What good are positive emotions? The innovative researcher, Barb Fredrickson, first posed this question. After decades of this research, she shared two core truths: 1). Positive emotions open our hearts and minds, and 2). Positive emotions transform us. Over time, positive emotions broaden and build our resources and transform the ways we engage with the world and with one another. Positive emotions enhance skill acquisition, problem solving, and creativity.
The greater power of bad events over good ones is found in everyday events, major life events (e.g., trauma), close relationship outcomes, social network patterns, interpersonal interactions, and learning processes. Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good. The self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones. These findings suggest that bad is stronger than good, as a general principle across a broad range of psychological phenomena.
Handwritten autobiographies from 180 Catholic nuns, composed when participants were a mean age of 22 years, were scored for emotional content and related to survival during ages 75 to 95. A strong inverse association was found between positive emotional content in these writings and risk of mortality in late life (p < .001). As the quartile ranking of positive emotion in early life increased, there was a stepwise decrease in risk of mortality resulting in a 2.5-fold difference between the lowest and highest quartiles. Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies was strongly associated with longevity 6 decades later. Underlying mechanisms of balanced emotional states are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The pursuit of happiness is an important goal for many people. However, surprisingly little scientific research has focused on the question of how happiness can be increased and then sustained, probably because of pessimism engendered by the concepts of genetic determinism and hedonic adaptation. Nevertheless, emerging sources of optimism exist regarding the possibility of permanent increases in happiness. Drawing on the past well-being literature, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness. Finally, existing research is discussed in support of the model, including 2 preliminary happiness-increasing interventions.
Previous studies indicated that the balance of positive to negative affect (i.e., positivity ratio) is associated with subjective well-being and flourishing in the general population. Moreover, a positivity ratio of 2.9 is considered a critical value discriminating between flourishing and non-flourishing individuals. To date, however, there is limited research on the positivity ratio on samples of teachers. The present study aimed to investigate whether the positivity ratio affects work engagement and well-being among teachers. Based on the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001) and work engagement model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007), we predicted that positivity ratio (the ratio between positive and negative emotions) experienced by teachers would increase their work engagement, which in turn would positively affect their well-being. A sample of 1,335 teachers (762 women and 573 men) from Romania participated in the study. Results revealed that work engagement mediated the relationship between positivity ratio and well-being. Specifically, teachers with a higher ratio of positive to negative emotions reported more engagement (dedication, absorption, and vigor) and in consequence higher levels of subjective well-being (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, self-acceptance, positive relations with others and purpose in life). Also, when investigating the positivity ratio according to participants' well-being, we found a mean of positivity ratio of 2.84 for the group of teachers with high levels of well-being, validating the proposed critical positivity ratio of 2.9. These findings support the importance of addressing positive emotions and positivity ratio in prevention and intervention programs with teachers.
Two studies tested the hypothesis that certain positive emotions speed recovery from the cardiovascular sequelae of negative emotions. In Study 1, 60 subjects (Ss) viewed an initial fear-eliciting film, and were randomly assigned to view a secondary film that elicited: (a) contentment; (b) amusement; (c) neutrality; or (d) sadness. Compared to Ss who viewed the neutral and sad secondary films, those who viewed the positive films exhibited more rapid returns to pre-film levels of cardiovascular activation. In Study 2, 72 Ss viewed a film known to elicit sadness. Fifty Ss spontaneously smiled at least once while viewing this film. Compared to Ss who did not smile, those who smiled exhibited more rapid returns to pre-film levels of cardiovascular activation. We discuss these findings in terms of emotion theory and possible health-promoting functions of positive emotions.
Using data from a 30-day diary study with 239 adults (81 young, 81 middle-aged, and 77 older adults) this study examined whether a specific ratio between positive and negative affect distinguished individuals with different mental health status and especially flourishing from non-flourishing individuals. In addition, the study addressed whether there were age differences in the positivity ratio when daily affect data were used, and whether the proposed critical positivity ratio of 2.9 discriminated equally well between individuals with different mental health status across the adult lifespan. Findings showed that the ratio of positive to negative affect differed across adulthood such that age was associated with an increasing preponderance of positive to negative affect. The positivity ratio was also associated with mental health status in the hypothesized direction; higher positivity ratios were associated with better mental health. Finally, although the data supported the notion of a positivity ratio of 2.9 as a “critical value” in young adulthood, this value did not equally well discriminate the mental health status of middle-aged and older adults.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
The original article hypothesizing that there is a general bias toward negative entities. The authors explore how negative entities are stronger than the equivalent positive entities, the negativity of negative events grows more rapidly then the positivity of positive events, we give more weight to negative entities even when presented with equivalent positive entities, and negative entities are more varied, yield more complex conceptual representations, and engage a wider response repertoire. The consider a variety of theoretical accounts for the negativity bias; one feature being that negative entities are more contagious than positive entities.
The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, and, by consequence, initiate upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. The present study assessed this prediction by testing whether positive affect and broad-minded coping reciprocally and prospectively predict one another. One hundred thirty-eight college students completed self-report measures of affect and coping at two assessment periods 5 weeks apart. As hypothesized, regression analyses showed that initial positive affect, but not negative affect, predicted improved broad-minded coping, and initial broad-minded coping predicted increased positive affect, but not reductions in negative affect. Further mediational analyses showed that positive affect and broad-minded coping serially enhanced one another. These findings provide prospective evidence to support the prediction that positive emotions initiate upward spirals toward enhanced emotional wellbeing. Implications for clinical practice and health promotion are discussed.
Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors suggest a conceptual model to account for these findings, arguing that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success. Three classes of evidence–cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental–are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect–the hallmark of well-being–may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
