Positive Psychology: Potency of Positive Emotions

Dr. Alice Isen

in experiencing mild positive emotions, we are more likely to
  * help other people
  * be flexible in our thinking
  * come up with solutions to our problems

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson

^^Broaden and Build Model^^
explain the social-cognitive effects of positive emotional experiences
* Negative Emotions: physical reactions (fight/flight)
* Positive Emotions: cognitive reactions
The experience of joy expands to the realm of what a person feels like doing at the time
* the person who is happy listed more possibilities than a person who is in a negative state
joy (positive emotions) appears to open up to many new thought and behaviors

Need-Goal Satisfaction Theories

Process-Activity Theory

^^Engaging in particular life activities generate happiness^^
People who engage in FLOW in daily life tend to be happy
* Flow: engagement in interesting activities that match or challenge task related skills
Engagement in activity produce happiness
Process of pursuing goals generate energy and happiness

Genetic-Personality Predisposition

Costa and McRae (1988)
^^biologically determined happiness^^
genetic-factors contribute to positive emotionality (40%) and negative emotionality (55%)
happiness dependent on temperament since individuals may vary in the type of adaptation to positive or negative external experiences
more research is needed to strengthen the connection between happiness and personality

Emotion-Focused Coping

intense emotions were seen dysfunctional and opposed to rationality
linking with maladaptive outcomes in life
Stanton (1994) posits the potential of emotion-focused coping
Emotional approach involves active moving towards, rather than away, from a stressful encounter
Emotional Processing
  * ^^attempts to understand emotions^^
  * Examples
    * I realize that my feelings are valid and important.
    * I take time to figure out what I am feeling.
    * I acknowledge my emotions.
Emotional Expression
  * ^^free and intentional displays of feeling^^
  * Examples
    * I feel free to express my emotions.
    * I take time to express my emotions.
    * I let my feelings come out freely.
Benefits
* most people benefit (short term) from ^^expressing their emotions^^ in a meaningful way
* Emotional processing seem to be more adaptive as people learn more about what they feel and how they feel it

Emotional Intelligence

array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies and skills that help us deal with the demands of the environment
measures personality and mood variables such as
* self-regard, empathy, tolerance, happiness
^^“higher form of intelligence”^^
the ability to perceive and express emotions
to use emotions and emotional understanding to facilitate thinking
to understanding complex emotions, relationships among emotions and behavioral consequences
to manage emotions

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

older adults are more able to
  * focus less on negative emotions
  * engage more deeply with emotional content
  * savor the positive in life

Emotional Storytelling

The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management and effective stress management is associated with many health benefits

Research shows that people who feel confident in themselves can ^^problem solve and make better decisions, take more risks, assert themselves and strive to meet their personal goals^^
Advantages of positive thinking include ^^less stress, better overall physical and emotional health, longer life span, and better coping skills^^

^^the belief that one’s skills and capabilities are enough^^ to accomplish one’s desired goals in a specific situation
what I believe I can do with my skills under certain conditions
Learned Human Pattern
Social Cognition Theory: humans actively shape their lives rather than passively reacting to situations
S-E Components
* performance accomplishment, vicarious learning, verbal encouragement, and emotional states
Performance Appraisal: previous successes in similar situations
Vicarious Learning: modeling on others in the same situations
Verbal Encouragement: undergoing verbal persuasion by a powerful, trustworthy expert (or an attractive person)
Emotional States: how level of arousal and state of emotion can be attached with the activity

Frontal and Pre-Frontal Lobes: facilitate prioritization of goals and the strategic thinking that is crucial for self-efficacy
Problem Solving: the ^^right hemisphere^^ reacts to the ^^dilemmas^^ as related by the linguistic left hemisphere
Realistic self-efficacy can lessen ^^cardiac reactivity and lower blood pressure^^ -- which facilitates coping

building on successes through goal-setting and the incremental meeting of these goals
allowing the person to imagine himself/herself behaving effectively
teaching techniques for lowering arousal and to increase the likelihood of a more adaptive self-efficacious thinking