Model Of Positive Emotions Research Articles

A prospective test of the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions: examining the role of will and ways as temporal mediators of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in adults

ABSTRACT Integrating Fredrickson’s (2001) broaden-and-build model of positive emotions with Snyder’s (1994) theory of hope, the present prospectively designed study sought to examine positive mood as a predictor of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being (e.g. life satisfaction, psychological well-being), and to determine if hope agency and pathways accounted for any prospective association identified between positive mood and indices of well-being. One hundred and thirty-six adults completed a measure of positive mood at Time 1, a measure of hope agency and pathways at Time 2 (1 month later), and measures of well-being at Time 3 (2 months later). Results of mediation testing indicated that hope agency, but not hope pathways, had indirect effects on each of the three indices of well-being examined. Taken together, these prospective findings provide further evidence for the importance of positive mood in building hope agency as an important explanation for how positive mood might foster well-being in adults.

A Cross-Level Theoretical and Empirical Model of Positive Emotions, Leader Identification, and Leader–Member Exchange

Abstract. Although leader–member exchange (LMX) has been widely studied, knowledge about how followers influence the LMX process remains unknown. By integrating the broaden-and-build theory (BBT) with the emotion as social information (EASI) theory, we develop a follower-centric multilevel model to investigate how followers' positive emotions have an impact on LMX via the mediating role of leader identification and the moderating role of leaders' positive emotions. We conducted a survey with 319 Chinese employees from 67 teams. The results indicated that leader identification served as a mediating factor in the relationship between followers' positive emotions and LMX. The work unit leaders' positive emotions strengthened the relationship between leader identification and LMX and moderated the mediated relationship among followers' positive emotions, leader identification, and LMX. Altogether, our findings inform new knowledge in terms of how followers may influence the development of LMX. We also help to extend the BBT and the EASI theory to the leadership context.

The role of positive emotions in child development: A developmental treatment of the broaden and build theory

ABSTRACTHistorically, research on emotions in childhood has been dominated by studies on negative emotions. Consequently, little research has been conducted on the role of positive emotions. Recently, an alternative model of emotion proposed that positive emotions broaden thought-action patterns and build social, intellectual, and physical resources. In this paper, we review studies that examined the emotion of joy in child development and use the Broaden and Build Theory of Positive Emotions as a guide. It is well known that basic emotions are present at birth or emerge within the first two years of life. Thus, a new model of positive emotions would benefit from an understanding of their role in early life and how their broadening and building functions begin. It is our contention that results from past, and future, research on positive emotions will illustrate an important developmental foundation for a lifespan of social, intellectual and physical advantages.

Positive emotions, hope, and life satisfaction in Chinese adults: a test of the broaden-and-build model in accounting for subjective well-being in Chinese college students

ABSTRACTThe present study sought to determine if the positive association between positive emotions and life satisfaction can be understood as a function of hope in Chinese. Consistent with the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions, we tested the hypothesis that positive affectivity, the disposition to experience positive emotions, would be associated with broadening hope agency, building hope pathways, or both, in a sample of 212 Chinese college students. Results examining for bootstrapped mediation testing with multiple mediators indicated that positive affectivity was indirectly associated with life satisfaction through hope agency, but not through hope pathways. In support for partial mediation, however, the association between positive affectivity and life satisfaction remained significant even after including hope components in the model. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

Examining the Relationship Between Positive Mood and Life Satisfaction in Easterners and Westerners: Is Feeling Good Associated with Building Agency, Broadening Pathways, or Both?

The present study sought to determine if the positive association between positive mood and life satisfaction can be understood as a function of hope. Consistent with the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions, we tested the hypothesis that positive mood would be associated with broadening hope agency, building hope pathways, or both, in Western and Eastern cultural groups, namely, in an adult sample of European Americans (N = 228) and Asian Indians (N = 192), respectively. Results examining for bootstrapped mediation testing with multiple mediators indicated one consistent pattern across both groups. Specifically, positive mood was indirectly associated with life satisfaction through hope agency, but not through hope pathways. In addition, the initial association between positive mood and life satisfaction became nonsignificant once hope was included as a mediator for Asian Indians, but not for European Americans. In contrast, positive mood remained a significant predictor of life satisfaction for European Americans. Overall, the present findings suggest that one pan-cultural way in which positive mood might foster life satisfaction is by activating people’s belief that they have the ability to achieve their future goals. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

An Examination of the Broaden-and-Build Model of Positive Emotions in Military Marriages: An Actor-Partner Analysis

How emotional and cognitive processes combined to produce resilience in military marriages post-combat deployments was examined using the “broaden-and-build model of positive emotions” with 40 military couples. The model suggests that positive emotions expand, and negative emotions impede cognitive processes. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, the association between positive and negative emotions on insight-causation was examined. Actor and partner effects were found for service members’ positive emotions and spouses’ negative emotions but not for service members’ negative emotions and spouses’ positive emotions. Service members’ actor and partner effects were significantly stronger than those of their spouses. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Positive emotions, coping strategies and ego-resiliency: A mediation model

We conducted the present study in the light of the Broaden-and-Build Model of Positive Emotions (Fredrickson, 2001) which contends that broad-minded coping is the cause and the consequence of positive emotions experiencing and that these affective states build ego-resiliency. The purposes of this research were to test, on a sample of 113 workers, a mediation model in which three adaptive coping strategies were predictor variables, ego-resiliency was the criterion variable and positive emotions the mediator. Mediation modelling revealed indirect effects, in that both approach coping and self-help coping predict positive emotions experiencing which, in turn, foster ego-resiliency. Accommodation coping directly predicts ego-resiliency without the mediation of positive emotions.

Relationships among depressive symptoms, benefit-finding, optimism, and positive affect in multiple sclerosis patients after psychotherapy for depression.

While many patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience psychological problems, such as depression, benefit-finding is commonly reported. Using the Broaden-and-Build Model of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 2001) and the Expectancy-Value Model of optimism (Carver & Scheier, 1998) as two related, yet, distinct conceptual frameworks, this study examined positive affect and optimism as mediators of the relationship between improved depression and enhanced benefit-finding. MS patients (N=127), who participated in a larger, randomized clinical trial comparing two types of telephone psychotherapy for depression, were assessed at baseline, midtherapy (8 weeks), end of therapy (16 weeks), and 6- and 12-month posttherapy. Depression was measured with a telephone administered version of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; Positive Affect was measured with the Positive Affect Subscale from the Positive and Negative Affect Scale; Optimism was measured with the Life Orientation Test-Revised; Benefit-Finding was measured with the revised version of the Stress-Related Growth Scale. Data were analyzed with multilevel random-effects models, controlling for time since MS diagnosis and type of treatment. Improved depression was associated with increased benefit-finding over time. The relationship between improved depression and benefit-finding was significantly mediated by both increased optimism and increased positive affect. Findings provide support to both theoretical models. Positivity appears to promote benefit-finding in MS.

The Happy/Productive Worker Thesis Revisited

For decades, since at least the famous Hawthorne studies, the happy/productive worker thesis has forcefully captured the imagination of management scholars and human resource professionals alike. According to this “Holy Grail” of management research, workers who are happy on the job will have higher job performance, and possibly higher job retention, than those who are less happy. But what is happiness? Most typically, happiness has been measured in the management sciences as jobsatisfaction. This viewpoint is unnecessarily limiting. Building upon alittle remembered body of research from the 1920s, we suggest a twofold, expanded view of this thesis. First, we suggest the consideration of worker happiness as psychological well-being (PWB). Second, incorporating Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build model ofpositive emotions as the theoretical base, we suggest that the job satisfaction to job performance and job satisfaction to employee retentionrelationships may be better explained by controlling for the moderating effect of PWB. Future research directions for human resource professionals are introduced.

Developing the Psychological Capital of Resiliency

In these turbulent times, we propose the importance of developing the psychological capital dimension of resiliency. After providing the theoretical background and meaning of psychological capital in general and resiliency in particular, the authors present proactive and reactive human resource development (HRD) strategies for its development. The proactive HRD includes increasing psychological assets, decreasing risk factors, and facilitating processes that allow human resources to enhance their resilience. The reactive HRD largely draws from a broaden-and-build model of positive emotions and self-enhancement, external attribution, and hardiness. The article includes specific guidelines for HRD applications and an agenda for future needed research.

Can positive emotion influence problem-solving attitudes among suicidal adults?

Middle East Technical UniversityM. David RuddBaylor UniversityA client's mood can hinder or enhance treatment and its effectiveness. Positive emotions can encourageexploration and experimentation, and they may have the long-term effect of resource building. The purposeof the present study was to assess this perspective as applied to the treatment of suicidal individuals. Theauthors found that patients prone to positive moods, as compared with those less prone to such moods,displayed more positive problem-solving attitudes following treatment for suicidal symptoms, and, partly asa function thereof, displayed enhanced treatment response. These findings suggest that clinicians may improvetheir chances of achieving successful treatment outcomes if they present skill-building treatments duringwindows of positive mood for the client, rather than in times of crisis.Suicidality represents an interesting yet challenging area forclinical practitioners. For at least two reasons, the interconnectionsbetween suicidality, problem-solving, and mood appear to beclinically important. First, suicidality has been linked to problem-solving deficits (Schotte & Clum, 1982), and skill-based treat-ments appear to be effective in reducing suicidal behavior (Rudd,Joiner, & Rajab, 2000; Rudd et al., 1996). Second, although thereis no question that people in suicidal crises experience predomi-nantly negative moods, suicidal crises are time limited, and muchof therapy is conducted once the crisis subsides, when patients'range of moods is broader. In the course of therapy with suicidalpatients, then, positive moods may well occur, and according to thelogic of the broaden-and-build model (Fredrickson, 1998), mayrepresent windows of opportunity for problem-solving skillacquisition.In her broaden-and-build model of positive emotions, Fredrick-son (1998) proposed that emotions such as joy, interest, andcontentment have the momentary effect of broadening cognitionand behavior, so that exploration, experimentation, and play aremore likely. Furthermore, because positive emotions subserveexploration and experimentation, they have the long-term effect ofresourc building. Through exploration and experimentation, newideas and actions are discovered, building up an individual'srepertoire of physical, intellectual, and social resources. Thebroaden-and-build model has accrued reasonable research support(Carnevale & Isen, 1986; Fredrickson, 1998; Isen, 1987; Isen,Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987; Kahn & Isen, 1993). Because of thisresearch support, and because of the model's emphasis on theinterconnections of mood and problem-solving skills, it deservesattention from clinicians interested in the interrelations of mood,THOMAS E. JOINER JR. received his PhD from the University of Texas atAustin in 1993. He is the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology at FloridaState University. His research interests include neurobiological, interper-sonal, and social-cognitive factors in suicidality and in mood, eating, andanxiety disorders.JEREMY W. PETTIT received his MS in psychology from Florida StateUniversity in 2000. He is currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psy-chology at the same institution. His major research interests are theetiology, phenomenology, and prevention of depression, suicide, and re-lated phenomena, with an emphasis on interpersonal and cognitive factors.MARISOL PEREZ received her MS in psychology from Florida State Uni-versity in 2001. She is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychologyat the same institution. Her research interests are eating disorders, suicide,and minority mental health.ANDREA B. BURNS received her BA in psychology from Willliams Collegein 1998. She is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at FloridaState University. Her research interests are in the interpersonal aspects ofdepression, gender, self-presentation, suicide, and eating disorders.TULIN GENCOZ received her PhD in 1996 from Hacettepe University,Ankara, Turkey. She is an assistant professor at Middle East TechnicalUniversity, Ankara, Turkey, and her current research interests includemoo d an anxiety disorders emotional intelligence.FARUK GENCOZ received his PhD in 1997 from Hacettepe University,Ankara, Turkey. He is an assistant professor at Middle East TechnicalUniversity, Ankara, Turkey, and his current research interests includeemotions in psychopathology, facial expression, stress, and smoking.M. DAVID RUDD received his PhD from the University of Texas at Austinin 1987. He is professor of psychology and director of clinical training atBaylor University. His research interests include suicidology and a range oftopics related to cognitive-behavior therapy.PORTIONS OF THIS WORK were supported by a grant from the NationalInstitute of Mental Health (MH48097) and by the Turkish Academy ofSciences.CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed toThomas E. Joiner Jr., Department of Psychology, Florida State University,Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1270. Electronic mail may be sent tojoiner@psy.fsu.edu.

What Good Are Positive Emotions?

This article opens by noting that positive emotions do not fit existing models of emotions. Consequently, a new model is advanced to describe the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment, and love. This new model posits that these positive emotions serve to broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire, which in turn has the effect of building that individual's physical, intellectual, and social resources. Empirical evidence to support this broaden-and-build model of positive emotions is reviewed, and implications for emotion regulation and health promotion are discussed.