Martin Seligman talks about psychology -- as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?

Psychologist Angela Duckworth studies the traits that allow us to stick to our goals — and she chose four great talks that explore other facets of how human beings behave.

Martin Seligman is the founder of positive psychology, a field of study that examines healthy states, such as happiness, strength of character and optimism.

Shawn Achor is the CEO of Good Think Inc., where he researches and teaches about positive psychology.

How to be happier at work? Start by focusing on happiness -- not, surprisingly, on work. We learned this fun fact from Shawn Achor's TED Talk. So we asked Achor to choose some more talks he loves, about making work and life a happier place.

These TED Talks will help you conjure up massive amounts of gratitude.

The key to success at work is being happy -- not the other way around, says Shawn Achor (TED Talk: The happy secret to better work). To learn more about his positive philosophy of the workplace, meet the people who laid the groundwork for his thinking, in this list of must-read books and articles on happiness. Learned Optimism Martin E. P. S...

About this event: TEDxNewHaven is designed to inspire people and make them happy. Over the course of the day, our speakers explored “The Art and Science of Happiness” from different angles. Topics were drawn from a diverse set of disciplines, ranging from positive psychology, entrepreneurship, education, politics, media, culture, technology and art. By combining ...

After watching the collection of talks on Understanding Happiness, read a thoughtful recap of the major points in this TED Study, and learn where experts believe things are headed.

About this event: In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Self-flow is one level upper ...

Behold, the new multimillion-dollar effort to quantify what happens when you let your mind wander. Try this: Picture a famous monument. Let’s say it’s the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. You’re directly in front of it and you can see the whole thing, or at least your version of it—sandals, robe, face, crown, torch. Now, rotate it so you s...

"We think we have to be successful, then we'll be happier. But the real problem is our brains work in the opposite order," said Shawn Achor in his charming, immensely popular TED Talk from TEDxBloomington, "The happy secret to better work.” Achor is the CEO of consulting firm Good Think, which conducts research on positive psychology and helps p...

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. In Understanding Happiness, expert explorers of the mind chart our understanding of how happiness is created and cultivated. Their insights challenge our most basic cultu...

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has contributed pioneering work to our understanding of happiness, creativity, human fulfillment and the notion of "flow" -- a state of heightened focus and immersion in activities such as art, play and work.

About this event: Happiness was a domain reserved for philosophers and part of the abstract. It’s only until recently that modern science decided to dedicate itself to researching what makes us happy. Strange isn’t it? Luckily new research in positive psychology, neurobiology and happiness economics s are gaining momentum. No longer are these researchers ...

About this event: Donderdag 19 mei 2011 in De Kleine Hedonist Na een eerste geslaagde editie van de TEDxFlanders Salon is het hoog tijd voor een tweede. Dit keer gaan we het onderwerp optimisme en gelukkig exploreren. We laten ons inspireren door Martin Seligman op vlak van positieve psychologie en Dan Gilbert geeft ons zijn visie over de redenen waarom mensen...

Feeling like you’ve got all the time in the world is a wonderful sensation; too bad it occurs so rarely. But by developing the skill of savoring, you can maximize your moments -- and your experience of time, according to author Laura Vanderkam. People who feel like time is abundant approach the present in two ways. There’s the practical: they l...

From the curator of Understanding Happiness, a brief look at the key facts, the tough questions and the big ideas in his field. Begin this TED Studies subject with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.

In the face of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we need a new radical humanism, says Tim Leberecht. For the self-described "business romantic," this means designing organizations and workplaces that celebrate authenticity instead of efficiency and questions instead of answers. Leberecht proposes four (admittedly subjective) principl...

Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but what if there's a more fulfilling path? Happiness comes and goes, says writer Emily Esfahani Smith, but having meaning in life -- serving something beyond yourself and developing the best within you -- gives you something to hold onto. Learn more about the difference between being happy and having mean...