From Learned Helplessness to Learned Hopefulness with Martin Seligman || The Psychology Podcast

Today it’s great to have Dr. Martin Seligman on the podcast. Dr. Seligman is Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the Penn Department of Psychology, and Director of the Penn Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program. Commonly known as the founder of positive psychology, Dr. Seligman is a leading authority in the fields of positive psychology, resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, and pessimism.

He is also a recognized authority on interventions that prevent depression, and that build strengths and well-being. He has written more than 250 scholarly publications and 20 books, including Flourish, Authentic Happiness, Learned Optimism, Character Strengths and Virtues (which was co-authored with Chris Peterson), and his autobiography The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist’s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism.

Time Stamps

[00:36]              Introduction of Martin Seligman

[01:42]              Dr. Seligman shares about his new book on human agency

[04:18]              The belief in free will

[06:37]              Dr. Seligman's research on learned helplessness

[09:15]              How hope can be learned

[11:56]              The numinous dream that impacted Dr. Seligman and his research

[15:03]              Dr. Seligman's research on optimism

[17:53]              On Dr. Seligman running for president of American Psychological Association (APA)

[21:12]              The founding of positive psychology and what makes life worth living

[22:51]              The “gardening incident” that inspired creating a movement

[24:57]             Dr. Seligman reflects on top character traits and strengths

[26:00]             How positive psychology can help people during and after the pandemic
 
[32:39]              Dr. Seligman endorses the “smiley face’ and trying to have fun during the pandemic

[35:22]              Good criticisms of positive psychology

[39:58]              Dr. Seligman's view on humanistic psychology

[43:06]              Comparing Dr. Seligman's expertise in psychology with playing Bridge

[46:45]              Different kinds of creative ideas

[51:26]              The importance of having a sense of the audience for creativity

[54:06]             The future of psychotherapy and helping people focus on the future through prospection

[55:05]              Dr. Seligman's final message

How do you flourish and live your best in life? Did anything from this episode stand our or resonate with you? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section down below and make sure to subscribe for more content.

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[christinevulimu]

At 65. I am set to start all over with positive Phychology. Digging into my character strengths.

[beldonhuang]

What a great podcast~ This is what was so needed during the first wave of the pandemic, and NOW still!

[AznDudeIsOn]

Marty is a great storyteller, and it is a pleasure to hear him talk

[katja]

I love the "teaching moment" of his then five years old daughter 💚

[nkinyori]

This was so interesting and insightful. I liked how Dr Seligman clarified that he was not influenced by humanistic theory. Many a time in the study of postmodern psychology theories, we are taught or rather, it is implied that positive psychology grew from humanistic theory. So it was good to hear the facts facts from the horse's mouth. Brilliant interview!

[Forkroute]

It's not about free will, it's about a belief in self-efficacy

[Firuzeh]

Great conversation Dr. Kaufman. Thank you🙏🏼

[susysilvia]

Great conversation
Thank you Dr. Scott.

[Grunfeld]

Really interesting. Loved hearing MS's thoughts about the importance of "time on task." 44:44

[Kat-yksf]

God was like "Quit hurting animals to answer questions about human psychology! That's annoying"

[davecaulfield]

I would love to have a transcript of this! Can I get one? I'd gladly pay for it!

[jhermit]

I was hoping to hear if he came up with any ways to rehabilitate the dogs once tortured to learned helplessness.

[nabilalhusail]

Why are the interviewer's questions disconnected to what Martin says?

Were they pre-written?

Especially when Martin was talking about learned optimism, and then the question was, "Was it hard working with dogs"

[TheBrostheend]

thats why hope comes from hearing the Word of God, as the Bible says

[Ari_Madrid]

"In 1967, Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology and his research group carried out a fascinating, if somewhat morally dubious experiment in his quest to understand the origins of depression. In this experiment, three groups of dogs were confined in harnesses. The dogs in group 1 were simply placed in their harnesses then released after a period of time, but the dogs in groups 2 and 3 did not have it so easy. Instead they were subjected to electric shocks that could only be stopped by pulling a lever. The difference was that the the dogs in group 2 had access to the lever, whereas the dogs in group 3 did not. Instead, the dogs in group 3 would only receive relief from the shocks when their pair in group 2 pressed the lever, with the result that they experienced the shocks as random events."

[abundance-lr]

can somebody explain what did he mean by agency

[chewyjello]

This is what Seligman CHOSE to do to over 150 dogs in his own words:

"When an experimentally naive dog receives escape-avoidance training in a shuttle box, the following behavior typically occurs: at the onset of the first traumatic electric shock, the dog runs frantically about, defecating, urinating and howling, until it accidentally scrambles over the barrier and so escapes the shock. On the next trial, the dog, running and howling, crosses the barrier more quickly than on the preceding trial. This pattern continues until the dog learns to avoid shock altogether. Overmier and Seligman (1967) and Seligman and Maier (1967) found a striking difference between this pattern of behavior and that exhibited by dogs first given inescapable electric shocks in a Pavlovian hammock. Such a dog’s first reactions to shock in the shuttle box are much the same as those of a naive dog. In dramatic contrast to a naive dog, however, a typical dog which has experienced uncontrollable shocks before avoidance training soon stops running and howling and sits or lies, quietly whining, until shock terminates. The dog does not cross the barrier and escape from shock. Rather, it seems to give up and passively accepts the shock. On succeeding trials, the dog continues to fail to make escape movements and takes as much shock as the experimenter chooses to give. (Seligman, M.E. “Depression and Learned Helplessness.” In (R.J Friedmand and M.M. Katz Eds.) The Psychology of Depression: Contemporary Theory and Research. Washington D.C.: V.H. Winston and Sons, 1974."

[timwhistine]

While I get the change of Dr. Seligman's view on 'learned helplessness' to 'learned hopefulness, ' it seems more like the proverbial 'same ol' girl but in a different dress!' He is simply repackaging his product to market it as positive instead of psychopathology. Learned helplessness is a very real phenomenon in which one surrenders their free will. I can also see where learned hopefulness is a real phenomenon for those who utilize their free will in order to recover themselves from a negative episode or experience. It is the difference between being a chronic pessimist vs being an intentional optimist. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Elizabeth-xijx]

Disappointed in your choice of sponsors

[DAClub-ufbr]

I don't care what you had for lunch. Tell us about the book, not how you wrote it.