Moving Beyond a One-Size-Fits-All View of Positive Affect in Health Research

Abstract

Although the literature that connects positive affect (PA) to health has exploded over the last 20 years, the approach to studying this topic has remained simplistic. Specifically, researchers overwhelmingly rely on the principle that all PA is healthful, all of the time. Here, we review recent studies indicating that a more nuanced approach is valuable. In particular, we demonstrate that a more thoughtful approach to factors such as arousal, culture, timing, and measurement type results in a more complex picture of when PA is helpful and when it is not. Taking these issues into account also has implications for the types of mechanisms underlying these associations, as well as how other moderators might operate. Thus, we argue that considering these gradations will allow researchers to develop successful and theoretically based health interventions, untangle mixed findings, and enable a deeper understanding of the connection between PA and health.

Is stressor‐evoked cardiovascular reactivity a pathway linking positive and negative emotionality to preclinical cardiovascular disease risk?

“…These somewhat paradoxical findings may be explained by the notion that emotional states high in arousal—regardless of positive or negative valence—may be more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors. In fact, the majority of questionnaires that assess positive emotionality focus on the experience of positive emotions that are high in arousal (e.g., excitement, joy, and elation) rather than low arousal states (e.g., contentment, calm, relaxed; Pressman & Cross, 2018), including the three questionnaires used in the current study. As such, future studies should assess the range of trait emotionality at all points along the arousal—valence continuum to gain a more nuanced understanding of how emotions and the components of emotional experiences, valence and arousal, might influence cardiovascular disease risk.…”

Does laughing have a stress-buffering effect in daily life? An intensive longitudinal study

“…Using various forms of operationalization, several studies report associations of positive affect with a wealth of positive outcomes. For example, positive affect is positively associated with meaning in life [3], future life satisfaction [4], positive health behaviors [5], restful sleep [6], and longevity [7]; for reviews, see [8,9]; and [10]; see [5] as well as [11] for more nuanced approaches.…”

Positive Affect Is Associated With Less Memory Decline: Evidence From a 9-Year Longitudinal Study

“…Positive affect refers to the subjective experience of pleasant affective states, such as enthusiasm or joy, over shorter and longer time intervals (Pressman & Cross, 2018; Watson, Wiese, Vaidya, & Tellegen, 1999). It is conceptually and empirically distinct from negative affect (Watson et al, 1999) and other aspects of well-being (e.g., life satisfaction; Diener, 2000).…”

“…However, other longitudinal studies have found no associations between positive affect and memory decline (Berk, van Boxtel, Köhler, & van Os, 2017; Brailean et al, 2016). These studies provide important insights, but they have not always used gold-standard measures of positive affect (Pressman & Cross, 2018), objective measures of memory functioning, or sample sizes that afforded sufficient statistical power to detect small effects.…”