Description

This book is a co-publication of The American Psychological Association and Oxford University Press

During its first century, psychology justifyably focused most of its attention on human suffering. While marked progress has been made in understanding and treating numerous psychological disorders, the emphasis has been on alleviating suffering and not on what makes life most worth living. "Positive Psychology," a term Martin Seligman coined, is founded on the belief that people want more than an end to suffering--they want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. This book is the first progress report from a group of researchers who are part of the "Values-in-Action Classification Project," which has undertaken a systematic classification and measurement of universal strengths and virtues. The Values in Action Classification of Strengths is intended to be psychology's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and to reclaim the study of character as a legitimate topic of psychological inquiry and informed societal discourse. By presenting ways of talking about character strengths and measuring them across the lifespan, VIA classification will make possible a science of human strengths that goes beyond armchair philosophy and political science.

Product Details

816 pages; 7 x 10; ISBN13: 978-0-19-516701-6ISBN10: 0-19-516701-5

About the Author(s)