Lecture 5 Positive Emotions and Well-being PDF

LECTURE 5 Positive Emotions and Well-being Effects of Positive Emotions How positive emotions contribute to the effects? 1. 2. 3. 4. What is Positive Emotion? Effects of Positive Emotions The Broaden-and-build Theory The Limits of Positive Emotions What is Positive Emotion? What Is Emotion? ● Emot...

LECTURE 5 Positive Emotions and Well-being Effects of Positive Emotions How positive emotions contribute to the effects? 1. 2. 3. 4. What is Positive Emotion? Effects of Positive Emotions The Broaden-and-build Theory The Limits of Positive Emotions What is Positive Emotion? What Is Emotion? ● Emotion is a specific conscious evaluative reaction that is clearly linked to some event ○ e.g. happy as getting an “A” on Intro Psy course; angry as being insulted ○ Rises and dissipates(消散) quickly ● Different from mood, a feeling state that is not clearly linked to some event ○ e.g. good mood, bad mood ○ Rises and dissipates slowly ● Affect is a general term that refers to anything emotional, encompassing both emotions and moods. ○ Positive psychologists typically measure people’s emotional experience in terms of both the positive and the negative affective dimensions. ○ Positive Affect → e.g., cheerfulness, joy, pride & happiness ■ Signifying everything is fine ○ Negative Affect → e.g., anger, fear, sadness, guilt, contempt & disgust ■ Signifying something is wrong Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) ● Unidimensional view ○ PA and NA are the opposite ends of a single dimension, so the presence of positive emotion indicates absence of negative emotion. ■ More PA would reduce NA ● Bidimensional view ○ One could experience both positive and negative affect at the same time. ○ Can experience PA and NA at the same time Effects of Positive Emotions ● Positive emotions are a cornerstone of the hedonic approach of happiness, or subjective well-being. ● Positive emotions also contribute to physical health, successful performance, and the psychological well-being described by the eudaimonic perspective. Creates Better Memory - Talarico, Berntsen & Rubin (2009) ● Positive Emotions Creates Better Memory for Details IV: emotions(positive vs negative) DV: memory content (central vs. peripheral details) Results: Positive affect groups recalled more details of the event. Negative affect groups, especially the angry group, recalled less details of the event.. Creates Better Academic Performance - Bryan & Bryan (1991) ● Positive Emotions Creates Better Mathematics Performance ○ 18 high school students with learning disabilities ● IV: emotions (positive emotion vs neutral) DV: Self-efficacy and math performance ○ Results: ○ A significant difference on self-efficacy ○ A significant difference on math performance Creates Trust - Dunn & Schweitzer (2005) ● Positive Emotions Creates Trust ○ Assessed the influence of happiness, sadness, and anger on trust in an unfamiliar coworker. ○ Happy condition were significantly more trusting in the sad condition ○ Participants in the sad condition were significantly more trusting than were participants in the angry condition. Is 100% Positive Emotion the perfect emotion life? What’s a positivity ratio? ● To offset the toxicity of negative affect, experiences of positivity need to outnumber experiences of negativity ● Fredrickson & Losada (2005) conducted a questionnaire study ○ Results: 2.9 or above : 1 = Flourish in Life ○ i.e. flourishing people typically have about 3 times more experience of positive emotions than negative emotions. ● Brown, Sokal, and Friedman (2013): Criticism to Fredrickson & Losada (2005) ○ Wrong use of differential equation (thus calculation mistake) ○ Questioning the existence of such a tipping point between languishing and flourishing ● Fredrickson (2013) responded to the critique ○ Noting computation errors ○ Acknowledging the absence of such a tipping point ○ Insist that the data reflect the benefits of having more positive emotions as compared to negative emotions ○ More research is needed The Broaden-and-build Theory Positive emotions appear to ● broaden peoples’ momentary thought–action repertoires ● build their enduring personal resources. Negative emotions ● Narrows a person’s momentary thought–action repertoire by calling to mind an urge to act in a particular way (e.g. escape, attack, expel). ○ e.g. in a life-threatening situation, a narrowed thought– action repertoire promotes quick and decisive action. ○ carries direct and immediate adaptive benefit → save our ancestors’ lives Positive emotions ● broaden peoples’ momentary thought–action repertoires, widening the array(排列) of the thoughts and actions that come to mind. ● broadened mindsets carry indirect and long-term adaptive benefits because broadening builds enduring personal resources TWO central claims of the Broaden-and-Build Theory - Fredrickson and Branigan (2005) ● 1st: The Broadening Hypothesis ○ Experiences of positive emotions broaden a person’s momentary thought-action repertoire. ■ i.e. open up our thinking & actions to new possibilities ● 2nd: The Building Hypothesis ○ Experiences of positive emotions, through their broadening effects, build people’s enduring personal resources. ■ Could build physical, psychological, & social resources that promote well-being The Broadening Hypothesis: research support ● Research participants are induced with a specific emotion, and then being asked to list all things they will do after the experiment. ○ Participants with positive emotions listed more things to do after the experiment ○ Positive emotions boarded the thinking and action repertories The Building Hypothesis ● Physical resources ○ e.g. develop coordination, strength and cardiovascular health ○ for the strength of body’s defense against disease ● Intellectual resources ○ e.g. develop problem-solving skills and learn new information ● Psychological resources ○ e.g. develop resilience (The ability to bounce back from stressful events regain sense of well-being) and optimism, and a sense of identity and goal orientation ● Social resources ○ e.g. solidify bonds and make new bonds ○ Important in dealing with nearly all life challenges ● The Building Hypothesis: research support ○ Positive Emotions build personal resources - Fredrickson & Joiner (2002) ○ A series of mediational analyses by multiple regressions. ○ Results ■ PA predicts itself partly via broadminded coping ■ Broad-minded coping predicts itself partly via PA. ■ Conclusion → PA and broad-minded coping, then, mutually build on one another 10 Representative Positive Emotions Joy Gratitude Pride Interest Inspiration Awe Amusement (愉悅) Hope Serenity (平靜) Love When to experience JOY? ○ when one’s current circumstances present good fortune ○ e.g. when receiving good news or a pleasant surprise ● Broadening functions ○ Creates the urge to play and get involved ○ Frijda (1986) termed free activation, defined as an “aimless, unasked-for readiness to engage in whatever interaction presents itself” ● Building functions ○ Play prompts experiential learning, one acquires skills from it. When to experience GRATITUDE? ○ when one acknowledges another person as the source of their good fortune. ○ e.g. receiving a gift or a compliment ● Broadening functions ○ creates creative urge to be prosocial, i.e. kind and generous to others ● Building functions ○ New skills for showing care. Creating and maintaining social bonds When to experience PRIDE (自豪)? ● when people take appropriate credit from some socially valued good outcome ● e.g. when one accomplish an important goal ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to dream for even bigger accomplishments in similar arenas ● Building functions ○ Having a big goal enhance your achievement motivation When to experience INTEREST? ● when the circumstances are appraised as safe but offering novelty ● e.g. encounter something that is mysterious or challenging, yet not overwhelming. ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to explore, to learn, to immerse oneself in the novelty and thereby expand the self (i.e. expand self concept in positive way) ● Building functions ○ The knowledge so gained becomes a durable resource When to experience INSPIRATION? ● when people witness human excellence in some manner ● e.g. when one sees someone else do a good deed or perform at an unparalleled level ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to excel oneself, to reach one’s own higher ground or personal best ● Building functions ○ The durable resources it builds is the motivation for personal growth. When to experience AWE (敬畏,驚嘆)? ○ When people encounter goodness on a grand scale ○ e.g. when overwhelmed by something (or someone) beautiful or powerful that seems larger than life. ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to absorb and accommodate this new vastness they have encountered. ● Building functions ○ The durable resource it builds is new worldviews When to experience AMUSEMENT (愉悅)? ● when people appraise their current circumstances as involving some sort of non serious social incongruity ● e.g. in the wake of a harmless speech error or physical blunder. ● Broadening functions ○ creates urges to share a laugh and find creative ways to continue the joviality(快活) ● Building functions ○ The durable resources it builds is enduring social bonds When to experience HOPE? ● Arises in difficult circumstances in which people fear the worst yet yearn (渴望) for better ● e.g. in difficult situations in which they can envision at least a chance that things might change for the better ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to draw on one’s own capabilities and inventiveness to turn things around ● Building functions ○ The durable resources it builds include optimism and resilience to adversity. When to experience SERENITY(平靜)? i.e. calm joy and quiet pleasure ● when our needs are satisfied and we are in harmony with ourselves and our surroundings. ● e.g. when being accompanied by a cat, watch a movie that provides meaning and intellectual stimulation, being in a warm and dry home and keep away from the chilly rain ● Broadening functions ○ creates the urge to savor those current circumstances and integrate them into new priorities or values ● Building functions ○ New priorities and refined sense of oneself When to experience LOVE? ● When any other of the positive emotions is felt in the context of a safe, interpersonal connection or relationship ● Broadening functions ○ creates all of the aforementioned urges that created by other positive emotions by creating momentary perceptions of social connection and self-expansion ● Building functions ○ Love builds a wide range of enduring resources, especially social bonds and community. The Limits of Positive Emotions Positive emotions are found to help building resources and offsetting negativity We know little about the health-enhancing effects of positive emotions - Such research is in preliminary stage that requires more research - The evaluation of the effects of positive emotions is relative – not absolute - Positive emotions don’t cure in an absolute sense - The researches only tell us that having positive emotions is better than fare with nothing / negative emotions