scholarly journals Fragile and Enduring Positive Affect: Implications for Adaptive Aging

Gerontology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Ong ◽  
Nilam Ram
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Intraindividual Variability ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Interindividual Differences ◽  
Individual Health ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Robust Evidence ◽  
Over Time

There is robust evidence linking interindividual differences in positive affect (PA) with adaptive psychological and physical health outcomes. However, recent research has suggested that intraindividual variability or fluctuations in PA states over time may also be an important predictor of individual health outcomes. Here, we report on research that focuses on PA level and various forms of PA dynamics (variability, instability, inertia, and reactivity) in relation to health. PA level refers to the average level of positive feelings. In contrast, PA dynamics refer to short-term changes in PA that unfold over time. We discuss how consideration of both PA level and PA dynamics can provide a framework for reconciling when high PA is conducive or detrimental to health. We conclude that more work on PA dynamics is needed, especially in combination with PA level, and suggest productive questions for future inquiry in this area.

scholarly journals Can Your Neighbour’s Education Affect Your Health?

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Ayona Bhattacharjee ◽  
Radhika Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Returns To Education ◽  
National Sample ◽  
District Level ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Individual Health ◽  
Average Education ◽  
The Impact

Most studies pertaining to the returns to education literature focus on estimating benefits of education that accrue to the individual who spends more years in school. However, from a public policy perspective it is crucial to understand the gains of education to the society at large. This study is an attempt to estimate these social returns to education, that is, the impact of an increase in average education on individual health outcomes. In particular, we try to assess if (above and beyond individual educational attainment), average years of schooling at a district level has an impact on individual health. We obtain individual level data from two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) and calculate district level average education using data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) surveys for the same years. We use a logit model to estimate the probability of suffering from short-term morbidity and find that there is a strong negative association between short-term morbidity and average education. We also study the impact of average education on health seeking outcomes such as consumption of cigarettes and tobacco. We find that after accounting for individual education and income, the average education at the district level has a strong positive influence on better health seeking behaviour. The results from our study lend support to the notion that in addition to policies aimed at improving healthcare, an increase in average education can potentially lead to improvement in health outcomes.

scholarly journals A MICROLONGITUDINAL APPROACH TO STUDYING GRANDMOTHER-GRANDCHILD DAILY INTERACTIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S281-S282
Author(s):  
Shelbie Turner ◽  
Shannon T Mejia ◽  
Robert S Stawski ◽  
Karen Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Intraindividual Variability ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Daily Interactions ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Research suggests that grandparent-grandchild dyads shift in degree of solidarity over extended periods of time (e.g. Moorman & Stokes, 2016), but no work has considered grandparent-grandchild interactions microlongitudinally. This study utilized microlongitudinal data with an emphasis on intraindividual variability to examine the daily processes associated with relational aspects of grandparenting. Using data from 24 grandmothers in the Personal Understandings of Life and Social Experiences (PULSE) project, we explored how grandmother-reported satisfaction with grandchild interactions impacted grandmothers’ same-day positive and negative affect over 100 days. We first justified the need for microlongitudinal analyses by assessing the degree to which there were within-person shifts in interaction satisfaction over time. Intra-class correlations indicated 86% of the variation in interaction satisfaction was within-persons, warranting an intraindividual variability approach. As such, we then employed multi-level models to examine the within-person and between-person effects of interaction satisfaction predicting same day positive and negative affect. At the within-person level, on days when grandmothers reported higher than their average interaction satisfaction, they reported more positive affect (Estimate = 0.09, SE = 0.03, p = 0.009) and lower negative affect overall that day (Estimate = -0.08, SE = 0.02, p = 0.005). At the between-person level, grandmothers who had, on average, higher interaction satisfaction had more positive affect (Estimate = 0.63, SE = 0.09, p<.0001) and lower negative affect on average (Estimate = -0.53, SE = 0.11, p<.0001).

scholarly journals Positive Affect and Health: What Do We Know and Where Next Should We Go?

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 627-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah D. Pressman ◽  
Brooke N. Jenkins ◽  
Judith T. Moskowitz
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Area Measurement ◽  
Forward Movement ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Important Research Area ◽  
Positive Feelings

Positive affect (PA) is associated with better health across a wide range of physical health outcomes. This review reflects on why the study of PA is an essential component of our understanding of physical health and expands on pathways that connect these two variables. To encourage forward movement in this burgeoning research area, measurement and design issues in the study of PA and health are discussed, as are the connections between PA and a range of different health outcomes. Plausible biological, social, and behavioral pathways that allow for positive feelings to get under the skin and influence physical wellness are detailed and framed in the context of several theoretical models. Finally, new directions for the field and important methodological and interpretative considerations that are essential to moving this important research area forward are explored.

scholarly journals A Comparison of the Effects of Short-term Singing, Exercise, and Discussion Group Activities on the Emotional State and Social Connectedness of Older Australians

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 205920431880060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Maury ◽  
Nikki Rickard
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Discussion Group ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
Over Time

Choir membership has been shown to improve emotional states and facilitate social connectedness. It is, however, less clear whether these benefits are unique to group singing or are shared by other social group activities that include some of the characteristics of choirs other than singing, such as music listening and social interaction. This research compares older Australians who are members of either a choir that both produces and listens to music in a social context, an exercise group that incorporates music listening and movement with social interaction, or a current events discussion group with social interaction but no music content. Participants were administered emotional state and cohesion questionnaires at two test times, just prior to and immediately after the session, to determine the short-term (60–90 minutes) effects on emotional state and social cohesion as result of different social activities containing varying levels of music engagement. A two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant improvements in positive affect and cohesion scores, and a decrease in negative affect and tiredness scores, over time for all groups. The choir and exercise groups were also observed by two raters who recorded observable behaviors categorized using the circumplex model of emotion. Findings revealed that both groups demonstrated significant increases in Activated Pleasant (high positive affect, high arousal) behaviors over time, but with no differences between the two groups. Taken together, these studies suggest that well-being benefits are shared by self-selected leisure social group activities, and that the effects can be observed within a very short time frame using both self-report and behavioral measures. The authors suggest that future research incorporates suitable control groups into research designs to better articulate any unique benefits that group singing may confer.

scholarly journals Heritability of Intraindividual Mean and Variability of Positive and Negative Affect

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1611-1619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Zheng ◽  
Robert Plomin ◽  
Sophie von Stumm
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Interindividual Differences ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Over Time

Positive affect (e.g., attentiveness) and negative affect (e.g., upset) fluctuate over time. We examined genetic influences on interindividual differences in the day-to-day variability of affect (i.e., ups and downs) and in average affect over the duration of a month. Once a day, 17-year-old twins in the United Kingdom ( N = 447) rated their positive and negative affect online. The mean and standard deviation of each individual’s daily ratings across the month were used as the measures of that individual’s average affect and variability of affect. Analyses revealed that the average of negative affect was significantly heritable (.53), but the average of positive affect was not; instead, the latter showed significant shared environmental influences (.42). Fluctuations across the month were significantly heritable for both negative affect (.54) and positive affect (.34). The findings support the two-factor theory of affect, which posits that positive affect is more situational and negative affect is more dispositional.

scholarly journals What a lifespan approach might tell us about why distinct measures of social support have differential links to physical health

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert N. Uchino
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
It Impact ◽  
Over Time

Social support has been reliably related to physical health outcomes. However, an examination of mediators of such links has been slowed by the lack of understanding regarding two complex and related questions: what is social support and what phase of the disease process does it impact? In this paper, I argue for the importance of a lifespan perspective that takes into account distinct antecedent processes and mechanisms that are related to measures of support over time. This view makes clear the need to distinguish measures of perceived and received support and its links to more specific aspects of disease (e.g., acute, chronic, disease incidence). The implications of these theoretical arguments for research on social support and physical health are discussed.

scholarly journals Understanding the Links Between Social Support and Physical Health: A Life-Span Perspective With Emphasis on the Separability of Perceived and Received Support

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert N. Uchino
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Disease Development ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Potential Intervention ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
Over Time

Social support has been reliably related to physical health outcomes. However, the conceptual basis of such links needs greater development. In this article, I argue for a life-span perspective on social support and health that takes into account distinct antecedent processes and mechanisms that are related to measures of support over time. Such a view highlights the need to distinguish measures of perceived and received support and its links to more specific diseases (e.g., chronic, acute) and stages of disease development (e.g., incidence). I discuss both the novel implications of these theoretical arguments for research on social support and physical health, as well as the potential intervention approaches that are apparent from this perspective.

The Language of Legacies: The Politics of Evoking Dead Leaders

2020 ◽  
pp. 106591292093082
Author(s):  
Caitlin Andrews-Lee ◽  
Amy H. Liu
Keyword(s):  
Text Analysis ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Approval Rating ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Juan Peron ◽  
Robust Evidence

How can leaders recover public trust and approval when government performance is low? We argue politicians use speeches evoking images of deceased predecessors to reactivate support temporarily. This distracts supporters from the poor performance and arouses empathy and nostalgia among them, causing them to perceive the current leader more favorably. We test this argument by scraping for all speeches by Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. We identify all instances when she referenced Juan Perón—the charismatic founder of the Justice Party. We find that as Kirchner’s approval rating decreases, the number of Perón references increases. To identify the causal mechanism and to ensure that endogeneity is not a concern, we employ text analysis and a natural experiment—courtesy of LAPOP. The results provide robust evidence that leaders reference their dead predecessors to evoke positive feelings. However, while doing so can improve public opinion, the effects manifest only in the short term and among supporters.

Emotional Variability Predicts Tiredness in Daily Life

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aire Mill ◽  
Anu Realo ◽  
Jüri Allik
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Experience Sampling Method ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Intraindividual Variability ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Over Time

Abstract. Intraindividual variability, along with the more frequently studied between-person variability, has been argued to be one of the basic building blocks of emotional experience. The aim of the current study is to examine whether intraindividual variability in affect predicts tiredness in daily life. Intraindividual variability in affect was studied with the experience sampling method in a group of 110 participants (aged between 19 and 84 years) during 14 consecutive days on seven randomly determined occasions per day. The results suggest that affect variability is a stable construct over time and situations. Our findings also demonstrate that intraindividual variability in affect has a unique role in predicting increased levels of tiredness at the momentary level as well at the level of individuals.

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