Joyful Experience Research Articles

Your pride is my goal: How the exposure to others’ positive emotional experience influences preschoolers’ delay of gratification

This research examined whether priming very young children with a specific positive emotion would enhance their pursuit of the goal associated with that emotion. Specifically, we focused on the influence of two distinct positive emotions—pride and joy, each of which is associated with a distinct type of goal (long-term and short-term goals, respectively)—on child delay of gratification (DoG). DoG is a specific form of self-regulation that requires forgoing an immediately desired goal for the sake of a larger delayed goal. We examined whether this influence exists among preschool-aged children, an age at which emotion-related and self-regulation abilities are still developing. Across two experiments, preschoolers heard a story about another child’s emotional experience of either pride or joy and then completed a DoG task. Experiment 2 was a replication of Experiment 1 using a different set of emotional scenarios. As predicted, pride-primed children showed a greater preference for larger delayed rewards over smaller immediate rewards, demonstrating enhanced DoG abilities compared with joy-primed children. These findings imply that the motivational components underlying discrete positive emotions (as well as the associations between emotions and goal pursuits) are integral to children’s emotional processes. Furthermore, our findings suggest that these emotional processes influence behavior even among very young children who have not yet fully developed the relevant abilities.

Eucharistic celebration and spiritual capital: the experience of students in a Spanish Catholic school – A research report inspired by the work of Dr Ann Casson, UK (2013)

There is clear evidence of increasing secularisation across Europe; nevertheless, the authority of the Christian tradition persists. This study focuses on the case of Spain, a well-founded Catholic origin country, which, in just a few decades has become from being one of the most religious to one of the least among Catholics. This investigation presents the experience of the spiritual capital generated by the Eucharistic celebration, viewed from the perspective of young students, and expressed in their own words. The Eucharistic celebration is still considered to be a spiritual ‘nutrition’ for most Catholic people; however, is it for the young generation? Our results indicate that the experience of ‘being Catholic’ is understood outside of the traditional forms of Catholic practices. The essential Catholic practice, the Mass, is no longer recognised as a ‘fingerprint’ of Catholicity. Nevertheless, when a sample of students were asked about the Mass, they understood the Eucharistic celebration in terms of the spiritual capital, as a source of values of solidarity, well-being, recognition of social injustices, experiences of joy, strength, feelings of gratitude, etc. However, only 8% of the students declare to participate regularly in the Mass; and, more than 50% of young people do not benefit from this resource of spiritual capital deposited in the Eucharist. Therefore, its connection with regular practice has become tenuous. One of the possible reasons for such a situation is the lack of understanding of the Mass and its spiritual, social and symbolic importance, and also by the lack of youth participation in active roles in the celebration of the Mass.

Dream, Bliss, and the Shaping of Emotional Meaning in Beowulf

<i>Dream</i>, <i>Bliss</i>, and the Shaping of Emotional Meaning in <i>Beowulf</i>

Play vs exergaming: A conceptual analysis as to why exergaming is not play

The fields of kinesiology and public health promotion have significantly invested in the potential for on-line, digitally mediated exergaming to promote higher levels of physical activity and so to reduce disconcertingly high levels of obesity in the USA. The proponents of exergaming attempt to tie exercise to play in order to make exercise fun and sustainable over time. Drawing on Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, the purpose of this concept-based paper was to conceptually analyze the motivational resources provided by true play in contrast to the engineered instrumental design of exergaming. The analysis furthermore explains the disappointing results of studies to date on the effects of exergaming. According to Huizinga, play is undertaken for its own sake, for the lived experience of joy, tension, creativity, and release. In contrast, exergaming emphasizes measurable objectives to lose weight and reduce morbidity and mortality rates. This pressure to meet biological needs appears not to be enjoyable like in true play, and, ironically, exergaming is more likely to harm rather than improve users’ health. Physical activity experts need to emphasize the true elements of playful movement for the felt experiences it can afford, including artistic expression, dance, and recreational games at schools, neighborhoods, and local parks.

A qualitative study of epilepsy self-management barriers and facilitators in Black children and caregivers in Arkansas

ObjectivesTo identify facilitators and barriers of epilepsy self-management practices among Black children and caregivers. MethodsQualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 child-caregiver dyads (11 children with epilepsy and 11 caregivers). A deductive-inductive analysis was undertaken to describe the range of barriers and facilitators significant to participants. ResultsThe barriers and facilitators were classified into 3 management themes: epilepsy-specific knowledge and information, treatment, and lifestyle. Within these themes, several important subthemes were identified. Two subthemes related to knowledge barriers emerged: children and caregivers' limited understanding and retention of complex written and spoken information and variable training and confidence in seizure first-aid. In contrast, facilitators for introducing and encouraging access to epilepsy self-management concepts were participants’ eagerness to learn about this topic and a keen interest in using educational materials enriched with visual aids on a phone platform as an adjunct to in-person education. The second theme revealed various practical barriers to optimum treatment adherence, including mistrust of the healthcare system. In comparison, caregivers' collaborative approach and innovative strategies were identified as facilitators for treatment adherence. Finally, the lifestyle management barriers included a lack of defined processes to adopt healthy behaviors and challenges with disclosing epilepsy. Facilitators of this theme were comprised of building a team around the child to foster wellbeing and making healthy habits a fun and joyful experience for children. DiscussionQualitative evidence in this study highlights caregivers' mistrust in the healthcare system and the lack of community support. Culturally competent interventions may improve access to and quality and utilization of self-management programs in Black children and families while reducing disparities.

Sizing up gender: Bringing the joy of fat, gender and fashion into focus

This photo essay explores the intersections of gender, fatness and fashion through an innovative and evocative arts-based methodology involving collaboratively constructed macro, or close-up, photographs, portraits and garment images. With these images, we can examine people’s experiences at the intersections of fat and gender through one of the most visible and embodied ways by which we construct and resist dominant narratives about these subject positions: fashion and self-fashioning. The Sizing Up Gender project engaged twelve self-identified cis-gender, trans, non-binary and two-spirit fat people across diverse race, class and other subject positions. Their narratives disrupt many dominant understandings of fat bodies and fashion and introduce a joyfulness to the story of dressing fat bodies that has been sorely neglected. We connect these feelings of joy to the concept of fabulousness, and consider how our participants’ experiences of joy and risk are not only due to genders, races and sexualities but also to how these identities intersect with their fat embodiments, fatphobia and weight stigma. The images presented here, particularly the macro photographs, force us to look more closely at the subject matter at hand and introduce a visual fabulousness of their own, a fabulousness that is rarely afforded to fat bodies.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of mothers’ negative experiences and emotions during early motherhood

Contemporary ideologies surrounding motherhood do not appear to reflect the experiences of many women. Motherhood is often idealised as a joyful experience, however a large proportion of women experience psychological distress, often receiving a diagnosis of postnatal depression. Current psychiatric systems may not adequately represent mothers’ experiences or reflect the range and complexity of emotions experienced. Most psychological research explores mothers’ emotions through the lens of a medical model, with a focus on depression; the exploration of emotions beyond depression has been under-researched. This study explored the range of emotions mothers experience during early motherhood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six women who experienced post-natal distress; data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results showed a conflict between the mothers’ aspired and idyllic representations of motherhood and their lived experiences; three themes were identified: when idyllic notions of motherhood are not realised; when motherhood is not instinctive; and when prioritising childcare is not easy. Mothers who were unable to live up to the identified notions of motherhood, experienced emotional distress, from resentment and guilt, to feeling broken and insecure. The amalgamation of emotions experienced created a complex emotional landscape they had to negotiate, and their experiences were not represented in the psychiatric categorical systems; they did not identify with having postnatal depression and were left unsupported. This study explored ways counselling psychologists could offer support to this sub-clinical group and viewing their experiences as a normal response to motherhood as opposed to pathologising them.

Toward a behavior-analytic understanding of jealousy and compersion in romantic and sexual relationships

ABSTRACT Jealousy is the emotional response to a real or imagined threat to an important relationship, and is a common source of distress within romantic and other close interpersonal relationships. In contrast, compersion is the experience of joy in response to a partner experiencing emotional or sexual attraction toward and interactions with another person. In this paper the authors present a contingency analysis of jealous responding and identify ways in which contingencies may be altered to produce a reduction in jealous responding in situations in which this is a targeted goal. Contingencies involved in compersive responding are also propounded, with suggestions as to how compersive responding may be fostered within relationships in which compersion is a goal.

On being moved: Black joy and mobilities in (extra)ordinary times

AbstractThis piece reflects on the twofold iteration of being moved both emotionally and geographically while Black in inner‐city London. Based on the description of a brief autoethnographic moment taken during the first government‐mandated COVID‐19 lockdown in the UK, the contribution explores the intimate and embodied meaning of restrictions on Black movement and their impact on the experience of Black joy.

Sovereignty, Prefigurative Politics, and Basques’ Joy to Decide

The literature about Basque politics and the anthropology of sovereignty often define the political within the boundaries of violence, desire, and statehood: a sort of pessimism pervades the general assumptions and the end results. In this article, I shift the focus to a different aspect of the problem of sovereignty, drawing on ethnographic research about a Basque social movement that asserts self-determination in terms of a democratic and pacifist ‘Right to Decide’. Exploring the movement’s organization, daily activities, performances, sociality, and discourses, I argue that they prefigure political pleasure in a way that encourages the performance of sovereignty as a positive force. I show how the movement creates an environment in which producing sovereignty becomes a joyful experience.

The Push and Pull of Inclusive Practices in Contemporary Public Schooling

In this Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education essay, Carrie C. Snow reflects on her experiences as both a recipient of pull-out services as a young child and as a special educator. She highlights the complex nature of special education services and how their provision is rife with gray areas. Negotiating various tensions in decision-making around whether to provide push-in or pull-out services to students with special educational needs, special educators can embrace this sense of gray to create and sustain flexible practices that forefront quality learning for their students. She discusses ways that pull-out services for students with distinct needs can work to support their learning, as well as ways they do not. For students to cultivate a trust for schooling, feel an interconnectedness, and experience joy in learning, teachers’ decisions around special education service delivery can never be cut and dried.

“Living Between Two Different Worlds”: Experiences of Leaving a High-Cost Religious Group

The aim of this interdisciplinary study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of individuals’ subjective experiences after leaving a high-cost religious group and how these experiences have affected their lives. In-depth interviews were done with 18 participants who had left different religious communities in Finland. The interviews were analysed through a thematic analysis. The results show that religious disaffiliation is a life change that may affect an individual’s life in profound ways. Life after being a member of a high-cost group may involve experiences of fear, guilt, sorrow, pain, loss and even suffering on an existential level. These experiences can have serious implications for one’s well-being and health. However, life after religious disaffiliation also includes many positive aspects, such as experiences of joy, freedom, relief, gratitude and empowerment.

Joyful information activities in serious leisure: looking for pleasure, passion and purpose

PurposeThis paper provides selective findings from a broader research project on information behaviours in serious leisure. This paper focuses on the positive feelings of information seeking and sharing in this context, aiming to capture and contextualise the joy of information embedded in and inspired by leisure activities.Design/methodology/approachThe required data were obtained using semi-structured interviews with 20 serious leisure participants from Wagga Wagga city in Australia, recruited via a maximum variation sampling technique. The data were fully transcribed and analysed based on a qualitative thematic analysis method.FindingsThe joy of information is embedded within a wide spectrum of information activities in serious leisure ranging from information seeking and browsing to information sharing and information creation. Among all these activities, information sharing with peers and a broader audience is the most joyful experience because it often generates social engagement, a sense of belonging and friendship. Moreover, serious leisure is a productive ground to transform hedonic wellness into eudaimonic well-being, while continuous information seeking and sharing play a significant role in achieving this goal.Practical implicationsInformation system designers can use the findings to consider the emotional aspects of information seeking and sharing to improve the usability of their products. At the policy level, cultural policy writers and decision-makers can make more informed decisions to support serious leisure.Originality/valueThis study explores the joyful aspects of information behaviour in a unique context. Exploring the joy of information is an emerging topic in human information behaviour scholarship, and the existing knowledge on this issue is still limited. This paper can contribute to creating new knowledge in this emerging area.

El discernimiento de espíritus en los cristianismos periféricos

El discernimiento de espíritus en los cristianismos periféricos

Occupations creating joy for people living with advanced cancer: A qualitative descriptive study

Introduction For people living with advanced cancer, the possibilities for experiences of joy are seriously influenced by the consequences of the illness. Due to the limited expected lifetime, the need to support such experiences that may entail joy and contribute to quality of life are of importance. Research shows that people with advanced cancer experience quality of life through occupations they are able to perform and enjoy. The aim of this study was to describe which occupations contribute to joy for people living with advanced cancer and explore how they reflect upon these occupations during an occupational therapy intervention. Methods In total, 111 people with advanced cancer from the intervention group in a randomised controlled trial participated in the present study. Thirty-six of these participants were interviewed, and for 10 participants, this was combined with participant observations. A directed and a conventional content analysis were applied. Results 148 occupations contributing to joy were categorised into self-care, leisure and productivity. Most occupations were placed into leisure (89%). Participants had three distinct approaches to occupations contributing to joy: Finding solutions to maintain occupations contributing to joy; having an all or nothing approach; and hoping to resume occupations contributing to joy. Conclusion This study found a wide range of occupations contributing to joy and shows the importance of focusing on enabling leisure occupations for people living with advanced cancer. The wide range of occupations as well as participants’ approaches to occupations may be useful to inform future interventions to enable enjoyment for people living with advanced cancer.

The intergenerational project: creating space for play in health care

If you were to ask adults about their experiences of hospitals, laughter and joy would not be typical responses. Hospitalisation can adversely affect mental and physical wellbeing, especially for older adults. The hospital environment may evoke feelings of distress, boredom, and isolation and can be a risk factor for functional decline, subsequently leading to increased morbidity and mortality. While paediatric wards tempt children towards escapism into a land of play with dedicated play therapists and toys, older adults can experience hours spent passively in bland surroundings with fleeting health-focused encounters rather than meaningful social interaction.

Intense connection and love: The experiences of autistic mothers.

Knowledge of how parenthood is experienced by autistic women is currently poor. Nine autistic mothers to children aged 5–15 years completed semi-structured interviews, analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. All mothers considered at least one of their children to also be autistic. Four superordinate themes emerged: 1. Autism fundamentally impacts parenting; 2. Battle for the right support; 3. Development and acceptance; and 4. The ups and downs of parenting. The themes demonstrate that while motherhood is largely a joyful experience for autistic mothers (Themes 1 and 4), it is associated with specific issues unlikely to be found in neurotypical motherhood (Theme 1), including negotiating misunderstandings from others (Theme 2). The need for self-care and self-acceptance was expressed (Theme 3) with parenting resulting in personal growth and adaptation (Theme 3). Feelings of intense connection and closeness were experienced (Theme 4), though managing children’s needs had a profound personal impact (Themes 2 and 4). The findings demonstrate that service-providers would benefit from training, ideally led by autistic individuals, on how autism presents in adulthood, masking, the potential for mismatching between emotional experience and facial expression, sensory needs (especially in pregnancy), and the double empathy problem (Theme 2). This study represents the first systematic in-depth analysis of the experiences of autistic mothers presented from their own perspectives.Lay abstractFor many women, adulthood involves becoming a mother. Knowledge of how motherhood is experienced by autistic women is currently poor. Poor knowledge has a range of negative consequences and can lead to inappropriate support. In this study, nine autistic women were interviewed about their experiences of motherhood. Seven of the nine mothers had an officially diagnosed autistic child, the final two mothers also suspected at least one of their children to be autistic. Systematic in-depth analysis of interview transcripts identified a range of common themes. Participants largely experienced motherhood as joyful, rewarding, and enjoyable, though managing children’s needs had a profound personal impact. Participants reflected on the need for self-care and self-acceptance, resulting in personal growth and adaptation. Participants also spoke of strong bonds, feelings of intense connection, and a range of shared experiences with their children. It was also clear that autistic motherhood is associated with a series of challenges unlikely to be experienced by non-autistic mothers, including the necessity of negotiating misunderstandings from others. The findings demonstrate that, generally, professionals need to be better educated on how autism presents in adulthood, including the fact that autistic women often engage in behaviour to mask their true self. Professionals need to know that there is potential for mismatching between emotional experience and facial expression, that autistic women have sensory needs (especially in pregnancy). Professionals frequently struggle to effectively take the needs and perspectives of autistic mothers into account, resulting in profoundly negative consequences for the mother.

Staging joyful spectacles: Exploring the temporalities of positive affect in child-focused NGO programmes

The child has long been a powerfully affective figure in development work – whether as an abject victim or a joyful symbol of brighter futures. While the power of children to produce emotions in donors has been well studied, far less attention has been given to children’s own affective relationships with development organisations. This article explores the role of affect in children’s participation in non-governmental organisation (NGO) programmes in Delhi, India. In particular, by focusing on spectacles of performance, this article highlights the importance of positive affects: happiness, fun, and joy in child-focused NGO programmes. Yet, rather than a cynical critique of the way children’s joy is captured (typically in images) and translated into narratives of successful development, this article seeks to explore the possibilities for sincere ethnographic engagement with happiness itself. Drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed, and exploring the temporal dimensions of positive affects, I seek to engage seriously with children’s joyful experiences in development programmes, while simultaneously questioning any simplistic equation of child happiness with developmental success.

Winsome Joy: from educator to entrepreneur

Research methodology The information presented in this case was gathered through interviews and observations carried out during the time Ms Joy attended the Initiative for A Competitive Inner City business support program in 2017. In addition, focus groups that took place after the program provided important information and insights into her decision-making process and business goals. Additional interviews were conducted in 2018 and 2019 after the business program ended to gain in-depth knowledge of Ms Joy’s entrepreneurial journey. Case overview/synopsis This case details the experiences of Winsome Joy in recognizing market opportunities in the child care industry and then expanding into the educational materials industry. The case focuses on challenges related to founding and sustaining her business and the ways in which Ms Joy engaged in “opportunity recognition” and “effectuation” to become a successful entrepreneur. The case points out the challenges of the child care and early education field in terms of professional training, hiring practices and retaining qualified staff. It provides an aspirational role model who has overcome these challenges by finding and recognizing new market opportunities. Complexity academic level This case is relevant for undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship.

Midwives' experiences of caring for women's emotional and mental well-being during pregnancy.

To explore midwives' experiences of caring for women's emotional and mental well-being during pregnancy. Transitioning to motherhood is a major life event for any woman and while it is a joyful experience for the majority, 15%-25% of women will experience a perinatal mental health problem. Providing psychological support to mothers by midwives is acknowledged internationally. The 2016 Irish National Maternity Strategy identifies midwives as being ideally placed to assess women's emotional needs. The research revealed a paucity of qualitative research from an Irish context in this area; therefore, this study addressed this gap in the literature. Qualitative descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 10 midwives recruited from the Irish midwifery e-group. Data were analysed using Burnard (Nurse Educ. Today, 11, 1991, 461) thematic content analysis. Transcripts were coded, and meanings were formulated to reflect significant statements, which were categorised. Categories were then evolved into subthemes, and eventually, three themes were emerged using the COREQ checklist. Three salient themes emerged from the data are as follows: 'awareness of Perinatal Mental Health', 'discussing emotional well-being' and 'the woman has something to divulge'. The themes convey the midwife's awareness, recognition and perceptions of mental well-being during pregnancy. How midwives discuss and assess emotional well-being, the observational skills they use, and what they perceive as the barriers and facilitators to discussing mental well-being were all identified. Midwives reported an awareness and acceptance that women's emotional health was as important as their physical health. Midwives used every antenatal opportunity to raise awareness about perinatal mental health, whilst also identifying key challenges in getting women to talk. Care pathways for assessing and identifying Perinatal Mental Health issues should be available in all maternity services. More support for midwives is required to debrief, which would assist them in supporting women's emotional well-being.