scholarly journals Dealing with the Ups and Downs of Life: Positive Dispositions in Coping with Negative and Positive Events and Their Relationships with Well-Being Indicators

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Fuochi ◽  
Alberto Voci
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Healthy Functioning

Abstract In a four-wave, longitudinal study (N = 323), we tested the relationships between five positive dispositions—mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude, hedonism, and eudaimonism—and time-varying negative affect, positive affect, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. These relationships were tested while controlling for the ups and downs in life across three months, operationalized as the effects, for a respondent, of having experienced more frequent and intense positive and negative events compared to other individuals in the sample (inter-individual variation) and of having experienced more frequent and intense positive and negative events than usual for that person (intra-individual variation). We also tested the interactive effects between each disposition and intra-individual variation in the frequency and intensity of negative and positive events on well-being variables. Results, obtained through multilevel models with repeated observations nested in individuals, showed that each disposition had specific associations with well-being indicators, although stronger effects were detected for eudaimonism and, especially, self-compassion. Moderation analyses showed that: mindfulness and self-compassion buffered intra-individual variation in negative events; people scoring higher on hedonism, eudaimonism, and self-compassion showed less need to rely on positive events to experience positive emotions; experiencing a negative event that was more intense than usual was associated with higher meaning in life for people with high levels of eudaimonism. Overall, findings suggest that mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude, hedonism, and eudaimonism build well-being through different channels. Positive interventions could benefit from mixing these healthy functioning strategies and considering their roles in reactions to events.

Differences in the Way to Conceive Happiness Relate to Different Reactions to Negative Events

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Fuochi ◽  
Chiara A. Veneziani ◽  
Alberto Voci
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Orientations To Happiness ◽  
Specific Reactions ◽  
The Way

Abstract. This paper aimed to assess whether differences in the way to conceive happiness, measured by the Orientations to Happiness measure, were associated with specific reactions to negative events. We hypothesized that among orientations to pleasure (portraying hedonism), to meaning (representing a eudaimonic approach to life), and to engagement (derived from the experience of flow), orientation to meaning would have displayed a stronger protective role against recent negative and potentially stressful events. After providing a validation of the Italian version of the Orientations to Happiness measure (Study 1), we performed regression analyses of the three orientations on positive and negative emotions linked to a self-relevant negative event (Study 2), and moderation analyses assessing the interactive effects of orientations to happiness and stressful events on well-being indicators (Study 3). Our findings supported the hypotheses. In Study 2, meaning was associated with positive emotions characterized by a lower activation (contentment and interest) compared to the positive emotions associated with pleasure (amusement, eagerness, and happiness). In Study 3, only meaning buffered the effect of recent potentially stressful events on satisfaction with life and positive affect. Results suggest that orientation to meaning might help individuals to better react to negative events.

scholarly journals A Tale of Two Emotions: The Diverging Salience and Health Consequences of Calmness and Excitement in Old Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 626-627
Author(s):  
Jeremy Hamm ◽  
Carsten Wrosch ◽  
Meaghan Barlow ◽  
Ute Kunzmann
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Health Consequences ◽  
Younger Adults

Abstract Using two studies, we examined the late life prevalence and health consequences of discrete positive emotions posited to motivate rest and recovery (calmness) or pursuit of novelty and stimulation (excitement). Study 1 assessed the salience of these discrete emotions in older adults (n=73, Mage=73) relative to younger adults (n=73, Mage=23) over a one-week period. Multilevel models showed that older (vs. younger) adults reported higher calmness and lower excitement. Study 2 examined the longitudinal health consequences of calmness and excitement in old age (n=336, Mage=75), as moderated by perceived control. Multilevel growth models showed that calmness, but not excitement, buffered against 10-year declines in psychological well-being (perceived stress, depressive symptoms) and physical health (physical symptoms, chronic conditions) for older adults with low perceived control. Results suggest that positive emotions with disparate motivational functions become more (calmness) or less (excitement) salient and have diverging implications for health in old age.

scholarly journals Perceived Social Integration Predicts Engagement and Responsiveness to Positive Events: Test of Age Moderation

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 397-397
Author(s):  
Patrick Klaiber ◽  
David Almeida ◽  
Nancy Sin
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
National Study ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Social Integration has important implications for health and well-being during adulthood. Being socially integrated might be an important resource that helps people to regularly engage in daily positive events. With older age, this resource might become increasingly important. However, being well socially integrated might also mean that people are certain that they experience more positive events in the future and thus, respond with less positive affect to any given positive event. We examined perceived social integration as a predictor of engagement and responsiveness to positive events using data from the National Study of Daily Experiences 2. 1904 adults (Mean age = 56.25, min = 33, max = 84) reported their daily positive affect and daily positive events during 8 consecutive days of telephone interviews. Perceived social integration was assessed at baseline. Adults higher in social integration experienced daily positive events more frequently (b = 0.01, SE = 0.003, p < .001), but showed less of an increase in positive affect on days with more-than-usual positive events (b = -0.003, SE = 0.001, p = .030). These models controlled for the Big Five personality traits, purpose in life, demographic variables and same-day occurrence of stressors. Age did not moderate the present associations. The present findings imply that social integration might be an important contributor to experiencing more positive events across adulthood. Being better socially integrated might also lead to responding with less positive emotions to any given positive event.

scholarly journals Good is stronger than bad for eudaimonic well-being

2022 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-490
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Martínez-Zelaya ◽  
Marian Bilbao Ramírez ◽  
Darío Páez Rovira
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Negative Life Events ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Post Traumatic Growth ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Basic Beliefs

Perceived changes in basic beliefs and growth related to life events were examined in three studies. A representative sample (N = 885), a sample of students and their families (N = 291) and a sample of students (N = 245) responded with a list of positive and negative life events, a scale of changes in basic beliefs and a post-traumatic growth scale. Positive events were strongly associated with changes in basic beliefs, while only weak associations were found for negative events. In addition, negative changes in basic beliefs were associated with growth only in negative life events and positive changes in basic beliefs were generally associated with growth.

The impact of gratitude letters and visits on relationships, happiness, well-being, and meaning of graduate students

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-126
Author(s):  
David Stefan ◽  
Erin Lefdahl-Davis ◽  
Alexandra Alayan ◽  
Matthew Decker ◽  
Josie Wittwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽  
Life Questionnaire ◽  
The Impact

In this mixed-methods research, we examined the practice of writing and delivering letters of gratitude (gratitude visits) and its impact on well-being, happiness, meaning and relationships for students in an online graduate program in psychology. Participants completed assessments and inventories relating to happiness, well-being and meaning in life, including the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Approaches to Happiness Questionnaire and open-ended qualitative questions before and after they wrote and delivered gratitude letters. Quantitative analyses found significant increases in meaning in life, satisfaction with life, and approaches to happiness after the gratitude visit intervention. Using a grounded theory qualitative analysis of the data, eight primary themes emerged related to the impact and meaning of gratitude letters on graduate students:  (1) the impact on the relationship; (2) positive emotions experienced; (3) experiencing a reciprocal expression of gratitude from the receiver; (4) overcoming uncomfortable emotions; (5) relief, release or liberation after sharing; (6) impact on spiritual growth; (7) unexpected responses; and (8) greater reflection on the meaning of life and a changed perspective. Overall, providing graduate students with the opportunity to engage in gratitude visit interventions was related to greater meaning and well-being. This study suggests implications and recommendations related to the use of positive psychology interventions in educational settings.

Positive Processes in Close Relationships

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly L. Gable ◽  
Natalya C. Maisel
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Health And Well Being

Although psychologists have learned a great deal about negative and harmful processes in relationships, they have focused less on understanding the positive and beneficial processes in relationships. Of course, almost every close relationship offers the promise of both meaningful rewards and substantial risks, such as support, intimacy, companionship, conflict, rejection, and criticism. In this chapter, we attempt to highlight the complexities involved in relationships and emphasize the positive processes, with the goal of creating a picture that represents the dynamic reality of the social world. We first discuss the important role that intimate relationships play in human life and their strong links with health and well-being. We then highlight research on the positive processes in relationships, such as positive emotions, intimacy, growth of the self-concept, and the benefits of sharing positive events. This work complements previous literature, which has tended to focus on the potential pitfalls in relationships. Inherent in our position is that a lack of negatives in a relationship is not equivalent to a positive relationship; just as an absence of psychopathology is not equivalent to flourishing. We end with outlining future directions in the positive psychology of relationships, such as a greater focus on biology and health and the need for examining moderating conditions.

scholarly journals Relationship Between Gratitude With Well-Being Teens whose Parents Divorced

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohanna Tungga Prameswarawati
Keyword(s):  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mother And Child

Gratitude and psychological well-being are aspects of positive emotions that exist in individuals. Individuals who have a sense of gratitude for being able to realize that he received a lot of goodness, good appreciation from God, others and the surrounding environment. While individuals who have psychological well-being when they are able to accept themselves, form warm relationships, have independence, control the external environment, have meaning in life and realize their potential continuously. The family is the smallest unit in society consisting of father, mother and child. The family can be the base of one's life, a source of care with affection, the first, most important and closest educational park that can be enjoyed because the teachings about the values ​​of life, both religious and socio-cultural are fundamental things that can be obtained in a family.The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between gratitude and psychological well-being in adolescent boys and girls and who experience parental divorce.Research methods The subjects of this study were adolescents aged 15 to 20 years in two different cities. The sampling technique used is the cluster sampling method. Cluster sampling is sampling based on area or cluster. Clusters referred to in this study are classes in the school. Research subjects numbered 224 people. Whereas in other studies using a sampling technique used is sampling saturation. Samples that will be used in this study are as many populations as there are 33 students who have divorced parents, 20 students in class XI and 13 students in class XII. Data analysis using descriptive statistics with percentage techniques. Before calculating the percentage, a score group is made. Calculation of psychological well-being data for students whose parents are divorced is obtained based on the calculation of the average score (mean). The data generated in this study are descriptive percentage statistical techniques because the research describes the psychological well-being (psychological well-being) of students whose parents are divorced. 33 students.

Daily Positive Experiences and Health: Biobehavioral Pathways and Resilience to Daily Stress

2018 ◽  
pp. 154-172
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Sin ◽  
David M. Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Daily Stress ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Stress Buffering ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Stress And Health

Positive emotions and minor positive events are more likely to occur in people’s daily lives than negative emotions and stressors. This chapter provides an overview of theoretical perspectives and previous research linking positive experiences with stress and health. A conceptual framework is proposed that describes constructs within the realm of “daily positive experiences.” The framework posits that daily positive experiences contribute to health through biological, behavioral, and stress-buffering pathways. The sociodemographic patterning of daily positive experiences by age, gender, race, and socioeconomic status is described. Multidisciplinary work is presented linking between-person differences and within-person (day-to-day) variations in daily positive experiences to stressor reactivity, inflammation, and diurnal cortisol rhythms. The chapter concludes with a discussion of unanswered questions and key areas for future discovery and innovation. The study of everyday positive experiences provides insights into health and well-being that go beyond what can be learned from focusing solely on negative experiences.

Reactions to daily events as a function of familiarity with an environment

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Nezlek
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Daily Events ◽  
Academic Year

Undergraduate participants provided measures of their psychological well‐being and described the positive and negative events that occurred each day, once during the first and second semesters of an academic year. For four of the five measures of daily well‐being, reactivity to negative events decreased from the first to second semester, whereas for four of the five measures of well‐being, reactivity to positive events did not change over the year. These results suggest that familiarity with an environment moderates reactivity to negative daily events. As people become more familiar with an environment, negative events may elicit smaller decreases in well‐being. In contrast, increases in well‐being elicited by positive events appear to be unrelated to familiarity with the environment. More broadly, these differences suggest that the reactivity to positive and negative events reflect the operation of different processes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Relationships between everyday use of humor and daily experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Nezlek ◽  
Peter L. Derks ◽  
John Simanski
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Multilevel Analyses ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Daily Experience ◽  
Aggressive Humor

AbstractEach day for two weeks participants described how often they had used four types of humor that day: affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating humor. Each day, participants also described the events that occurred in their lives (positive and negative crossed with social and achievement), and they provided measures of their well-being. Multilevel analyses (days nested within persons) found that the daily use of affiliative and self-enhancing humor was positively related to daily positive events (social and achievement) and was negatively related to daily negative events (social and achievement). In contrast, the use of self-defeating humor was positively related to the occurrence of all types of events. Affiliative and self-enhancing humor was positively related to positively valent measures of well-being (e.g., self-esteem), and were negatively related to negatively valent measures of well-being (e.g., rumination). In contrast, relationships between well-being and the use of self-defeating humor were the mirror image of these relationships. The use of aggressive humor was unrelated to well-being. These results suggest that the use of humor is cued by the events that occur in people’s daily lives, social and achievement and good and bad, and that the use of humor is related to well-being, both positively and negatively.

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