Martin Seligman

Who is Martin Seligman?

Martin E. P. "Marty" Seligman is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists.

According to Haggbloom et al.'s study of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, Seligman was the 13th most frequently cited psychologist in introductory psychology textbooks throughout the century, as well as the 31st most eminent overall.

Seligman has been criticized by philosophers and the animal rights movement for carrying out "morally ambiguous", "reprehensible" and "macabre" painful animal experiments, something he claims is outperformed by the benefit of his scientific contribution for humans.

Seligman is the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Psychology. He was previously the Director of the Clinical Training Program in the department. He is the director of the university's Positive Psychology Center. Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological Association for 1998. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Prevention and Treatment Magazine and is on the board of advisers of Parents magazine.