It’s a hard time to stay optimistic. Between the pandemic, the recession, and the protests, both business and life are uncertain and challenging. But while it might be difficult to stay positive, decades of psychological research illustrate why it’s essential.
University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman became a towering figure in the field of positive psychology in part because of his pioneering work making dogs depressed. In the landmark studies, Seligman subjected dogs to mild electric shocks without giving them any way to escape the discomfort. He found that even if he later offered the unhappy animals an easy way to escape, they just sat there. They had learned helplessness. Essentially they got depressed
