I gave an intro course on Positive Psychology a few days ago, and folks asked me for recommended Positive Psychology books. Here are my TOP TEN recs.
Recommendations for Books on Positive Psychology?
Number 1 – This is the definitive MUST READ:
Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman
Number 2 – This is where a lot of the original research came from:
Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman
Number 3 – This is like the non-textbook textbook on the field.
A Primer in Positive Psychology by Chris Peterson
Number 4 -
Flow by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
Number 5 -
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
Number 6 -
Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar
Number 7 -
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
Highly recommended:
* What You Can Change and What You Can’t by Martin Seligman
* The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
* Stumbling on Happiness by Dan Gilbert
* Mindset by Carol Dweck
* Positive Psychology Coaching by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ben Dean
* Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley
* The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte
* Aging Well by George Vaillant
* Handbook of Positive Psychology edited by C.R. Snyder and Shane J. Lopez
* The Appreciative Inquiry Summit by James Ludema et al.
Senia,
Thanks for publishing this list! The books on your list that I have already read were outstanding and I look forward to reading the others.
Thanks again for passing them along !
Dave Wheeler
Comment by Dave Wheeler — Wednesday October 24, 2007 @ 8:49 am
Hi Senia,
This is a pretty good list. I’ve read books 1 – 4 as well as “What you can and can’t change” & “The optimistic child” by Martin Seligman.
Even though this titles aren’t directly related to positive psychology I have read and recommend the following titles:
“Self-directed behaviour” by Donald Watson & Roland Tharp,
“Between Parent and Child” by Haim Ginott and
“How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk” by Adele Farber & Elaine Mazlish.
Thanks,
Ben
Comment by Ben — Monday October 29, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
Great list, though I would put Sonja’s book at number 1.
Comment by Mal — Tuesday April 1, 2008 @ 9:29 am
Hi Senia,
There are so many good new PP books…. Maybe time for an update of this list?
Anyway, here is one candidate I would like to suggest for the list: Positivity by Barbara Frederickson.
Here is my review of that book: http://solutionfocusedchange.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-of-positivity.html
All the best,
Coert
http://www.solutionfocusedchange.com
Comment by Coert Visser — Monday May 11, 2009 @ 5:58 am