Synopsis

Finding one's "authentic self", cultivating one's inner strengths, curbing negative emotions, developing optimism: the precepts of personal development are based on positive psychology, a discipline that appeared in university research in the United States at the end of the 1990s, which presents happiness as a choice that does not depend on external contingencies (God, fate), but on a proactive initiative. A hypothesis refuted by many sociologists, including Nicolas Marquis, who sees it as a breeding ground for guilt and an ally of meritocracy. Despite the skepticism of European researchers, the notion has been imposed on the continent through the private sector, as companies have massively adopted American management techniques.