The challenge – We are evolutionarily built to be adaptive by focusing on the negative and danger, however this is not always good for our lives, relationships, work or health.
The science – People who cultivate and experience a high daily dose of positive emotions are more resilient to stress, perform better in life and work, are healthier, and live longer.
The solution – Cultivate and savour more positive emotions.
Emotions. Crikey! For males that word is a bit radioactive, yet for females it’s the North Star. Regardless of gender, we all know people who appear stone cold emotionally, and those who are super sensitive. So is there a meaningful difference here, and what are emotions exactly? Well first there are the negative emotions - depression, anxiety, fear and so on – and scientists have spent a long time studying these and know a lot about them. Negative emotions are actually necessary for us to flourish, so it’s not all about getting rid of them. For example, fear can sometimes be useful or productive, but people don’t want to “feel” fearful. On the flip side are positive emotions – awe, joy, amusement, inspiration, gratitude, hope and so on – which are more of an uncharted territory. These are subtle and fleeting reactions to your current circumstances – they are feelings that come and go. Positive emotions also serve as markers of flourishing, or optimal wellbeing, so they are part of the wellbeing picture. Now let’s go one step further and clarify the distinction between positive emotions and pleasure as these sometimes get mixed up. Positive emotions are triggered by our interpretations of our current circumstances, whereas pleasure is what we get when we give the body what it needs.
So why is all this important? What impact do emotions have on us? Well negative emotions, like fear or sadness, can close down our ability to function, while positive emotions, like awe and hope, open us up to possibility, and an increased ability to move forward. To be more specific about this, positive emotions broaden people's “momentary thought-action repertoires” (scary phrase, but basically means their perspective), which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources.
We also know that emotions are important markers of wellbeing and health. In some of my research when we crunch the numbers and divide people into those experiencing high positive emotions and low negative emotions, vs those experiencing low positive emotions and high negative emotions, we can see a link to health behaviours. For example, when comparing the top 25% of people with high positive emotions verse the bottom 25%, people with low positive emotions, people with more positive emotions drink less sugary beverages and alcohol, eat breakfast more regularly, eat more servings of fruit and vegetables, are more physically active and spend less time sitting. The top 25% also on average rate their general health as “good” compared to the bottom 25% who on average rate their health as “fair”. Similar inverse findings to these are also apparent when we look at the top 25% with more negative emotions (sadness, anxiety) compared to those with less negative emotions.
So the take-home message is that positive emotions are worth cultivating, not just as end states in themselves, but also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved health and wellbeing over time. Rearrange your day and life to get more positive emotions. They aid in making you more resilient to stress, perform better in life and work, be healthier, and live longer. If a drug could do that regularly you would probably pay quite a lot for it, but this one is on the house – so to speak…
For more information:
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the 3-to-1 ratio that will change your life. New York: Three Rivers Press.
The science – People who cultivate and experience a high daily dose of positive emotions are more resilient to stress, perform better in life and work, are healthier, and live longer.
The solution – Cultivate and savour more positive emotions.
Emotions. Crikey! For males that word is a bit radioactive, yet for females it’s the North Star. Regardless of gender, we all know people who appear stone cold emotionally, and those who are super sensitive. So is there a meaningful difference here, and what are emotions exactly? Well first there are the negative emotions - depression, anxiety, fear and so on – and scientists have spent a long time studying these and know a lot about them. Negative emotions are actually necessary for us to flourish, so it’s not all about getting rid of them. For example, fear can sometimes be useful or productive, but people don’t want to “feel” fearful. On the flip side are positive emotions – awe, joy, amusement, inspiration, gratitude, hope and so on – which are more of an uncharted territory. These are subtle and fleeting reactions to your current circumstances – they are feelings that come and go. Positive emotions also serve as markers of flourishing, or optimal wellbeing, so they are part of the wellbeing picture. Now let’s go one step further and clarify the distinction between positive emotions and pleasure as these sometimes get mixed up. Positive emotions are triggered by our interpretations of our current circumstances, whereas pleasure is what we get when we give the body what it needs.
So why is all this important? What impact do emotions have on us? Well negative emotions, like fear or sadness, can close down our ability to function, while positive emotions, like awe and hope, open us up to possibility, and an increased ability to move forward. To be more specific about this, positive emotions broaden people's “momentary thought-action repertoires” (scary phrase, but basically means their perspective), which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources.
We also know that emotions are important markers of wellbeing and health. In some of my research when we crunch the numbers and divide people into those experiencing high positive emotions and low negative emotions, vs those experiencing low positive emotions and high negative emotions, we can see a link to health behaviours. For example, when comparing the top 25% of people with high positive emotions verse the bottom 25%, people with low positive emotions, people with more positive emotions drink less sugary beverages and alcohol, eat breakfast more regularly, eat more servings of fruit and vegetables, are more physically active and spend less time sitting. The top 25% also on average rate their general health as “good” compared to the bottom 25% who on average rate their health as “fair”. Similar inverse findings to these are also apparent when we look at the top 25% with more negative emotions (sadness, anxiety) compared to those with less negative emotions.
So the take-home message is that positive emotions are worth cultivating, not just as end states in themselves, but also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved health and wellbeing over time. Rearrange your day and life to get more positive emotions. They aid in making you more resilient to stress, perform better in life and work, be healthier, and live longer. If a drug could do that regularly you would probably pay quite a lot for it, but this one is on the house – so to speak…
For more information:
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the 3-to-1 ratio that will change your life. New York: Three Rivers Press.
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