Understanding Positive Emotions and Subjective Wellbeing

Positive Emotions and Subjective Wellbeing (Unit 2, Topic 4)

  • What is in this lesson

    • Syllabus focus: Explain subjective wellbeing (Diener 1984), psychological wellbeing (Ryff & Keyes 1995), and the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson 2004) of positive emotions.

    • Key terms: Positive emotions; Subjective wellbeing (SWB).

    • Cognitive verb: Explain – make an idea plain or clear by describing it in detail or giving relevant facts.

  • Positive emotions: definitions and prompts

    • Definition: Positive emotions are subjective pleasurable experiences that can enhance our lives.

    • Individual variation: What prompts positive emotions differs for everyone.

    • Benefits of positive emotions:

    • Assist with memory

    • Enhance creativity

    • Can help decrease stress

    • Enhance physical health

    • Awe and other effects: Jennifer Stellar studied the positive effects of awe when experienced and practised.

    • Examples of positive emotions: Love, Joy, Peace, Hope, Amusement, Compassion, Awe.

  • Broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2004)

    • Core idea: Positive emotions broaden people’s momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources.

    • Significance: Positive emotions contribute to resilience and long-term wellbeing by expanding how people think and act and by accumulating durable resources.

  • Subjective wellbeing (SWB) — Diener (1984)

    • Definition: SWB is comprised of three key components. Diener synthesized numerous studies to identify these patterns.

    • Three key components of SWB ($3$ key components):

    • Positive affect (frequency/intensity of positive feelings)

    • Negative affect (frequency/intensity of negative feelings)

    • Life satisfaction (a cognitive judgmental evaluation of one’s life)

    • Structure (Andrews & Withey, 1976): SWB includes positive and negative affect and life satisfaction; there is typically a moral/psychological separation between affective and cognitive evaluations.

    • Characteristics of affects:

    • People rarely experience strong positive and strong negative affect at the same time.

    • If one type of affect is frequent, the other is less frequent.

    • Meaning of subjective (to SWB): The judgments, feelings, and experiences are unique to the individual and occur within their mind.

    • Global assessment: SWB reflects a broad appraisal of one’s life.

  • Influences on subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984)

    • Broad categories: Income, Age, Relationships, Personality, Biological influences.

    • Income:

    • Wealthier people tend to be happier.

    • Extreme poverty lowers happiness; once basic needs are met, the effect of income on happiness tends to level off.

    • Greater income inequality in a community is associated with lower average happiness.

    • Age:

    • Younger people report more intense emotions and higher levels of joy.

    • Older people report greater life satisfaction and happiness.

    • Relationships: Positive correlation with SWB.

    • Marriage and family satisfaction predict SWB.

    • Having a love relationship is strongly correlated with SWB.

    • Having children has negligible or negative effects on SWB.

    • Personality: Positive correlations with SWB include

    • High self-esteem

    • Internal locus of control

    • Extraversion (a personality trait)

    • Biological influences:

    • Poor sleep shows a negative correlation with SWB.

    • Internal locus of control (definition): The belief that events occur due to a person’s internal motivations, skills, and internal factors.

  • Theories that explain subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984)

    • Telic theory: People work toward achieving specific and meaningful goals aligned with their values.

    • Activity theory: People engage in meaningful tasks that bring happiness as an unintended consequence.

    • Associationistic theory: Individuals with positive and happy memories are more likely to interpret new events positively and be happy.

    • Judgement approach: People are happy if their actual condition is better than their standard or expectation.

    • Bottom-up vs Top-down approaches:

    • Bottom-up: Many small pleasures accumulate over time.

    • Top-down: A global predisposition to experience things in a positive way; this predisposition influences how they interact with the world.

  • Quick recap of key terms

    • Subjective wellbeing (SWB): A global evaluation of one’s life including affective components and life satisfaction.

    • Positive affect: Frequency/intensity of positive feelings (e.g., love, joy, amusement).

    • Negative affect: Frequency/intensity of negative feelings.

    • Life satisfaction: A cognitive, judgmental evaluation of one’s life.

    • Internal locus of control: Belief that outcomes are due to one’s own actions and internal factors.

    • Broaden-and-build theory: Positive emotions broaden thought-action repertoires and build resources.

    • Theories of SWB: Telic, Activity, Associationistic, Judgement, Bottom-up, Top-down.

  • Connections and implications

    • Real-world relevance: Positive emotions can boost memory, creativity, stress management, and physical health; improving SWB involves economic, relational, cognitive, and lifestyle factors.

    • Practical implications: Policies and practices that reduce poverty and income inequality, improve sleep quality, strengthen relationships, and cultivate positive experiences (e.g., awe) can enhance SWB.

    • Ethical/philosophical angle: The broad claim that happiness can be influenced by social and personal factors invites reflection on equity, access to resources, and the responsibilities of institutions to support wellbeing.