scholarly journals The Content of Nostalgic Memories Among People Living with Dementia

2021 ◽  
pp. 009141502110241
Author(s):  
Sanda Ismail ◽  
Emily Dodd ◽  
Gary Christopher ◽  
Tim Wildschut ◽  
Constantine Sedikides ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Word Count ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Affective Content

Although dementia may affect the reliability of autobiographical memories, the psychological properties of nostalgic memories may be preserved. We compared the content of nostalgic ( n = 36) and ordinary ( n = 31) narratives of 67 participants living with dementia. Narratives were rated according to their self-oriented, social, and existential properties, as well as their affective content. Social properties and affective content were assessed using a linguistic word count procedure. Compared to the ordinary narratives described in the control condition, nostalgic narratives described a typical events, expressed more positive affect, and had more expressions of self-esteem and self-continuity. They were also rated higher on companionship, connectedness and the closeness of relationships, and reflected life as being meaningful. Despite their cognitive impairment, people living with dementia experience nostalgia in similar ways to cognitively healthy adults, with their nostalgic narratives containing self-oriented, social, and existential properties.

Social and Temporal Comparisons as Moderators of Psychological Resources Associations With Wellbeing

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasida Ben-Zur
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Age Range ◽  
General Wellbeing

Abstract. The current study investigated the associations of psychological resources, social comparisons, and temporal comparisons with general wellbeing. The sample included 142 community participants (47.9% men; age range 23–83 years), who compared themselves with others, and with their younger selves, on eight dimensions (e.g., physical health, resilience). They also completed questionnaires assessing psychological resources of mastery and self-esteem, and three components of subjective wellbeing: life satisfaction and negative and positive affect. The main results showed that high levels of psychological resources contributed to wellbeing, with self-enhancing social and temporal comparisons moderating the effects of resources on certain wellbeing components. Specifically, under low levels of mastery or self-esteem self-enhancing social or temporal comparisons were related to either higher life satisfaction or positive affect. The results highlight the role of resources and comparisons in promoting people’s wellbeing, and suggest that self-enhancing comparisons function as cognitive coping mechanisms when psychological resources are low.

The Healing Magic of Joy: Understanding Magic as a Metaphor for Positive Emotion in The Secret Garden

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-141
Author(s):  
Margrete Lamond
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Affective Content ◽  
The Secret Garden ◽  
Biological Nature

Literary analysis tends to be conceptual and top-down driven. Data-driven analysis, although it belongs more to the domain of scientific method, can nevertheless sometimes reveal elements of narrative that conceptual readings may fall short of identifying. In critiques of Burnett's The Secret Garden, the children's return to health is generally understood to be the result of their interactions with nature. Some readings add the power of storytelling as a healing force in the novel. Burnett's concept of magic has tended to be treated with uneasy abstractions, and the influence of affect on health remains open for further investigation. This article bases its argument on data-driven analysis that charts how affective content in the novel occurs in conjunction with references to magic. It identifies the narrative significance of negative allusions to nature and how concepts of magic occur alongside representations of positive affect, and suggests that the magic of healing in The Secret Garden is not the transforming power of biological nature, nor the transforming power of storytelling, but the transforming power of surprise, wonder and happiness in conjunction with all these factors. Positive affect represents the essence of what Burnett means by magic.

Effects of negative and positive affect on antenatal maternal attachment: The mediational role of resilience and self-esteem

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Barris-Oliveira ◽  
Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho ◽  
Adolfo Wenjaw Liao ◽  
Fernanda Ferraz Assir ◽  
Ana Lucia Neves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Maternal Attachment ◽  
Mediational Role

scholarly journals The Predictive Role of Affectivity, Self-Esteem and Social Support in Depression and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 6984
Author(s):  
Wenceslao Peñate ◽  
Melissa González-Loyola ◽  
Cristian Oyanadel
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Adolescent Sample ◽  
Predictive Role

Background: This study analyzes the relationship between depression and anxiety levels and positive and negative affect, self-esteem, and perceived social support from family and friends in an early and middle adolescent sample. These are psychological variables that are often associated with the prediction of emotional disorders, especially depression. Methods: Participants (N = 467) were a representative sample of this group of adolescents and were recruited from schools in the city of Concepción, Chile. Part of the sample (N = 177) was assessed three additional times—at one-, two-, and four-month intervals. Results: Results showed a practical stability of all measures across the four intervals, with no significant differences between sexes. Anxiety and depression displayed a similar pattern of significant relationships with affectivity, self-esteem, and social support. Depression had a higher correlation coefficient (−0.47) with positive affect, and so did anxiety with negative affect (0.58). Conclusions: Taking into account 23 initial scores on affectivity, self-esteem, and social support in predicting both depression and anxiety scores at one-month, two-month, and four-month intervals, positive affect was present in three regression analyses, predicting depression scores; negative affect was present in anxiety scores. Results are discussed according to previous findings, as well as the tripartite model.

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