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In this presentation, we’ll discuss positive emotions and the broaden-

and-build theory.

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•Even though research on emotions has flourished in recent years,

investigations that expressly target positive emotions remain few and far

between.

•Any review of the psychological literature on emotions will show that

psychologists have typically favoured negative emotions in theory

building and hypothesis testing. In so doing, psychologists have

inadvertently marginalized emotions, such as joy, interest, contentment,

and love, that share a pleasant subjective feel.

•To date, psychology’s knowledge base regarding positive emotions is so

thin that satisfying answers to the question “What good are positive

emotions?” have yet to be articulated. This is unfortunate.

•It may be true that there are more negative than positive emotions

because there are more of different kinds of threats than opportunities.

However, it should be emphasized that experiences of positive emotion

are central to human nature and contribute richly to the quality of

people’s lives.

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•Life experiences and learning have given us the capacity to experience a

rich spectrum of emotions. Research finding suggests that positive

emotions are beneficial and advantageous for us all the time, not just

when we are distressed. Instead of solving problems of immediate

survival, positive emotions solve problems concerning personal growth

and development.

•Positive psychologists usually measure an individual’s emotional

experience in terms of both the positive and the negative affective

dimensions. This two-dimensional approach and assessment suggests

that despite their diversity, if we examine emotions according to their

physiological and psychological effects, then emotions should come in

two basic forms: positive affect and negative affect.

•Positive affect refers to emotions such as happiness, contention,

pleasure, gladness, cheerfulness, joy, delight, ecstasy, or exhilaration.

•Negative affect refers to emotions such as anger, annoyance, irritation,

fury, rage, resentment, antagonism, contempt, exasperation, frustration,

or provocation.

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•Why have positive emotions received so little attention among

researchers in the past? There are three reasons to this.

1.There is the natural tendency to study something that afflicts the well-

being of humanity, and the expression and experience of negative

emotions are responsible for much of what we are concerned about.

2.It may be that positive emotions are a little harder to study. They are

comparatively fewer and relatively undifferentiated. For example, joy,

amusement, and serenity are not easily distinguished from one another.

Anger, fear and sadness, on the other hand, are distinctly different

experiences.

3.The study of positive emotions has also been hindered because

scientists attempted to understand them with models that worked best

for negative emotions. Negative emotions have an intuitively obvious

adaptive value: they narrow our thought-action repertoires to those that

best promote our survival in life-threatening situations. Positive

emotions, on the other hand, are not so easily explained.

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•Research findings suggest that positive emotions are strongly correlated to well-being. To examine this further, we need to study the concepts of flourishing and languishing.

•Flourishing is a state of optimal human functioning that is at the opposite end of the continuum from mental illness and disorder. Flourishing is another term for complete mental health and wholeness.

•Languishing is a state that divides mental health from mental illness and is characterized by a feeling of emptiness, hollowness or melancholy. There are few symptoms of mental illness, but also few symptoms of mental health. In other words, there is no serious psychopathology, but there is also little purpose, meaning, or zest for life.

•Within a given period, a ratio of 2.9 times the positive affect to negative affect signifies flourishing, and ratios below that signify languishing. This is known as the critical positivity ratio.

•Now, is there such a thing as too much positivity? The answer may be yes. Although not empirically supported, mathematical models suggest that at a high ratio of 11.6, the relationship of positive emotion to flourishing begins to breakdown. This seems to suggest that a certain amount of negativity seems necessary for healthy functioning; conflict, pain, or distress represent opportunities for personal growth.

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•Flow is a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness where the

sense of duration of time is altered and one becomes so involved in what

one is doing that the activity becomes spontaneous, almost automatic,

and one stops being aware of oneself as separate from the actions one is

performing.

•During a flow experience, one acts with deep, but effortless

involvement, and worries, frustrations and boredom of everyday life are

removed from awareness.

•Concern for the self disappears, yet, paradoxically the sense of self

emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.

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•Attention plays a key role in entering and staying in flow. Entering a flow

is largely a function of how attention has been focused in the past and

present by the activity’s structural conditions. Interest developed in the

past will direct attention to specific challenges.

•Clear goals, immediate feedback, and just-manageable level challenges

position the individual in a unified and coordinated manner, so that

attention becomes completely absorbed into the stimulus field defined

by the activity.

•Action and awareness merge in the absence of spare attention. When

attention is completely absorbed in the challenges at hand, the

individual achieves an ordered state of consciousness.

•The flow state is intrinsically rewarding and leads the individual to seek

replicate flow experiences. As people master challenges in an activity,

they develop greater level of skills and the activity ceases to be as

involving as before. In order to continue to experience flow, they must

identify and engage progressively more complex and demanding

challenges.

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•To illustrate the flow experience, let’s use the example of a sprinter

taking part in a 100m race. The sprinter confront the task of a 100m race

with a chance of completing it.

•The sprinter is able to concentrate on what he is doing. The task has

clear goals and it provides immediate feedback – his position at the end

of the race. Taking part in the 100m final, the sprinter acts with deep, but

effortless involvement, that removes from awareness the worries,

frustrations, and boredom of everyday life. Concern for the self

disappears and the sense of duration of time is altered.

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•Savoring is the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and enhance the

positive experiences in lives. For example, we may find ourselves

captivated by a stunning scenery.

•Whether planned or spontaneous, three preconditions must be met for

savoring to occur:

1. Have a sense of immediacy of what is happening in the moment, with

focused attention in the here and now.

2. Social and self-esteem needs must be set aside; if you are worried

about how others view or think about you, there is little room for

savoring the moment.

3. A mindful focus on the pleasurable features of a current experience –

fully appreciating one particular thing and all that it has to offer rather

than thinking of several things at once that may divert attention away

from the present moment and what is in front of us.

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•One theory that examines the benefits of positive emotions is

Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory. By engaging in an activity that

an individual enjoys, he experiences positive emotions.

•This will lead to the individual broadening his thought-action repertoire

and mindset momentarily.

•This will result in the individual building enduring personal resources.

•The end result is that the individual is transformed as it produces an

upward spirals. Experiencing a positive emotion leads to states of mind

and to modes of behaviour that indirectly prepare an individual for later

hard times.

•This cycle is then repeated.

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•Consider a young man enjoying a workout in the gym and experiences

positive emotions. Although his immediate motivation may be simply

hedonistic - to enjoy the moment of exercising – he is at the same time

building physical, intellectual, psychological and social resources.

•In terms of physical resources, the physical activity leads to long-term

improvements in cardiovascular health and development of sensory-motor

coordination.

•In terms of intellectual resources, the young man develops problem-solving

skills and learns new information about sensory-motor coordination.

•In terms of social resources, the occasion allows him to network with other

individuals and helps him to develop and strengthen social bonds that may

provide crucial support some time in the future.

•In terms of psychological resources, he develops resilience, optimism, and a

sense of identity and goal orientation. Savoring the moment at the gym helps

him to solidifies life priorities. These outcomes often endure long after the

initial positive emotions have vanished.

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•If negative emotions narrow people’s mindsets and positive emotions

broaden them, then perhaps positive emotions can undo the lingering

bad effects of negative emotions.

•Negative emotions have distinct physiological responses associated

with them, such as cardiovascular activity, which represents the body’s

preparation for specific action. Such cardiovascular activity, if prolonged

and recurrent, can lead to heart disease.

•Because positive emotions broaden people's thought-and-action

repertoires, they may also loosen the hold that negative emotions gain

on both mind and body, dismantle preparation for specific action and

undo the physiological effects of negative emotions. The undoing effect

suggests that positive emotions can reduce the physiological “damage”

on the cardiovascular system sustained by feeling negative emotions.

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We’ve come to the end of our presentation on the Introduction &

Overview of Positive Psychology Part 2. We’ve discussed that

experiences of positive emotion are central to human nature and

contribute richly to the quality of people’s lives.

Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory examines the benefits of positive

emotions. By engaging in an activity that an individual enjoys, he

experiences positive emotions.

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Ask yourself the following question in order to establish if you have understood the content

of this presentation: In what ways can you apply the broaden-and-build theory to your daily

life?

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