQ lessons in these stories, and I find that listening to them creates a strong emotional connection — plus it’s a great way to keep the peace on long drives!

On the plane yesterday, listened to the end of Pam Munoz Ryan’s book, Esperanza Rising, a lovely story of a family and a young woman learning, “never be afraid to start over.”  Esperanza is a privileged child growing up in a wealthy family on El Rancho de las Rosas in Mexico.  Her father is killed, and for a variety of reasons she and her mother escape to the Central Valley in California where they live in a farmworker’s camp during the Depression.  Amidst threats of strikes, illness, loss, fear, and scarcity, Esperanza’s hands harden, but her heart softens.  She learns empathy and her optimism is fueled by connectedness to family, the land, and community.

As the story ended, I was sobbing, touched by the hope and strength in these women, their courage, compassion, and openness to life.  It’s a beautifully woven tale, a dark and serious time in our history entwined with shining threads of love and resilience.

The narrator, Trini Alvarado, did a beautiful job — I’m sure the book is lovely in print as well — but I highly recommend listening to it.

For teachers, Esperanza Rising would be ideal for discussions of the emotional intelligence competencies of Exercise Optimism and Increase Empathy, as well as for themes of migration, power, and, of course for California history.  The fact that the story is based on the author’s grandmother’s real life makes it even richer.

Based on Emma & Max’s reactions, I’d say this is great from ages about 7 and up.

Have you heard the old maxim: The best way to learn material is to teach it? One great benefit of teaching is that I constantly improve my own “soft” skills as I share basic principals and proven techniques with my classes. Recently, I had a small epiphany as I reviewed my materials for an optimism workshop.

Research by Dr. Martin Seligman has identified 3 types of thought patterns of optimists and pessimists. Optimists see failures as:
1. temporary,
2. isolated events,
3. that they can change through effort.

A pessimist sees the opposite: successes are viewed as temporary, isolated, and lucky (i.e. not related to their effort).

A pessimist sees failures or setbacks as:
1. Permanent (will never end)
2. Pervasive (always happening)
3. Unrelated to any effort exerted.

I’ve always seen myself as exceedingly optimistic. But this morning, as I practiced some of the exercises I would give my participants, I was surprised to find that only some of my thinking is optimistic.

When I lost a job several years ago, I plunged into a job search with zeal and excitement. I have always had an extremely high “locus of control,” i.e. I see my efforts as directly impacting my success. I work hard and expect good things to happen. That’s the “utilizes effort” element of optimistic thought patterns ( #3). But sometimes when things go wrong (as happened several weeks ago when someone hacked into my website), I can plunge myself into doomsday feelings of “this will never get fixed,” a negative thought pattern favored by pessimists (#1 above).

I’m happy to see that I have an optimistic viewpoint for 2 of the 3 elements Seligman describes. But while my belief in my own efforts keeps me moving forward, my fear-based thoughts (of never-ending catastrophes) often cause me harmful anxiety.

What is your unique blend of pessimism vs. optimism?
Do you see setbacks as temporary or permanent?
Do you see obstacles as isolated events or as the standard, (pervasive) state of your life?
Do you see success as a lucky break or as the result of effort?

Found this to be a powerful example of a family Knowing, Choosing, and Giving Themselves…

T.R.E. Frankel’s from B-Rilla on Vimeo.

I’ve always loved+dreaded this time of year.  Dreaded because it meant the end of lazy afternoons stretching from freedom to boredom.

But more, loved, because as a child (then as a teacher), September meant a clean slate – infinite possibility – even redemption.

Maybe this would be the year I stopped having yogurts break open in my backpack and get all over my books.

Maybe this would be the year I stayed on top of my homework and didn’t feel contantly behind.

Maybe this would be the year the cool kids would include me playing four-square at lunch.

These examples sound a little sad to me, but I wasn’t sad, I was abundantly (overly?) hopeful.  I’d say “optimistic” but I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t take the ownership of the solution.

I could hardly wait to start school and to see if the long summer afternoons had transformed something in me, in us.   I had this sense of discovery, of boldly going someplace new — and possibly wonderful.

On the one hand, it was nonsense, and each year led to inevitable dissapointments and dashed hopes.  But at the very same time I was right, year after year.  Somehow I learned to leave my yogurt in my locker instead of my lunchbox.  Somehow I because a straight-a student.  Somehow I met wonderful people who love me for who I am.

In the magic of passing summer days, I learned something about work, something about participating in the world, something about integrity.  In my child-mind it would all happen by itself with the dawning of a new year.  Now, as an adult I see that change mostly came from doggedly sticking with it.

In any case, these days of raw potential — of renewal, of hope, of infinite possibility — have stayed with me, and still fill me with a trieste for the end of summer mixed with a wonder at what we can become.

The RSA has launched an Education Charter which will form part of the RSA’s planned education campaign. I think that the Charter is really wonderful and I have copied it in full below. Please sign up to the Charter here.

The Charter

It is the primary purpose of education to awaken a love of learning in young people, and give them the ability and desire to carry on learning throughout life.

 

We need to recognise that education has many aims

Education must nurture creativity and capacity for independent and critical thought.

Young people should leave formal education equipped with the confidence, aptitude and skills they need for life and for work.

Education should help young people to understand how to be happy and to develop and maintain their own emotional, physical and mental well-being.

Every young person has the right to develop to their full potentialAbility comes in many forms and learners need to be supported to enjoy success no matter where their talents lie.

The educational success of learners should not depend on their background. Schools, communities and families must work together to close gaps in attainment.

The curriculum in schools and colleges should balance abstract and practical knowledge so that every learner can access high quality academic and vocational opportunities.

Education should engage the learner with exciting, relevant content and opportunities for learning through experience and by doing.

Education must be a partnership

Learners have a valuable role to play in contributing to the design of their own learning, and in shaping the way their learning environment operates.

The education of young people should be a partnership of schools, parents and the wider community in a local area.

Schools should be inclusive, creative communities which build tolerance, respect and empathy in young people.

We must trust our schools and education professionalsEvery teacher should be a creative professional involved in the design of curricula and learning environments, and should be supported and developed to fulfil that role.

Every school should be different, every school innovative and we must find ways of holding them to account for their performance that rewards rather than stifles this creativity.

Last night I found myself glued to the television watching the New Hampshire Primary returns while doing some of my work on the computer. What a fascinating time in United States politics! Listening to the pundits and commentators, I found myself thinking about Dr. Martin Seligman’s work on “explanatory styles” as they relate to candidates getting elected. In his book, Learned Optimism, Seligman speaks about how we can literally analyze speeches, dialogues, etc., by using the CAVE (for content analysis of verbatim explanations) technique. Here is an example of analysis from the book:

Adlai Stevenson, accepting his first nomination before the Democratic convention in 1952:

“When the tumult and the shouting die, when the bands are gone and the lights are dimmed, there is the stark reality of responsibility in an hour of history hanted with hose gaunt, grim specters of strife, dissention and materialism at home, and ruthless, inscrutable and hostile power abroad.

Seligman’s analysis summarized: “Stevenson was dwelling upon bad events and analyzing them, without proposing actions to alter them.. His “explanatory style” was depressive.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

“Today is the first day of our battle. The road that leads to November fourth is a fighting road. In that fight I will keep nothing in reserve.

I have stood before on the eve of battle. Before every attack it has always been my practice to seek out our men in their camps and along the road and talk with them face to face about their concerns and discuss with them the great mission to which we are all committed.”

Seligman’s analysis: “Eisenhower’s “explanatory style” was optimistic and low in rumination.”

As we become enthralled with all of the speeches and dialogue of this year (I know I will!!), it might just be helpful to think about the candiates in terms of their “explanatory styles.” Is adversity displayed in their speeches as permanent, pervasive, and personal or are they looking at any adversity as temporary, isolated, and effort is possible? What message are they sharing with us? Does it really matter what “explanatory style” they share with us? Do you think it really matters in the election?

So I’m sitting here feeling kind of grouchy – 3 weeks after emergency knee surgery, a bit painful, not able to move much, feeling sorry for myself… and slogging through email.  Cheryl Bakke Martin, one of the EQ coaches in the network, sent me a video which suprised me.

As I watched this video, first I was resisting.  "It’s so slow."  "Come on already, it’s just a day…"  But then as I listened and enjoyed the images, I started looking around.  Today It’s rainy and I was grumpy about that too — but watching the video I started seeing that differently…

I began to wonder about the gift of this day, and my responsibility in receiving this gift.  We all have choices, sometimes easy, sometimes hard – and our choices matter.  So I decided to share this with gratitude and consider the possibility that it is truly a wonderful gift to be here, now, going through this complex experience of healing and learning.

If you watch the video, please comment below about your experience!

Warmly,

- Josh

More optimistic employees are more successful even in a highly technical IT firm. Using the SEI emotional intelligence assessment, researchers found optimism predicts almost 18% of job success. The finding reinforces the importance of hiring and training for this learnable skill. It also provides and edge to employees who want to be recognized as high performers.

It’s no surprise that optimists might identify themselves as more successful than their pessimistic counterparts, but does their boss agree? That’s the finding from new research by Six Seconds. The study confirms that even in a technical position, emotional intelligence skills are key to job success.

The study tracks a highly technical information solutions team at NextiraOne in Italy. Fourty-four IT team members were assessed using the “Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment,” otherwise known as the SEI. Scores on the test were compared to scores on the company’s performance management system. Just over 17.9% of the variation in performance scores were explained by the Optimism scale on the SEI.

NextiraOne is a leading provider of integrated enterprise network, IP telephony, data, voice and converged solutions and services that enable effective business communications (www.nextiraone.com).

Six Seconds’ COO Joshua Freedman explains the significance of the finding: “Optimism has been widely linked to performance in people-oriented jobs such as sales. This study shows that even in a highly technical role, emotional competence is key to success.” Freedman is one of the world’s top authorities on developing emotional intelligence to improve performance. His global team of consultants, trainers and researchers helps companies from Schlumberger to FedEx with leadership, sales, and organizational effectiveness.

The study, described in a white paper (www.6seconds.org/sei/optimism.php), offers an important edge to employees and another to businesses:
• For employees who want to be recognized as a top performer, increasing optimism provides a valuable edge.
• For companies who want every competitive edge, hiring and training for this kind of emotional intelligence skill is a cost-effective way to increase performance.

The strong link between optimism and performance is specifically tied to supervisor perception. Using a “multiple regression” statistical analysis, researcher Lorenzo Fariselli of Six Seconds Italia (www.6seconds.it) performed the analysis. Fariselli says, “In this study we see more evidence that the emotional intelligence assessment measures factors that are important to real life performance.” This data helps confirm that the SEI tool is one of the most effective measure of emotional intelligence available.

The SEI is a statistically reliable, web-enabled emotional intelligence test. Compared to other similar tests, SEI report offers the most extensive report with over 20 pages of practical interpretation with effective development suggestions. With two self-correcting indices, a consistency scale, 104 items, and 14 different norms applied in each report, it also uses the most advanced statistical analysis in the scoring algorithm. The SEI is available in English, Italian, Chinese, Indonesian, and Spanish. Strengths, Development, Group, and Leadership reports are available. Details and the Technical Manual are available online (www.6seconds.org/sei/).

When I shared this thought, Caleb looked at me, raised one blond eyebrow, and said, “Mom, you have got to be kidding!” I was really stumped. I couldn’t imagine what he was going to identify. I knew it wouldn’t be this year’s presents; they were all practical and geared to his senior year at the University of Oregon and included clothes, art supplies, books, etc.

Caleb continued, “You know, Mom, it is interesting that you would bring this up. I’ve been thinking about this subject myself. Give me a minute to collect my thoughts and then I would like to share them with you.”

So after two or three minutes with the fire crackling and popping, Caleb shared approximately the following words. I wish now that I could have had a tiny tape recorder taking down every word, but here’s what I remember. “The most important gift, Mom, was your unconditional love. I don’t mean willy-nilly acceptance, because that’s not what our relationship has been about. I mean that even though you sometimes, maybe even often, didn’t approve of my choices, you were always there for me — a steady and available listener. And when I was through talking, you would provide constructive criticism, your own learned lessons, and always encouragement. It was from this support that I built a backbone that would allow me to be a risk taker and demonstrate my own courage.”

“Second, Caleb continued, “and this may be even more vital than the love because I think most mothers love their kids, somehow you always managed to build or remind me to build a chain of optimism, even when I was leaning toward negativity or pessimism. You taught me positive self-talk and hope for the future. I want to build my life on this point of view and make it my legacy for future generations.”

Of course just telling this story brings tears of joy to my eyes, partly because these are among the gifts I most want my son to treasure. And also because I know they have kept him going through many challenging adversities.

The first of Caleb’s adversities that I can remember were his “night shoes.” When he was seven or eight months old, Dr. Cook, his pediatrician, said his legs were too straight; they needed to bend more at the knees. We went to an orthopedic specialist who prescribed special high-top leather shoes screwed onto a metal bar which would keep his legs apart and help the bones grow and develop in the proper way. Caleb was to wear them every night. Obviously, he didn’t like them, crying when I put them on, waking up in the middle of the night and bellowing, and being so joyful in the morning when they came off.

I remember saying to him frequently, “Caleb, this won’t be forever — only six, five, or four more months.” Or “Caleb, aren’t you glad it’s only your feet; just think if you had to have ‘night gloves’ as well.” And, “Caleb, you can make a difference by doing this every night and not taking a ‘night shoe’ vacation and by being consistent about this opportunity.”

We weathered the night shoes, but it did not prepare us for the adversities Caleb faced when he was ten. His father, whom Caleb adored, became heavily involved and addicted to cocaine, probably because of some inappropriate moral decisions and inadequate consequential thinking. These choices also led Caleb’s father to contract a terrible disease: he was diagnosed as HIV positive.

This adversity was a major one, and I was not sure how to move forward. But I found myself repeating the lessons learned from the “night shoes.” “Caleb, this crisis is isolated. Yes, your immediate family is dramatically affected, but we still have Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Pat, and Aunt Tamie. And Caleb you have so many loyal and supportive friends.”

“Caleb, this will not last forever; time will ease the disillusionment and the pain.”

“Caleb, we can grow and become stronger if we look at this as an opportunity rather than a total disaster. And Caleb I know you can find the courage to face this problem.”

It wasn’t until years later that I discovered the steps defined by Martin Seligman for teaching optimism. He outlines them in the book, Learned Optimism (Pocket Books, 1990). His data shows clearly that optimists are more motivated, more successful, have higher levels of achievement, plus significantly better physical and mental health. Aren’t these attributes and achievements we want for all of our children?

Unfortunately, current data from the National Institutes of Health also shows that American fathers spend approximately five minutes daily with their children — and mothers are only slightly better with 15 to 20 minutes daily. Moreover, the bulk of this time is spent in conversations that sound like the following:

• Have you finished your homework? Why not?

• Did you put the dishes in the dishwasher and remember to feed the dog?

• Have you called Grandma to thank her for the Valentine card and check?

• What do you mean you haven’t practiced the flute yet! When are you going to do that?

And the list goes on indefinitely. Wouldn’t a written list be a better way to communicate this information? Instead, spend those precious face-to-face moments on the bigger and more significant matters: What happened today which needs to be celebrated? Or what discouragement did your child feel today? Was it striking out with the bases loaded? Was it a C- on the Spanish test? Was it someone who poked fun at his/her braces?

If so, help your child build an immunity to his/her setbacks and put-downs. Inoculate him/her with the skills of optimism.

Several years ago I remember having a conversation with my niece, who, because of a D+ on an algebra test, assured me she would never graduate from high school; therefore, she would never get into college. As a result, she would never have any boyfriends, never get married, and never have any children. “I’ll just end up an old maid,” she emphatically cried.

“Let’s look at it this way,” I suggested. “This failure does not have to be permanent, pervasive, and personal. You can make it temporary, isolated, and change the end result with some work and effort on your part.”

I elaborated: “Have you always gotten D+ on your math grades?”

“Well, no!” she retorts.

“Is your report card just one D after another?”?

“Well, no! Of course not!”

“Is it possible that there are some ways you could change the outcome with some personal effort on your part?”

“Well, I didn’t study very hard. I could put in 15-30 minutes every day instead of just cramming just before the test.”

“And?”

” I could ask the teacher for some additional help.”

Research indicates that more girls grow up with a more pessimistic explanatory style than do boys (Howard, 1994). Some psychologists suggest that this happens because parents and teachers tend to lavish praise on boys and neglect the girls. Please be sure that your daughters learn to attribute their successes to their abilities and that their failures can be reversed.

Each day life brings forth adversities. Most of them are tiny but still stressful. They include such things as preparing a presentation for a community group; enduring someone who wonders “have your put on weight?”; being pushed aside in the grocery store line by someone who believes they are more important; or being let down by someone who was suppose to come and volunteer at the homeless shelter. And sometimes the adversities are more dramatic — such as hearing that your niece at 21 year has pre cancerous uterine cells; or that someone you admire has criticized your most recent book; or that someone you inadvertently hurt has refused to accept your apology.

Whether big or small the adversities of life will continue to plague us. However, withstanding and overcoming them will allow us to build walls of personal hope and peace.

So if I could only teach my child one lesson, this would be it. I would teach him/her this is the skill he/she will need to overcome disappointment, hurt, and despair. I would model for him/her with my words and actions that adversity can be gilded with hope; I would demonstrate that adversity brings gifts of growth (i.e., self-esteem, courage, self-reliance, etc.) which will be his/her parachute/safety net for the future.

Isn’t this a legacy that is more important that money or silver plate or stock and bonds? Perhaps twenty-plus years into the future Caleb, the father, will have a similar post-Christmas chat with a son and daughter of his own who share that the best gift they ever received from him was his gift of optimism to them.

Update On Anabel: Anabel is President of Six Seconds — a non-profit organization committed to providing resources, materials, and training to teach social and emotional skills to adults and children. Above all, she wishes to ground individuals in hope and resiliency.

What is optimism? Can it be learned? How? Martin Seligman is one of the preeminent experts on optimism and a founder of positive psychology. This interview, from November 10, 1999, explores many of the key ingredients for creating a happy, fulfilled life and introduces the concept of positive psychology. Seligman spoke at the first NexusEQ Conference in May, 2000 and the third conference in 2002.

by Joshua Freedman

Josh: The tool that you’re introducing at the Nexus EQ Conference is “disputing catastrophic thinking;” what is that?

Martin: There is a skill that everyone has that they usually deploy in the wrong place. The skill is disputing. In learned optimism programs we teach people first to recognize the catastrophic things they say to themselves. For example, they might say, “No one is going to like me at this party. I never have fun at parties.” We teach them first to treat it as if it were said by an external person whose mission in life is to make them miserable. Then to dispute it in the same way they would an external person. When you say these things to yourself, you treat them as if they were true. We generally have the skill of disputing other people when they make false accusations, and we can learn to do so with ourselves as well. That’s the central skill in both cognitive therapy and learned optimism training.

Josh: How young a person can be taught these skills?

Martin: We start at about age 10.

Josh: Recognizing that there is no quick fix, what would you advise as a starting point?

Martin: My first advice is to make some assessment of whether or not you are a pessimist. There are a set of tests which people can take rather easily to decide that. It is not transparent to yourself. Then, if you are, the nutshell advice is to learn the disputing skills.

Josh: Are you an optimist?

Martin: I’m a born pessimist.

Josh: Have you then taught yourself to be an optimist?

Martin: I think only a pessimist can write and do serious stuff about optimism. The skills I talk about I use every day. What I’ve become is what I call a “flexible optimist.” I can recognize the situations which call for optimism, and the situations which don’t call for optimism need a mercilessly realistic view of what’s going to happen. When I make that separation, if it’s one of the many situations in which the optimism skills are going to pay off, then I throw in my whole complement of optimism skills. It makes me better able to initiate different projects. But when I’m in a situation in which the cost of failure is very high, then what I want is merciless realism. In that case I revert to my usual “four in the morning” pessimism.

Josh: How do you know whether this is a case for optimism or a time for pessimism?

Martin: I ask, “What would it matter if I fail here?” For example, if I’m a salesman and I’m making another “cold call,” or if I see someone attractive at a party and want to say hello afterwards, the cost of rejection is small.

When the cost is small, use the optimism skills. On the other hand, the cost of failure can be very large, such as getting into an affair which will lead to divorce if your spouse finds out, or, as a pilot, having another drink at a party before a flight. You really don’t want optimistic pilots. When the cost of failure is large and catastrophic, you don’t want to use optimism skills. That’s the basic rule of thumb.

Josh: When you look around at the world the way it is, at the onslaught of negative stories, do you find optimism difficult?

Martin: It is surprising that we have very high levels of depression and pessimism in a world in which the hands on the nuclear clock are farther away from midnight than they have ever been, in a nation in which every economic indicator, every objective indicator of well-being, is going north, in a world in which there are fewer soldiers dying on the battlefield than any time since WWII, and in which there is a lower percentage of children dying of starvation than at any time in human history. It is quite astonishing that we have enormously high rates of depression and pessimism. We do have a very important paradox here.

Josh: I read an interview when you started as President of the APA in which you said that perhaps a significant part of the depression epidemic in the US is due to counselors treating people as ill. Would you explain that perception?

Martin: I think that’s one of several changes in our culture that has gone on for the past 40 years that may be related to continued high levels of depression. Another is victimology. In general when things go wrong we now have a culture which supports the belief that this was done to you by some larger force, as opposed to, you brought it on yourself by your character or your decisions. The problem about that is it’s a recipe for passivity and giving up and helplessness. So one of the things that is going on, I think, is a pervasive victimology.

Josh: What more beneficial approach could people in the field of mental health use with their patients?

Martin: I think the other approach is that what you do matters a great deal. That you are not a passive responder to stimuli. You are an initiator of plans. A lot of your troubles were brought on by yourself. You are responsible for them. And the good news in that is it also implies that the way out is not something that someone is going to bestow on you, it’s something you are going to do yourself.

Josh: Does that mean depression is not an illness, that it’s something else?

Martin: Approximately, yes. I think if we get serious about the notion of illness and disease, then there are several things we look for. We look for high genetic contribution, known brain action that produces it, and a treatment of choice that is drugs. In manic-depression, all three of those things hold, so I think of it as a bio-med illness. In the case of unipolar depression, the heritability is minor, a correlation ratio of .2 to .3, the brain activity is mere correlate not cause, and the drugs of choice work at about the same rate but less lastingly than the psychotherapies of choice. For the most part, I don’t think of unipolar depression as a disease.

Josh: What is it, then?

Martin: Part of the human condition. It has been called a lot of things just as accurately. The mediaeval theologians called it a sin. Other people have called it loss of morale or demoralization.

Josh: Do you talk in your work about the idea of “wellness?”

Martin: I’m sympathetic with the wellness movement. And I think their heart was in the right place. There are two problems with it. One of them is that because it was a fringe movement, it never attracted a serious empirical base, so it has vegetarians, Buddhists, people who practice yoga, acupuncturists, holistic medics. But it never attracted much in the way of empirical science. The second is, I don’t think psychology is a corner of the health movement in any sense. I think psychology is much larger than curing mental illness or curing diseases. I think it’s about bringing out the best in people; it’s about positive institutions; it’s about strength of character. The wellness movement narrows the domain of psychology and paints it into a corner. Psychology is much larger than a corner of the health care system.

Josh: Do you have a name for psychology as part of the general improvement of being human?

Martin: Just psychology. Positive psychology.

Josh: Positive psychology includes optimism and what else?

Martin: There are three pillars of positive psychology.

The first is positive subjective experience which actually breaks down into three parts: past, present, and future. Past is well-being, contentment, and satisfaction. Present is happiness, ecstasy, and the sensual pleasures. And Future is optimism and hope. That’s all one pillar of positive psychology.

The second pillar is positive individual traits or the traits of character that enable one to have a good life in the Aristotelian sense, not in the California sense; traits such as intimacy, vocation, wisdom, integrity, aesthetic sense, spirituality, future mindedness. There are seventeen of them.

The third pillar is positive institutions, the kinds of communities, families, schools, and nations that bring out the best in positive character and bring out the positive subjective experience.

Josh: And how to we erect those three pillars?

Martin: Well we need a science of that and that is what mostly I am going to devote the rest of my career to.

Josh: So you’ll look at measuring what that would mean and how to make that happen?

Martin: We would do the same thing that we did with mental illness, to have a nosology of it, to ask how you measure those things, to look at the causal skein of it both experimentally and longitudinally, to create interventions which, in the case of mental illness, break them up and, in the case of positive psychology, build them. Nosology, measurement, causation, and intervention is where positive psychology is going.

Josh: What are some of your hypotheses as you begin studying the investigative work in exploring the third pillar?

Martin: I think hypotheses is premature. At this point I think I know the right kind of questions to ask. For instance in media, why do we like bad news so much? What’s wrong with good news? In government institutions like Congress, why is negative campaigning so appealing. In education, what would positive psychology in education look like? Do we do better in education if we build from strength rather than try to repair weakness?

Josh: In your work thus far, is there one piece of research that you would like to see on every bumper sticker, and chalkboard, and refrigerator door in the country?

Martin: I think it’s basically that if you are a pessimist in the sense that when bad things happen you think they are going to last forever and undermine everything you do, then you are about eight times as likely to get depressed, you are less likely to succeed at work, your personal relationships are more likely to break up, and you are likely to have a shorter and more illness-filled life. That’s the main discovery that I associate with my lifetime.

Josh: When I’m talking about learned optimism, people often ask how to start shifting from pessimism to optimism?

Martin: I think the way most people start is to find out the costs of being a pessimist. As a pessimist, it’s always wet weather in the soul, they don’t do as well at work, and they get colds that will last all winter. They find themselves failing in crucial situations and their relationships go sour very easily. So when people have those kinds of hurts, if they can find that there is something useful in positive psychology, that’s where people start.

For more information on Optimism, here is an article about Optimism and Leadership which also refers to Seligman’s work