3. Positive emotions

A joyful heart is good medicine.

Proverbs 17:22

Positive psychology’s leading researcher in the field of positive emotions is Barbara Fredrickson. She has devoted her academic career to investigating the nature and purpose of positive emotions and testing out her theories under laboratory conditions. We’ve all come across the ‘fight-or-flight’ response which accompanies negative emotions. This automatic response mechanism has the effect of narrowing down our thoughts and behaviours to very specific, self-protecting actions; in the case of anger it’s to fight, and in the case of fear, to run. But positive emotions are relatively under-researched and not as well understood. There are thousands of academic psychology papers devoted to the experience of fear, for example, and only hundreds on the subject of positive emotions such as compassion.

Fredrickson’s goal has been to find out if positive emotions have a purpose apart from making us feel good. Her ‘broaden and build’ theory suggests that, in contrast to negative emotions which focus us, positive emotions lead to more expansive and creative thoughts and behaviour which create additional personal resources over time.

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Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory suggests that the experience of positive emotions enables individuals to create additional resources in four main categories:

In short, the experience of positive emotions creates ‘upward spirals’ of thought and action which prepare you for future challenges.

Other psychologists suggest that experiencing positive emotions also allows you to seek out and work towards new goals.

Fredrickson’s research shows that positive emotions don’t just feel good, they do us good too.

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Three ways to be good to yourself

  1. When you’re feeling a bit down and in need of a quick pick-me-up, do one of the following for 5 minutes: i) ring a good friend, one who can be relied on to help you look on the bright side, ii) go outside for a walk, preferably somewhere green, or iii) listen to a piece of energising music, anything that will get you tapping your feet or humming along.
  2. Create a folder of favourite positive photos on your PC and use them as the screensaver. Every so often when you take a break from your keyboard, a happy image will randomly pop up on the screen and make you smile. Look at the control panel on your PC for instructions. You can also try this on your smartphone.
  3. Boost your positive emotions by treating yourself to a special day (out or in), for example a walk in the countryside and a picnic, a visit to an art gallery or a local landmark followed by a nice lunch, a trip to the seaside, a visit to a health spa, a swim, a game of golf or a day devoted to your favourite hobby. Avoid the temptation to spend all day in your PJs, crashed out on the sofa with the remote control, even though this might seem to be the most relaxing way to spend your time. Take your time planning what you’re going to do, take your time to enjoy the day and take your time reminiscing about it afterwards – you can use some of the savouring tips mentioned in Chapter 20. Then try stretching this out into a week of activities – think of something different to do for 15–30 minutes every day which will boost your positive emotions. Ideas include enjoying a luxury bubble bath or dancing round the living room to some of your favourite songs.

Record the activities you do, and how good you felt doing them, in your well-being journal.

Doing good does you good!

Being kind to others by voluntarily performing small acts of kindness is without doubt one of the most important activities for cementing human relationships and building bonds with others, whether they are strangers or family and friends. Positive psychology research provides the empirical evidence that doing kind deeds is good for the doer’s well-being, as well as being good for the recipient’s.

Perform five random acts of kindness today, for example:

Random acts of kindness also promote ‘happiness con­tagion’ – see Chapter 5 for more on how happiness spreads from person to person.

Positive emotions undo negative emotions

Barbara Fredrickson has carried out numerous experiments to recreate positive emotions in people in laboratory conditions and to assess the effect on their minds and bodies. In one study participants were told they had to perform a stressful task. Before completing the task they were divided into four groups and asked to watch a short film clip. These clips provoked emotions such as amusement, contentment, sadness or no feeling at all. The people who felt amused or contented after being told of the stressful task recovered significantly more quickly (as measured by their blood pressure and heart rate returning to normal) than the people who watched the sad or neutral films. As a result psychologists often say that positive emotions have an ‘un-doing effect’ – they help to counteract feelings of stress and negative emotions.

Positivity portfolio

Fredrickson recommends creating a range of physical portfolios of objects and mementos to evoke particular positive emotions such as pride, joy and amusement. Collect together items such as photos, gifts, music and letters which make you feel contented, thankful or inspired. You can keep your portfolios on your PC or smartphone, on a webpage, in a scrapbook or in your well-being journal. Look at your portfolios when you need a boost, and enjoy the positive memories they evoke. Keep looking out for new items to include.

The benefits of positive emotions

There are numerous research studies which outline the benefits of longer-term happiness and shorter-term positive emotions. For example, happiness and positive emotions are linked to:

The important question for us is whether happiness and positive emotions are the cause or the effect of these outcomes. The research on this front is less extensive, but nevertheless, there is growing evidence that in many areas, happiness and positive emotions may lead to successful outcomes rather than just following from them. As a result psychologists conclude that happiness and positive emotions do lead to important outcomes such as feeling self-confident, having fulfilling and productive work, satisfying relationships and better mental and physical health and longevity.

Humour diary

Unpublished research by psychologist Willibald Ruch suggests that you can increase your well-being and decrease depression over the longer term by keeping a humour diary. Before you go to sleep write down the three funniest things which happened to you that day. Do this on a regular basis and notice how much your well-being improves. One of the reasons this works is that it draws your attention to funny things (making them more noticeable and less easy to ignore) and away from negative things. You can also give yourself an instant boost of happiness just by dipping into your humour diary and remembering all those funny moments.

The positivity ratio

Of course, we don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that positive emotions are always good and that negative emotions are always bad, as this is simply not the case. Research carried out by Barbara Fredrickson and mathematician Marcial Losada suggests that there is an optimal balance of positive to negative emotions, which triggers mental flourishing, and an upward developmental spiral, below which we languish.

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The positivity ratio, that is, the ratio of positive to negative emotions above which we flourish, is approximately:

3:1

This means that we need to experience roughly three times as much positive emotion as negative emotion in order to flourish. This is not surprising when you consider that positive emotions are more fleeting, whereas negative emotions are more sticky. Positive psychologists have found that it is the frequency of feeling positive emotions that is important to our well-being, rather than their intensity. Therefore we need more of the lighter positive emotions to counterbalance the heavier negative ones.

The positivity ratio is also called the ‘Losada line’.

Let’s now think of ways in which we can increase the number of positive emotions we experience. Psychologist Michael Frisch suggests creating a playlist of all the activities which interest you and which you’ve enjoyed in the past. He lists over 200 simple activities including:

In your well-being journal, jot down as many ways as possible that you’ve played, had fun, relaxed, were creative, forgot your worries, learned something new or contributed to your community. Have some activities which you can do alone, some with a partner and some with a group. Think about inside activities and outside. Go back later and see how many more you can add. You might encourage a friend or partner to do the same, and share your ideas to brainstorm even more.

Now, for 5 minutes every day, engage in some of these favourite activities. Record your most positive experiences, those which really give you a boost, in your well-being journal.

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