Emotional well-being is most typically studied in trait or trait-like terms, yet a growing literature indicates that daily (within-person) fluctuations in emotional well-being may be equally important. The present research explored the hypothesis that daily variations may be understood in terms of the degree to which three basic needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—are satisfied in daily activity. Hierarchical linear models were used to examine this hypothesis across 2 weeks of daily activity and well-being reports controlling for trait-level individual differences. Results strongly supported the hypothesis. The authors also examined the social activities that contribute to satisfaction of relatedness needs. The best predictors were meaningful talk and feeling understood and appreciated by interaction partners. Finally, the authors found systematic day-of-the-week variations in emotional well-being and need satisfaction. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of daily activities and the need to consider both trait and day-level determinants of well-being.

Four studies examined the intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of seeking out others when good things happen (i.e., capitalization). Two studies showed that communicating personal positive events with others was associated with increased daily positive affect and well-being, above and beyond the impact of the positive event itself and other daily events. Moreover, when others were perceived to respond actively and constructively (and not passively or destructively) to capitalization attempts, the benefits were further enhanced. Two studies found that close relationships in which one's partner typically responds to capitalization attempts enthusiastically were associated with higher relationship well-being (e.g., intimacy, daily marital satisfaction). The results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and empirical importance of understanding how people "cope" with positive events, cultivate positive emotions, and enhance social bonds.

Two studies examined achievement goals as predictors of self-reported cognitive/ metacognitive and motivational study strategies and tested these study strategies as mediators of the relationship between achievement goals and exam performance in the normatively graded college classroom. The results support hypotheses generated from the trichotomous achievement goal framework. Mastery goals are positive predictors of deep processing, persistence, and effort; performance-approach goals are positive predictors of surface processing, persistence, effort, and exam performance; and performance-avoidance goals are positive predictors of surface processing and disorganization and negative predictors of deep processing and exam performance. Persistence and effort mediate the relationship between performance-approach goals and exam performance, whereas disorganization mediates the relationship between performance-avoidance goals and exam performance.In the contemporary achievement motivation literature, the achievement goal approach proferred by Dweck (1986), Nicholls (1984), and others (Ames, 1984Maehr & Nicholls, 1980) has emerged as the most prominent account of individuals' affect, cognition, and behavior in competencerelevant settings. Within this tradition, achievement goals are conceptualized as the purpose (Maehr, 1989) or cognitivedynamic focus (Elliot, 1997) of task engagement, and the type of goal adopted is presumed to establish the perceptual set for how individuals interpret and experience achievement settings. As such, achievement goals are viewed as important predictors of a host of achievement-relevant processes and outcomes (for reviews,

Positive psychology is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. In this brief introduction, the authors give examples of current work in positive psychology and try to explain why the positive psychology movement has grown so quickly in just 5 years. They suggest that it filled a need: It guided researchers to understudied phenomena. The authors close by addressing some criticisms and shortcomings of positive psychology, such as the relative lack of progress in studying positive institutions.The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. (Kennedy, 1968) Robert F. Kennedy's lament about the gross national product is analogous to positive psychology's lament about what might be called the "gross academic product" of psychology. In January 2000, when Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi edited a special issue of American Psychologist devoted to positive psychology, they claimed that psychology was not producing enough "knowledge of what makes life worth living" (p. 5). In the second half of the 20th century, psychology learned much about depression, racism, violence, self-esteem management, irrationality, and growing up under adversity but had much less to say about character strengths, virtues, and the conditions that lead to high levels of happiness or civic engagement. In one metaphor, psychology was said to be learning how to bring people up from negative eight to zero but not as good at understanding how people rise from zero to positive eight.In just 5 years since that special issue, quite a bit has happened in what has become known as the positive psychology movement. Many edited volumes and handbooks have been published (e.g., Aspinwall & Staudinger, 2003; Keyes & Haidt, 2003;Lopez & Snyder, 2003;Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Schmuck & Sheldon, 2001;Snyder & Lopez, 2002). Dozens of conferences have brought researchers together from all over the world. Numerous grants have facilitated the research of young investigators and created collaborations among researchers from many countries. Courses in positive psychology are springing up in scores of universities and high schools. Those of us involved in positive psychology are often amazed at how fast the train has been moving.However, scholars who are not involved in positive psychology may be skeptical about both the cargo and the destination of the train. In this introduction, we would like to address those who are doubtful about positive psychology, or just unfamiliar with it. We relate our view of positive psychology, how we...

The emotion of gratitude is thought to have social effects, but empirical studies of such effects have focused largely on the repaying of kind gestures. The current research focused on the relational antecedents of gratitude and its implications for relationship formation. The authors examined the role of naturally occurring gratitude in college sororities during a week of gift-giving from older members to new members. New members recorded reactions to benefits received during the week. At the end of the week and 1 month later, the new and old members rated their interactions and their relationships. Perceptions of benefactor responsiveness predicted gratitude for benefits, and gratitude during the week predicted future relationship outcomes. Gratitude may function to promote relationship formation and maintenance. The empirical literature on the emotion of gratitude has much to say about whether grateful individuals will repay a benefactor or a fortunate bystander (e.g., Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006;Tsang, 2006). The link is so strong that repayment behavior has sometimes been taken to imply feelings of gratitude. However, recent research has shown that repayment behavior can also be associated with unpleasant feelings of indebtedness (Watkins, Scheer, Ovnicek, & Kolts, 2006); this evidence suggests a need to revisit assumptions about the situational features of the positive emotion of gratitude. More important, however, apart from this one-time repayment gesture, the empirical literature is silent on the role of gratitude in interpersonal relationships. In this study, we explored aspects of gratitude that lie beyond reciprocity. We suggest that gratitude promotes relationship formation and maintenance.Previous research has suggested that the main ingredients of gratitude are an intentional gesture that is of value to the recipient (Lane & Anderson, 1976;Tesser, Gatewood, & Driver, 1968;Weiner, Russell, & Lerman, 1978, 1979 and costly to the benefactor (Okamoto & Robinson, 1997;Tesser et al., 1968). Given that benefits bring information about the relationship motivations of the benefactor (Ames, Flynn, & Weber, 2004), we suggest an additional critical appraisal for the emotion of gratitude that is interpersonal in nature: perceived responsiveness to the self (Reis, Clark, & Holmes, 2004 (Schwarz & Clore, 2007) in line with emotionrelevant appraisals (Lerner & Tiedens, 2006), then considering the relational implications of gratitude is essential for understanding its role in social life. As a first step, we recently found that gratitude was uniquely associated with a reappraisal of the benefactor's positive qualities and promoted relationship-enhancing motivations toward the benefactor (Algoe & Haidt, 2008). These benefactor-focused cognitive sequelae, perhaps coupled with a broadened cognitive set that comes with its status as a positive emotion (e.g., Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005), suggest that the previously documented repayment effects of gratitude may be just the tip of the iceberg. Gratitude may alter...

It was predicted that approach social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of positive social features, and avoidance social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of negative social features and that the link between approach motives and outcomes would be mediated by different processes than the link between avoidance motives and outcomes. These hypotheses were examined in three studies (two of them longitudinal) that measured participants' dispositional social motives, short-term social goals, and social outcomes (e.g., loneliness). Approach motives and goals were reliably associated with less loneliness and more satisfaction with social bonds, whereas avoidance motives and goals were reliably associated with more loneliness, negative social attitudes, and relationship insecurity. Results also suggested that these associations were mediated by different processes. Implications for the conceptualization of close relationships along these two dimensions are discussed.Across the lifespan, human beings are motivated to form and maintain strong and stable interpersonal relationships (for reviews see Baumeister &Leary, 1995, andReis, Collins, &Berscheid, 2000). Indeed, people routinely list successful interpersonal relationships among their most important life goals (e.g., Emmons, 1999) and as Study 1 was submitted in partial fulfillment of the doctoral requirements of the University of Rochester and was supported by an NRSA fellowship (# 11766) from the National Institutes of Health. I am grateful to Harry Reis and Andrew Elliot for serving on my dissertation committee and to Bernie Weiner, Anne Peplau, and Gian Gonzaga for reading earlier versions of this manuscript.Address correspondence to Shelly L. Gable, UCLA Psychology Department, 4560 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563; E-mail: gable@psych.ucla.edu. what gives their life meaning (Klinger, 1977). Moreover, many theories of psychological well-being assert that successfully fulfilling belongingness goals through healthy social ties with others are integral components of health and well-being (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985;Ryff, 1995), and empirical evidence supports this link. Those who do not place relatedness needs in their top tier of life goals have poorer outcomes (Kasser & Ryan, 1996), and poor social integration is a risk factor for mortality at a level paralleling the risk of smoking (House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). Journal of PersonalityDespite the wealth of evidence that humans have a basic motivation to belong, little work has investigated the motivational processes involved in establishing and keeping social bonds. These processes are to a great extent determined by the focus of social motives and goals. Social motives and goals can be focused on a rewarding, desired end-state (approach); or social motives and goals can be focused on a punishing, undesired end-state (avoidance). In this article, the processes and outcomes associated with approach and avo...

Two studies examined the relationship between undergraduates' perceptions of their classroom environment, their adoption of achievement goals for the course, and their graded performance and intrinsic motivation. Results revealed a distinct antecedent profile for each goal in the trichotomous framework: Mastery goals were linked to the presence of lecture engagement and the absence of an evaluation focus and harsh evaluation, performance-approach goals were linked to the presence of evaluation focus, and performance-avoidance goals were linked to the presence of evaluation focus and harsh evaluation. When the perceived classroom environment and achievement goal variables were tested together as predictors of graded performance and intrinsic motivation, the results clearly demonstrated that the influence of the perceived classroom environment on these outcomes measures was indirect; the perceived classroom environment influenced achievement goal adoption, and achievement goal adoption, in turn, directly influenced graded performance and intrinsic motivation.

Joint effects of daily events and dispositional sensitivities to cues of reward and punishment on daily positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) were examined in 3 diary studies. Study 1 showed that positive events were strongly related to PA but not NA, whereas negative events were strongly related to NA but not PA. Studies 2 and 3 examined how the dispositional sensitivities of independent appetitive and aversive motivational systems, the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), moderated these relationships. Participants in Study 2 with higher BAS sensitivity reported more PA on average; those with more sensitive BIS reported more NA. Also, BIS moderated reactions to negative events, such that higher BIS sensitivity magnified reactions to negative events. Study 3 replicated these findings and showed that BAS predisposed people to experience more positive events. Results demonstrate the value of distinguishing within-person and between-person effects to clarify the functionally independent processes by which dispositional sensitivities influence affect.