RESEARCH_FILE
Martin E. P. Seligman
University of Pennsylvania
Known for:Founder of positive psychology and researcher on explanatory style, who demonstrated that law school trains a pessimistic cognitive pattern — useful for adversarial legal thinking but corrosive to wellbeing and relationships outside the profession
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Every hour I don’t bill is wasted”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“A body that runs is part of the workday too, even when it isn’t on the invoice.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Set a private alarm for the hour you want the workday to end tomorrow. When it goes off, close your billing screen, put your pen or laptop in a drawer, and leave it there for the night—without adding anything else.
Key findings
- 2001
Seligman and colleagues demonstrated that law school systematically trains a pessimistic explanatory style — seeing setbacks as permanent, pervasive, and personal — which confers advantage in adversarial legal contexts ('issue spotting') but generalizes outside of work, predicting higher rates of depression, worse physical health, and more relationship difficulties among lawyers who score high on pessimism. Why Lawyers Are Unhappy ↗