Book Review

Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, is so dense with interesting ideas, descriptions of research, stories, and wise commentary that I’ve almost despaired of writing about it. An earlier draft made me think of a 90-second Hamlet. But my goal is to entice you to read the book, not to boil it down. So let me completely give up on completeness and just share eight of the statements that I underlined and why they are important to me.

When I received The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship in the mail, I felt practically giddy. I tossed my bags down on the dining room table, ripped open the box, and immersed myself in 1,076 pages of richness. As an organization leader, I immediately saw the relevance of many of the ideas. I wanted to explore the whole book at once, but I knew that I would get more out of it if I settled down and savored it. This article is my offering to bring you along on the first step of my savoring journey.

On June 28th in Chicago, I had the privilege to attend the Work & Well-Being Conference by APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. Engaging speakers offered different perspectives on this broad but increasingly relevant topic. Discussions ranged from the macro level: an examination of wellness programs implemented by organizations across the nation to the micro level: recommendations for individuals to deal successfully with stress.

Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Righteous Mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion, holds a view that can help bridge the ever-widening gaps that occur in politics. His research on Moral Foundations Theory suggests that there is more to morality than caring and fairness. In fact, he describes the moral landscape as being like a tongue with six taste buds.

This is the 1,000th article published on Positive Psychology News Daily.

Here we express our thanks to authors, researchers, twitterers, commenters, practitioners — all who have made PPND a vibrant exchange for more than 5 years. We celebrate this occasion with 2 drawings for books by PPND authors.

This is an imaginative, practical, and well-resourced manual which covers all the major areas of positive psychology and more. It follows six major themes: Positive Self, Positive Body, Positive Emotions, Positive Mindset, Positive Direction and Positive Relationships. It includes a wealth of activities to introduce positive psychology and more general personal development, business, and coaching ideas to young people in an entertaining and engaging way.

This book is original, it’s a quick and easy read, it provides inside information but at the same time challenges your understanding of what positive psychology is, how to apply it, and how it’s developing. The concept is very straightforward – transcripts of thirteen personal interviews with an assortment of positive psychology experts on their favorite topic. But don’t let that simplicity fool you.

Bridget Grenville-Cleave’s new book is distinctly small, not much bigger than the size of my hand and lighter than a medium-sized sandwich. That may seem like a strange way to start a review. But a book that is lighter than a sandwich can go anywhere with me. So now that we’ve established that it’s an easy companion, what does it bring along? This is a book for people who want to put positive psychology to work in their own lives, or those of family members, clients, or colleagues.

Positive Psychology for Depression is a book specifically designed to help people with a predisposition toward depression foster and maintain a more positive mood. The author, has suffered from depression herself. She includes many personal anecdotes that show how positive psychology has helped her to combat her depression and maintain a more cheerful mood over time.

It’s only now with sophisticated brain imaging that we are starting to see the neurological impacts of habits, giving us new clues into how to change them. While the elixir still eludes us, Charles Duhigg has brought us a few steps forward in his book The Power of Habit, discussing not only the habits of individuals but also the habits of organizations and societies.

What if friends, somewhat new to positive psychology, asked you what’s going on in the field? Perhaps they are just curious, or perhaps they want to include topics from positive psychology in classes (college, high school, Sunday school, business) and need to feel confidently grounded in the relevant research. Where would you send them? After reading Jenny Anderson’s Positive Psychology; An Anthology, I have a great answer.

What does Positive Psychology tell us about positive masculinity and how it relates to femininity and sexuality? My curiosity led me through the men’s movement of the 80?s and 90?s, to the work of psychologist and author Christopher Blazina, and to Roy Baumeister’s provocative article about what there is that is good about men.

Today, Jeremy’s blog is a listed stop on the online book tour (cool idea) for the book, Situations Matter by Sam Sommers. Jeremy had already published one article on the book – Why Men are Better than Women at Math. But he liked it so much that he signed up to write another article so that he could join the online book tour. We are running that article here simultaneously.

Celebrating the 5th anniversary of Positive Psychology News Daily, with numbers, notes, and authors’ choices of articles that are still fresh and relevant.

It’s difficult to change. This is demonstrated by the number of New Year’s resolutions people make and how few of them actually persist. But what if most failures to change are not because of a lack of motivation, commitment, or willpower? What if understanding immunity to change could lead to lasting beneficial change?

Today the authors and friends of PPND share some book ideas for holiday gifts. These books include our favorite books about positive psychology and some novels that carry positive messages. Happy Holidays.

“Isn’t there a place in which we’re not positive or negative, but we’re neutral and objective?” This comment was made recently by a member of team in a discussion about how emotions, reactions, and behaviors impact team conversations and team relationships. This comment led to a broader discussion of how individuals can apply mindfulness practices to be less reactive and more constructive in workplace interactions.

Under the broad umbrella of Positive Psychology, Leary and Guadagno have related research and theories of the hypo-egoic state, a “psychological state characterized by relatively little involvement of the self,” to the achievement of optimal functioning. That’s not something you would typically find in a basic book on Positive Psychology or happiness.

I was very excited to be asked to review Sue Roffey’s latest book. Previously a teacher, Roffey is now an educational psychologist, consultant, and writer. The book’s aim is to go beyond what teaching manuals usually do, which is to provide ways to manage poor pupil behavior so that it doesn’t disrupt other students’ learning. This book also provides the strategies to foster positive pupil behavior.

Kate Hefferon and Ilona Boniwell have written a book, Positive Psychology: Theory, Research and Applications, with the aim of providing a comprehensive introduction to the field of positive psychology for undergraduate and post-graduate students. It provides lecturers with a clear structure for teaching the subject. It’s both accessible and engaging, so it will also appeal to anyone who wants to know about the latest developments in the field.