The affective profiles in the USA: happiness, depression, life satisfaction, and happiness-increasing strategies

Abstract

Background. The affective profiles model categorizes individuals as self-fulfilling (high positive affect, low negative affect), high affective (high positive affect, high negative affect), low affective (low positive affect, low negative affect), and self-destructive (low positive affect, high negative affect). The model has been used extensively among Swedes to discern differences between profiles regarding happiness, depression, and also life satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to investigate such differences in a sample of residents of the USA. The study also investigated differences between profiles with regard to happiness-increasing strategies.Methods. In Study I, 900 participants reported affect (Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule; PANAS) and happiness (Happiness-Depression Scale). In Study II, 500 participants self-reported affect (PANAS), life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale), and how often they used specific strategies to increase their own happiness (Happiness-Increasing Strategies Scales).Results. The results showed that, compared to the other profiles, self-fulfilling individuals were less depressed, happier, and more satisfied with their lives. Nevertheless, self-destructive individuals were more depressed, unhappier, and less satisfied than all other profiles. The self-fulfilling individuals tended to use strategies related to agentic (e.g., instrumental goal-pursuit), communal (e.g., social affiliation), and spiritual (e.g., religion) values when pursuing happiness.Conclusion. These differences suggest that promoting positive emotions can positively influence a depressive-to-happy state as well as increasing life satisfaction. Moreover, the present study shows that pursuing happiness through strategies guided by agency, communion, and spirituality is related to a self-fulfilling experience described as high positive affect and low negative affect.

Differences in Happiness-Increasing Strategies Between and Within Affective Profiles

“…In the present study we aim to replicate the Schütz and colleagues' findings [1] using a merged larger sample described in Nima and Garcia's study [37]. Although this sample also comprises the original cohort from Schütz and colleagues [1], we used a two times larger sample (see [38], who suggest the use of larger samples when replicating results).…”

“…In the pursuit of happiness, for instance, people seem to use eight specific strategies to maintain or increase happiness [29,30]: social affiliation, partying and clubbing, instrumental goal pursuit, mental control, active leisure, passive leisure, direct attempts, and religion (see Table 1 for a definition of each strategy). In this context, depending on their affective profile, individuals should differ in which strategies they use to increase their happiness, since individuals with different profiles vary in aspects of cognition, emotion, and conation [1,20,24,31].…”

“…Indeed, in a recent study [1], using the affective profile model as the backdrop for the investigation, the major findings were that individuals with a self-destructive profile used seven of the eight happiness-increasing strategies to a significantly lower extent than all other profiles. The only exception was that individuals with a selfdestructive profile were more prone to try to increase their happiness by suppressing negative thoughts and feelings but at the same time, also pondering about negative aspects of life (i.e., mental control strategy).…”

“…Furthermore, the affective profile model also helped us to understand that individuals with a self-fulfilling profile used strategies related to agency (e.g., instrumental goal pursuit, direct attempts), communion (e.g., social affiliation), and spirituality (e.g., religion) more often [1]. In short, in order to increase their happiness, individuals with a self-fulfilling profile are more prone to directly attempt to smile, get them selves in a happy mood, improve themselves, and work on their self-control (i.e., agency); they tend also to pursue cooperative values, such as, support and encourage friends, help and receive help from others, and try to improve social skills (i.e., communion); as they tend seek support from faith, perform religious activities, pray, and drinking less alcohol (i.e., spirituality).…”

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AbstractBackground: In a recent study, Schütz and colleagues [1] used the affective profile model (i.e., the combination of peoples' experience of high/low positive/negative affect) to investigate individual differences in intentional happiness-increasing strategies. Here we used a merged larger sample, a person-centered method to create the profiles, and a recent factor validated happiness-increasing strategies scale, to replicate the original findings.

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