BroadenandBuild1

PositiveEmotionsBroadenandBuild

BarbaraL.Fredrickson

UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill

Runninghead:BroadenandBuild

ChaptertoappearinVolume47ofAdvancesonExperimentalSocialPsychologyeditedbyE.

AshbyPlant&PatriciaG.Devine,

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Abstract

Thiscontributionoffersareview,comprehensivetodate,ofafifteen-yearresearch

programonthebroaden-and-buildtheoryofpositiveemotions.Althoughcenteredon

evidencethathasemergedfromFredrickson’sPositiveEmotionsandPsychophysiology

Laboratory(PEPLab),itfeatureskeyfindingsfromotherlaboratoriesaswell.Itbegins

withadescriptionoftenrepresentativepositiveemotions,alongsideapproachesfor

assessingthem,bothdirectlywiththemodifiedDifferentialEmotionsScaleandindirectly

throughphysiologicalandimplicitmeasures.Next,itofferstheseedsofthebroaden-and-

buildtheory,includingworkontheundoeffectofpositiveemotions.Itthenreviewsthe

stateoftheevidenceforthetwinhypothesesthatstemfromthebroaden-and-buildtheory,

thebroadenhypothesisandthebuildhypothesis,includingafocusonupwardspiral

dynamics.Ittouchesnextonnewfrontiersforthetheory,includingdeeperinvestigations

intothebiologicalresourcesthatpositiveemotionsbuildaswellasclinicaland

organizationalapplications.Finally,thiscontributioncloseswithabriefpresentationof

twooffshootsfromthebroaden-and-buildtheory,namely,theupwardspiralmodelof

lifestylechange,andworkonloveaspositivityresonancebetweenandamongpeople.Both

aretargetsofincreasingworkinthePEPLab.

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PositiveEmotionsBroadenandBuild

Fromitsverystart,psychologyhasharboredaninferioritycomplex.Despitethefact

thatbehavioralscientistsrelyonthescientificmethodandstrivingsforvalidandreliable

measuresjustasferventlyasdothoseworkinginthenaturalsciences,thiscomplex

persists.Psychologyhastoooftenplayedthesocialcomparisongame,lookinguptothe

naturalsciencesandmedicine,pressingitsnoseagainsttheglassceilingofthesehigh-

prestigeenterprises,whiletryingtoclimbawayfromanddistinguishitselffromthe

humanitiesandothersocialsciences,claiminggreaterempiricalvalidityandrelevancy.The

recenttrendtorenameacademicdepartmentsof“Psychology”asdepartmentsof

“PsychologicalScience”or“PsychologyandBrainScience”maywellreflectthisinsecurity

(Kihlstrom,2012).

Oneoutwardlegacyofthisdeep-seatedinferioritycomplexhasbeentostayclearof

topicsthatfallundertheumbrellaofhumanbehaviorandexperiencethataredeemedtoo

soft,frivolous,orethereal.Howeverintriguingtheymaybe,experiencesmarkedbylevity

ordelightwerelongignoredbypsychologists,perhapsforfearthattheymightsomehow

spoilanoutwardimpressionofrigororobjectivity.Forpsychologytobetakenseriouslyas

ascience,itseemed,requirednotonlythatitberigorousandobjective–byfollowingthe

principlesofthescientificmethod–butthatisalsoappearrigorousandobjectiveby

tacklingproblemsofgravenature,likementalillness,violence,orsocialostracism.

Itistruethatemotion,aconceptoftencastasethereal,wasanearlytopicwithin

psychology(e.g.,James,1884;Cannon,1929).Yetemotionalphenomenawereeventually

cordonedoffinthezeitgeistofbehaviorism,whoseproponentscatalogedthemas

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irrelevantandmisleadingepiphenomena(Skinner,1974),andderidedthosewhostudied

themasmentalists.Althoughafewunorthodoxpsychologistsventuredoffthebeatenpath

tostudyemotionsnevertheless(e.g.,SilvanTompkins,1962,whoseworkinspiredPaul

Ekman,CarrollIzard,amongothers),emotionssciencedidnotemergeasanorganized

subspecialtyuntilthemid1980s,asmarkedbytheformationoftheInternationalSociety

forResearchonEmotions(ISRE)in1984,thefirstmulti-disciplinaryprofessional

associationforscholarsspecializinginthisarea.It’sfairtosaythatinthethirtyyearssince,

researchonemotionshasexploded.

Yetevendecadesafteremotionsbecamearigorousandacceptedtopicofscientific

inquiry,psychology’sinferioritycomplexheldswaytokeepthefocusonthemostserious

ofemotions,namelyfear,anger,sadness,andthelike.Evendisgustmadeitswaytothe

fore(e.g.,Rozin&Fallon,1987).Itwasasifthelight-heartedemotionswithinthehuman

repertoiremightsomehowweakenthefibersofthecloakofrigorthathasbeenso

importantforpsychologytodon.Thisismysenseofhowpsychologycouldexistasa

scienceforanentirecenturybeforepsychologistswereallowedtotakeacloseempirical

lookatpositiveemotionswithoutjeopardizingtheirreputations.

Ihavehadthegoodfortunetoworkontheleadingedgeofthenewandamply

rigorousscienceofpositiveemotions.Togetherwiththestudentsandcollaboratorswho

haveworkedwithmeinmyPositiveEmotionsandPsychophysiologyLaboratory(PEPLab,

firstattheUniversityofMichiganandnowattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapel

Hill),Ihavesoughttocreateanevidence-basedunderstandingoflight-heartedmoments,

chartingtheirvariety,thewaystheychangehowthehumanmindworks,andhow,little-

by-little,theychangepeople’slives.Thiswasnotaneasyprogramofresearchtolaunch.

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Myfirstempiricalworkonpositiveemotionswasinfactrejectedcountlesstimesoverthe

spanofsevenyearsbeforeitsawpublication(i.e.,Fredrickson&Levenson,1998).While

serialrejectionsareneverpleasant,thisearlyresistancetaughtmeimportantlessonsboth

aboutscholarlyprecisionandaboutresilienceandpersistence.Thepurposeofthischapter

istoreviewthenowlongstandingPEPLabresearchprogramonpositiveemotions,

centeredonmybroaden-and-buildtheory,withdiscussionofrelevantstudiesfromother

laboratoriesaswell.Ibeginwithadescriptionofthevariousaffectivephenomenamy

collaboratorsandItarget.

TenRepresentativePositiveEmotions

Isetthestageforthisreviewbybrieflydescribingtenkeypositiveemotions.Thisis

bynomeansanexhaustivelist.Ichoosetofocusonthesetenemotionsnotonlybecause

theyarethetargetsofincreasingresearch,butalsobecauseevidencefromthePEPLab

suggeststhatthesetenareexperiencedrelativelyfrequentlyinpeople’sdailylife.Withone

importantexception,Idescribethemintheorderoftheirrelativefrequency,startingwith

thepositiveemotionspeopleappeartofeelmostoften,andmovingontothosethatthey

feelmorerarely.Theexceptionislove,whichinourstudiesemergesasthemost

frequentlyexperiencedpositiveemotion.Asdescribedbelow,Iseegoodreasonto

describeitlast.

Likeallemotions,positiveemotionsarebrief,multi-systemresponsestosome

changeinthewaypeopleinterpret–orappraise–theircurrentcircumstances.Whenthis

multi-systemresponseregistersthatcircumstancesaresomehowbadfortheself,a

negativeemotionarises,whenitregistersgoodprospectsorgoodfortune,apositive

emotionarises.Toforeshadowthebroaden-and-buildtheory,foreachofthesetenpositive

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emotions,Idescribe(a)theappraisalpatternsthattriggerit,(b)thebroadenedthought-

actionrepertoireitsparks,and(c)thedurableresourcesthatithelpstobuild.Table1

offerstheseinsummaryformacrossitsfirstfourcolumns.

Joy.Joyemergeswhenone’scurrentcircumstancespresentunexpectedgood

fortune.Peoplefeeljoy,forinstance,whenreceivinggoodnewsorapleasantsurprise.Joy

createstheurgetoplayandgetinvolved,orwhatFrijda(1986)termedfreeactivation,

definedasan“aimless,unasked-forreadinesstoengageinwhateverinteractionpresents

itself”(p.89).Thedurableresourcescreatedthroughplayaretheskillsacquiredthrough

theexperientiallearningitprompts.

Gratitude.Gratitudeemergeswhenpeopleacknowledgeanotherpersonasthe

sourceoftheirunexpectedgoodfortune.Joybecomesgratitude,forinstance,when

awarenessofone’sowngoodfortuneiscombinedwithadmirationforanotherpersonfor

thoughtfullygoingoutoftheirwaytocreatethatgoodfortune(Algoe,inpress).Gratitude

createstheurgetocreativelyconsidernewwaysbekindandgenerousoneself.The

durableresourcesaccruedwhenpeopleactonthisurgearenewskillsforexpressing

kindnessandcaretoothers.

Serenity.Alsocalledcontentment,serenityemergeswhenpeopleinterprettheir

currentcircumstancesasutterlycherished,right,orsatisfying.Peoplefeelserenity,for

instance,whentheyfeelcomfortable,ateasein,oratonewiththeirsituation.Serenity

createstheurgetosavorthosecurrentcircumstances,andintegratethemintonew

prioritiesorvalues.Thedurableresourcescreatedthroughsavoringandintegrating

includeamorerefinedandcomplexsenseofoneselfandofone’spriorities.

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Interest.Interestarisesincircumstancesappraisedassafebutofferingnovelty.

Peoplefeelinterest,forinstance,whentheyencountersomethingthatismysteriousor

challenging,yetnotoverwhelming.Interestcreatestheurgetoexplore,tolearn,to

immerseoneselfinthenoveltyandtherebyexpandtheself(Izard,1977;Silvia,2008).The

knowledgesogainedbecomesadurableresource.

Hope.Whereasmostpositiveemotionsariseincircumstancesappraisedassafe,

hopeistheexception.Hopearisesindirecircumstancesinwhichpeoplefeartheworst,yet

yearnforbetter(Lazarus,1991).Peoplefeelhope,forinstance,ingrimsituationsinwhich

theycanenvisionatleastachancethatthingsmightchangeforthebetter.Hopecreatesthe

urgetodrawonone’sowncapabilitiesandinventivenesstoturnthingsaround.The

durableresourcesitbuildsincludeoptimismandresiliencetoadversity.

Pride.Prideemergeswhenpeopletakeappropriatecreditfromsomesocially-

valuedgoodoutcome.Peoplefeelpride,forinstance,whentheyaccomplishanimportant

goal(Tracy&Robins,2007).Pridecreatestheurgetofantasizeaboutevenbigger

accomplishmentsinsimilararenas.Thebigdreamssparkedbypridecontributetothe

durableresourceofachievementmotivation(Williams&DeSteno,2008).

Amusement.Amusementoccurswhenpeopleappraisetheircurrent

circumstancesasinvolvingsomesortonnon-serioussocialincongruity.Itcanerupt,for

instance,inthewakeofaharmlessspeecherrororphysicalblunder.Amusementcreates

urgestosharealaughandfindcreativewaystocontinuethejoviality.Aspeoplefollow

theseurges,theybuildandsolidifyenduringsocialbonds(Gervais&Wilson,2005).

Inspiration.Inspirationariseswhenpeoplewitnesshumanexcellenceinsome

manner.Peoplefeelinspired,forinstance,whentheyseesomeoneelsedoagooddeed,or

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performatanunparalleledlevel.Inspirationcreatestheurgetoexceloneself,toreach

one’sownhighergroundorpersonalbest.Thedurableresourceitbuildsisthemotivation

forpersonalgrowth(Algoe&Haidt,2009;Thrash&Elliot,2004).

Awe.Aweemergeswhenpeopleencountergoodnessonagrandscale.Peoplefeel

awe,forinstance,whenoverwhelmedbysomething(orsomeone)beautifulorpowerful

thatseemslargerthanlife.Theexperienceofawecompelspeopletoabsorband

accommodatethisnewvastnessthey’veencountered.Thedurableresourcesawecreates

arenewworldviews(Shiota,Keltner,&Mossman,2007).

Love.Love,whichappearstobethepositiveemotionspeoplefeelmostfrequently,

ariseswhenanyotherofthepositiveemotionsisfeltinthecontextofasafe,interpersonal

connectionorrelationship.Iwillofferaricherdescriptionoflovelaterinthischapter,

whenIdiscusspositivityresonanceasanoffshootofthebroaden-and-buildtheory.For

now,sufficeittosaythatasanamalgamofotherpositiveemotions,lovebroadensthought-

actionrepertoiresbothinan“alloftheabove”manner,andbycreatingmomentary

perceptionsofsocialconnectionandself-expansion.Likewise,lovebuildsawiderangeof

enduringresources,especiallysocialbondsandcommunity.

AssessmentApproaches

Myempiricalapproachhasbeentoassesseachofthesepositiveemotionsvia

people’sself-reportsoftheirownsubjectiveexperiences,whetherinresponseto(a)an

emotioninductionpresentedinthelaboratory,(b)arepeatedend-of-daysurveyoftheir

experiencesoverthepast24hours,or(c)aquestionnaireinquiringabouttheiremotional

experiencesoverthepasttwoweeks.Todothis,thePEPLabusesavariantofthemodified

DifferentialEmotionsScale(mDES,seeAppendix;Fredrickson,Tugade,Waugh,&Larkin,

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2003)selectedtofitthetemporalframeofagivenstudydesign.ThemDESiexpandedon

theDifferentialEmotionsScale(DES;Izard,1977)toincludeafarwidersetofpositive

emotions.IcreatedthemDEStobeamoreencompassingmeasureofpositiveemotions

thanthemorecommonlyusedPANAS,whichexclusivelytargetshighactivationpositive

affectivestates(Watson,Wiese,Vaidya,&Tellegen,1999).LiketheDESbeforeit,themDES

usesatrioofemotionadjectivestocaptureeachemotion.ThefifthcolumninTable1

presentstheparticulartriousedinthemDESforeachofthetenpositiveemotionsinturn.

Basedonevidencethatpeoplearebetteratrecallingpeakemotionalexperiencesthanthey

areataggregatingacrossmultipleaffectiveepisodes(Fredrickson&Kahneman,1993;

Kahneman,Fredrickson,Schreiber,&Redelmeier,1993),wetypicallyaskrespondentsto

indicate“thegreatestamountthatyou’veexperiencedeachofthefollowingfeelings”

(responseoptions:0=notatall;1=alittlebit;2=moderately,3=quiteabit;and4=

extremely).Attimes,however,weinquireaboutthefrequencyofexperience,byasking

respondents“Howoftendidyoufeel_______?”(responseoptions:0=never;1=rarely;2=

someofthetime;3=often;4=mostofthetime).Dependingonourempiricalapproach,we

askrespondentstothinkbacktoaparticularlaboratoryprocedure(e.g.,agivenfilmor

activity),thepast24hours,orthepasttwoweeks.Inallcases,eachof20distinctemotions

isrepresentedbyatrioofaffectiveadjectives.Thoseforthepositiveemotionsaresupplied

inTable1(researchersinterestedinusingthemDESmaydownloadvariousversionsfrom

thePEPLabwebsite,www.PositiveEmotions.org).WhileattimesmycollaboratorsandI

examineindividualitemsofthemDEStoexploretheeffectsofspecificemotionsor

laboratoryinductions,mostoftenweaggregatethe10positiveand10negativeemotion

itemsseparatelytocreateindependentpositiveandnegativeemotionscores,respectively.

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Thesescalesyieldhighinternalreliability,rangingfrom.82to.94(Cohn,Fredrickson,

Brown,Mikels,&Conway,2009;Fredrickson,Cohn,Coffey,Pek,&Finkel,2008).

Beyondtheexplicitself-reportsofemotionexperiencecapturedbythemDES,inour

laboratory-basedstudiesmyPEPLabregularlyusesfacialelectromyography(EMG)to

capturethefrequencyofDuchennesmiles,usinganewdata-reductiontechnique

developedbyformerstudentsKareemJohnsonandChristianWaugh(Johnson,Waugh,&

Fredrickson,2010).Tofurthercircumventdemandeffects,we’vealsousedarangeof

implicitmeasuresofpositiveaffect(e.g.,lexicaldecisiontask,LDT,Niedenthal,Halberstadt,

&Setterlund,1997;affectmisattributionprocedure,AMP,Payne,Cheng,Govorun,&

Stewart,2005).WealsodeployaversionofRussell’sAffectGrid(Russell,Weiss,&

Mendelsohn,1989)especiallywheninneedofdensely-repeatedmeasuresofemotion

withinasinglelaboratoryvisit.WemodifytheAffectGridbyrevisingtheemotion

adjectivesthatappeararoundthegrid’sperimetertobestfitourcurrentempirical

objectives.Idirectreadersinterestedinadeeperdiscussionofemotionmeasurementtoa

chapterRandyLarsenandIwroteonthistopicforaneditedvolumeonwell-being(Larsen

&Fredrickson,1999).

SeedsoftheBroaden-and-BuildTheory

TheUndoEffectofPositiveEmotions

Ibeganmyformalstudyofemotionsasapost-doctoralfellowintheearly1990s,

supportedbytheNIMHtraininggrantonemotionsledbyPaulEkmanandRichardLazarus.

Myintellectualcuriosityaboutpositiveemotionswaspiquedbythesimplefactthatthey

weresorarelydiscussedintheexistingempiricalliterature.WorkingwithRobert

LevensonatUCBerkeley,IbecamecaptivatedbythetwosentencesLevensonhaddevoted

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topositiveemotionsinachapterhe’dwrittenonbestpracticesforinvestigatingwhether

specificdiscreteemotionscarrieduniqueautonomicsignatures.Indiscussingthecrucial

issueofhowtoselectanappropriatebaselineagainstwhichtoexaminethephysiological

effectsofdistinctemotions,hewrote“…theevolutionarymeaningofpositiveemotions

suchashappinessmightbetofunctionasefficient‘undoers’ofstatesofANS[autonomic

nervoussystem]arousalproducedbycertainnegativeemotions.Totestthishypothesisa

reasonablebaselineconditionfortheinvestigationofANSconcomitantsofhappiness

wouldbeonethatproducesapriorstateoffear,angerorsadness.”(Levenson,1988,p.25).

Indeed,priorworkbyLevensonandcolleagueshadexaminedtheautonomiceffectsof

“happiness”assessedagainstthemorecommonlyusedbaselineofneutralaffect

(Levenson,Carstensen,Friesen,&Ekman,1991;Levenson,Ekman,&Friesen,1990).

Resultsofthisearlierworkshowedessentiallynoautonomicsignaturewhatsoeverforthis

positiveemotion,whichseemedapuzzle.

Soatthestartofmypost-doctoralfellowship,inthefallof1990,LevensonandI

designedaninitiallaboratoryexperimenttotestthisundohypothesis(Fredrickson&

Levenson,1998).AsLevensonhadproposed,weexaminedtheeffectsofpositiveemotions

againstthebackdropofanegativeemotion,inthiscasefear.Wedid,ofcourse,alsoinclude

apriorneutralbaselinetoestablishtheeffectsofourfearinduction.Weusedashortvideo

clipthatcapitalizedonafearofheights,tocreateacommonnegativeemotioninall

participants,whowerefemalestudentsattheUniversityofBerkeley.Theclipshoweda

maninchingalongtheouterledgeofahigh-rise,huggingthesideofthebuilding;atone

pointheloseshisfooting,graspsatwhateverhecananddangleshighabovetraffic,

strugglingtokeepfromdroppingtohiscertaindeath.

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Frompretestingweknewthatthisshortclip,just83secondslong,waseffectivein

inducingfearspecifically.Participantsinthisexperimentreportedtheirownsubjective

experiencesofemotionbymanipulatingaratingdialwhosepointermovedonacontinuous

180-degreescale,labeledfrom“verynegative”(0)to“neutral”(~4.5)to“verypositive”(9).

Duringtheirpre-videorestingbaselineperiod,meanratingdialreportswerenear5(very

slightlypositive),whereasduringthishigh-riseledgeclipparticipants’ratingsdroppedto

about3(negative).Moreimportantlyfortestingtheundohypothesis,participantsalso

experiencedsignificantcardiovascularreactivitytothisvideoclip,with3of4

cardiovascularmeasuresshowingsignificantchangerelativetorestingbaseline,namely,

heartrate;fingerpulseamplitude,anindexofperipheralvasoconstriction;andpulse

transmissiontimetotheear,acorrelateofbloodpressure.Pulsetransmissiontimetothe

fingerwasalsomeasured,butdidnotshowsignificantchangeduringthefearclipandso

wasnotusedwithinouraggregateindexofcardiovascularrecoveryinthisinitialstudy.

Wetestedtheundohypothesisbyrandomlyassigningparticipantstoviewoneof

fourdifferentshortvideoclipsimmediatelyfollowingthefear-inducingledgeclip.From

pretesting,weknewthattwoofthefourclipsevokedtwodifferentpositiveemotions,

amusementandcontentment.Theseclipspresentedimagesofapuppyplayingandocean

waves,respectively.Athirdwasknowntobeneutral,elicitingnoemotionwhatsoeverby

presentinga1990s-eracomputerscreensaver,andafourthwasknowntoelicitsadnessby

showingaboycryingatthedeathofhisfather.Importantly,thetwopositiveandthe

neutralclips,whenviewedfollowingastandardrestingbaseline,producevirtuallyno

cardiovascularsignatureswhatsoever(Fredrickson,Mancuso,Branigan,&Tugade,2000,

Study2).Thatis,there’snowaythatanyonecouldknow,justbylookingattheensuing

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physiologicalresponses,whethersomeonewerewatchingpuppies,waves,orasimple

screensaver.Wechosesadnessasanadditionalcomparisonconditionbecausealthoughit

producessmallincreasesinsympatheticactivation(Fredricksonetal.,2000),unlikeother

negativeemotions,itisnotassociatedwithanyhigh-actionmotorprogram(Fredrickson&

Levenson,1998),likefightorflightthatco-optsthesympatheticnervoussystem.Most

oftenitisassociatedwithinactivityordisengagementandassuch,onemightexpectit,too,

tospeedcardiovascularrecovery.

Soalthoughpositiveemotionsdonotappearto“do”anythingtothecardiovascular

system,whenviewedagainstthebackdropofpronouncednegativeemotionalarousal,the

positiveemotionsclearlystoodoutintheirabilityto“undo”lingeringcardiovascular

activation.Comparedtoeitherthoseintheneutralcondition,whotookabout40seconds

torecover,orthoseinthesadconditions,whotookabout60secondstorecover,thosein

theamusementandcontentmentconditionsshowedthefastestcardiovascularrecovery,

recoveringwithinabout20secondseach(Fredrickson&Levenson,1998,Study1).

Acrosstwosubsequentexperiments,conductedinmyownnewly-established

laboratoryattheUniversityofMichigan,mystudentsandIreplicatedthisexactpatternof

resultsusingsamplesmorediverseinage,gender,andethnicity.Wealsousedamore

activeandself-relevantwaytoinducetheinitialnegativeemotionbyhavingparticipants

preparetodeliveraspeechon“Whyyouareagoodfriend”underconsiderabletime

pressure,which,theyweretold,wouldbevideotapedforlaterevaluationbystudentsin

anotherstudy.Wealsoinstructedparticipantsthattherewasa50-50chancethat“the

computer”wouldselectthemtogivetheirspeechornot.If“bychance”theywerenot

selectedtogivetheirspeech,avideoclipwouldbeginonthemonitorthatwasplaced

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beforethem.Inactualitynoparticipantswereaskedtodelivertheirpreparedspeeches.

Thiscoverstorywasdevelopedbothtoboosttheanxietyofthespeechpreparationtask

andtojustifythequickswitchtoanunrelatedvideoclip.Whileourlaterexperimentsused

thesameclipstoelicitamusement,contentment,neutrality,andsadnessastheoriginal

Fredrickson-Levensonexperiment,weexpandedthearrayofcardiovascularmeasureswe

trackedtoincludebeat-by-beatassessmentsofbothsystolicanddiastolicbloodpressure.

Thespeechtaskproducedclearandpronouncedexperiencesofanxiety,asindicated

bothbyparticipants’self-reportsoftheirsubjectiveexperience,andbysignificantchanges

acrosstheentiresetof6cardiovascularmeasureswetracked,eachinthedirectionof

heightenedsympatheticarousal(Fredrickson,etal.,2000,Study1,Samples1and2).

Notably,usingdifferentsamples,differentcardiovascularmeasures,andadifferentinitial

negativeemotionfromwhichtorecover,twodistinctpositiveemotionsagainyielded

significantlyfasterrecoveryfromthecardiovascularsequelaeofnegativeemotions.

UsingarchivaldatathatI’dcollectedinLevenson’slabatUCBerkeley,Ialsotested

theundohypothesisusingamorespontaneousandecologicallyvalidpairingofnegative

andpositiveemotions.Peoplevaryintheirresponsestonegativeexperiences.For

whateverreasons,somepeoplesmileinthefaceofsadnessandadversitywhereasothers

donot.Weexploredwhetherthosewhosmiledduringanotablysadfilmclip(thefuneral

scenefromSteelMagnolias,clippedpriortothehumorousinterchanges),wouldshow

fastercardiovascularrecoveryaftertheclipended.Thosewhosmiledatleastonceduring

thesadclip,thedatasuggested,recoveredabout20secondsfasterthanthosewhonever

smiled(Fredrickson&Levenson,1998,Study2).

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WhereasLevensonhadsuppliedtheoriginalhypothesisthatlaunchedourresearch

ontheundoeffectofpositiveemotions,mycontributionwastodevelopatime-based

measureofcardiovascularrecoverywithfine-grainedtemporalresolution.Aswas

standardinLevenson’slab,wehadextractedsecond-by-seconddataonparticipants’

responsesduringtherestingbaselineaswellasduringthefilmsequencestheysaw.Using

thesedata,Icalculatedaconfidenceintervalaroundeachparticipant’sbaselinelevelof

activationdefinedbytheirmeanactivationoverthelast60-secondsofa2-minuteresting

baselineperiod,plusandminusonestandarddeviationofthatmean.Thisconfidence

intervalwasusedtocharacterizeeachparticipants’ownstateofemotionalquiescence.

Duringthefearclip,allparticipants’responsesmovedoutofthisrelaxedstate,aswouldbe

expectedwiththeexperienceoffear.Then,atthestartoftherandomly-assignedsecondary

videoclips,Icalculatedthetime,inseconds,foreachparticipants’cardiovascular

responsestoreturntowithintheconfidenceintervalthatrepresentedtheirownrelaxed

stateandremainwithinthisintervalfor5of6consecutiveseconds.Ididthisforeach

cardiovascularmeasurethathadshownreactivityinresponsetotheinitialnegative

emotionandthenaggregatedtherecoverytimesacrossdistinctcardiovascularmeasures.

Thisdatareductionapproachwas,atthetime,novel.Mostinvestigatorsassessedrecovery

indirectly,byre-assessingthemagnitudeofacardiovascularresponsesomeminuteslater

andtheninferringrecoveryfromanyevidentreductionsinreactivity.Ourmoresensitive

time-basedmeasureofcardiovascularrecoveryprecededthelaterandeventuallymore

sophisticatedappreciationforaffectivechronometry,theinvestigationofthetemporal

courseofemotionexperiences(e.g.,Davidson,1998;Waugh,Hamilton,&Gotlib,2010).

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Anoffshootofthisearlyworkontheundoeffectofpositiveemotionsemergedasan

auxiliarybranchofresearchonresilience.UsingBlockandKremen’s14-itemself-report

measureofEgo-Resilience(ER89;Block&Kremen,1996),wediscoveredthatpeoplewho

scorehigheronthisindexoftraitresilienceappeartospontaneouslyharnesstheundo

effectofpositiveemotionstoregulatetheirownnegativeemotionalexperiences.For

instance,whenfacedwiththesameanxiety-producingspeechpreparationtask,people

whoscorehigheronresilienceshowedsignificantlyfastercardiovascularrecovery.

Moreover,theirquickerrecoverywasmediatedbytheirgreatertendencytoexperience

positiveemotionsinresponsetothetask,intermixedwiththeiranxiety(Tugade&

Fredrickson,2004,Study1).

Inasecondstudy,byrandomassignmentwehadsomeparticipantreframethe

speechpreparationtaskasaninterestingchallengetoovercomeversusathreat.Underthe

typicalthreatinstructions,wereplicatedtheeffectwhereinpeoplewhoscorehigheron

BlockandKremen’sresiliencemeasureshowedfastercardiovascularrecovery.By

contrast,underchallengeinstruction,wefoundthatpeoplewhoscoredloweronresilience

showthesameswiftcardiovascularrecoveryastheirhighresilientcounterparts.

Moreover,theirspeedyrecoverywasmediatedbythegreaterpositiveemotionsthey

experiencedinresponsetothetaskalongsidetheiranxiety.Datafrombothstudiesbolster

theundoeffectofpositiveemotionsbysuggestingthatpositiveemotionsserveasuseful

resourcesforregulatingnegativeemotionalexperiencesindailylife.Beyondpromoting

cardiovascularquiescence,positiveemotionshavealsobeenfoundto(a)helpresilient

peoplefindpositivemeaningindifficultlifecircumstances(Tugade&Fredrickson,2004,

Study3),(b)bufferagainstdepressivesymptomsandfuelpost-crisisgrowthinthewakeof

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theSeptember11th,2001terroristattacks(Fredrickson,etal.,2003),and(b)helppeople

effectivelyrecoverfromstressbothindailylifeandduringbereavement(Ong,Bergeman,

Bisconti,&Wallace,2006).

TheBirthoftheBroaden-and-BuildTheory

Thetransitioninmyownthinkingfromtheundoeffecttothebroaden-and-build

theoryofpositiveemotionscarriesaninterestinglessonabouttheimportanceofhavingan

appropriatebalanceofpositivetonegativeemotionsforgenerativethinking.Asmyfirst

worktargetingpositiveemotions,mystudiesontheundoeffectignitedmyfascinationwith

theevolutionaryoriginsoftheselight-heartedstates.Withinthestillnewrenaissanceof

emotionsscience,verylittleworktargetedemotionswithapleasantsubjectivefeel.This

madepositiveemotionslargelyunchartedterrain,whichpresentedmyfavoritekindof

intellectuallandscape.Althoughit’snotalwayswisetotoilinareasunplowedbyothers,it

certainlyprovidesvastareastofreelyexploreandponder.

Inourfirstmusingsabouthowexistingemotiontheorywasperhapsunsuitablefor

thepositiveemotions,LevensonandIpointedoutthatthelynchpintheorythatspecific

emotionsactivatespecificactiontendenciesdidnotneatlyextendtothepositiveemotions

(Fredrickson&Levenson,1998).Theconceptofspecificactiontendencieshadbecomeso

centralwithinemotionssciencebecauseitsimultaneouslyexplainednotonlywhy

emotionsevokebodilychanges(tosupportspecificactionurges)butalsowhyemotions

exist(becausethesespecificactionshelpedhumanancestorssurvivespecificandrecurring

threatstolifeandlimb).

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Inthestretchofyearsduringwhichourinitialmanuscriptontheundoeffectwas

repeatedlysubmittedandrejected,Ihadtheopportunitytopresentmyresearchatthe

ISREmeetingin1996,heldinToronto.Theinvitationtopresentinthiscontextwasitself

unprecedentedbecause(atthetime)ISREmeetingswereopentomembersonlyand

membershiprequiredhavingatleast5publicationswithinemotionsresearch.AlthoughI

wasstartingmy2ndAssistantProfessorposition(havingjustmovedfromDukeUniversity

totheUniversityofMichigan),Iscarcelyhad5publications,letalone5publicationson

emotions.MotivatedinpartbythestringentmembershiprulesofISRE,anumberofmy

peershadformedaparallelacademicorganization,theEmotionsResearchGroup,orERG,

expresslyasaforumforearly-careeremotionsresearcherstohelpcultivateandrefine

eachother’swork.AsERGgainedmomentum,theleadershipatISREdecidedtomakean

exceptiontotheirstandardmembershiprequirementanddeemedallmembersofERGto

bemembersofISRE.Insodoing,JamesGross,thenERGPresidentwasinvitedtoorganize

asymposiumon“NewVoicesinEmotionsResearch”forthe1996ISREmeeting.Itwas

unprecedentedforacollectionofsuchjuniorresearcherstohaveareasonablylarge

audienceatthismeeting.ItwasbasedonthissymposiumthatPeterSalovey,then-editorof

thenewAPAJournal,ReviewofGeneralPsychology,invitedthoseofuswhopresentedto

puttogetheraSpecialIssueonemotionsresearchforVolume2ofhisnewjournal.

Althoughour“NewVoices”symposiumwaswellreceived,itwasnotwithoutsharp

criticism.Thesharpestofwhich,asIrecall,wasdirectedatme.Afterpresentingmydata

ontheundohypothesis,I’draisedthepossibilitythatthecentralconceptofspecificaction

tendenciessimplydidn’tapplytothepositiveemotions.Whereasangerandfearsparkthe

urgetofightorflee,respectively,alongsideattendantautonomicactivation,amusement

BroadenandBuild19

andcontentmentdonotappeartoevokeanyparticularactionsorautonomicactivation.

Whatthen,Iwonderedaloud,mightbetheirevolvedfunction?Thefunctionofpositive

emotions,Ispeculated,maywelltoundothephysiologicalaftereffectsofnegativeemotions

andIsuggestedthatthedatathatIhadpresentedreflectedthisundoingfunction.

Aseniorscientistinattendancechallengedmewithnosmallamountofemotionin

hisvoice.HeclaimedthatIhadnobasistodescribeundoingasafunctionofpositive

emotions.Atbest,heargued,Icouldcallitan“effect.”Bothhiswordsandintonationhitme

hardandIleftthepodiumwithlessconfidenceandmoredoubtsthanI’dhadwhenI

approachedit.

Theunknowncritic’swordslingeredwithmeformonths.iiAsIwaspreparingto

writemycontributiontotheinvitedRGPSpecialIssue,Isetmygoaltodevelopaproper

evolutionaryargumentforthefunctionofpositiveemotions.Ireadtheevolutionary

psychologistsoftheday(particularlyBarkow,Cosmides,&Tooby,1992;Nesse,1990;

Tooby&Cosmides,1990),andgatheredupasmanyofthedisparatestrandsofevidence

thathadthenaccumulatedaboutpositiveemotionsasIcouldfind.Thisincludedworkby

MihalyiCsikszentmihalyi,AliceIsen,andothers.Ipuzzledoverhowmyownevidencefor

theundoeffectmightfittogetherwithIsen’sworkthatshowedthatpositiveemotions“give

risetoanenlargedcognitivecontext”(Isen,1987,p.222)andwithCsikszentmihalyi’s

suggestionthatflow,aformofpositiveemotionakintointerest,ismarkedbyamomentary

lossofself,andyetovertimeparadoxicallyaugmentstheself(Csikszentmihalyi,1990).

Guidedbythelogicofevolutionarytheorists,Ipaidcloseattentiontothecircumstancesin

whichpositiveemotionsoccur,andtheancestrallyrecurrentproblemsofadaptationfor

whichpositiveemotionsmighthaveservedasawell-designedsolution.Catalogingthe

BroadenandBuild20

widerangeofsituationsthatevokedpositiveemotionsmadeitcleartomethatthe

simplisticpairingofnegativeemotionswithsurvivalandpositiveemotionswith

reproductionwasinadequate.Intheend,Ialsodecidedthattheunknowncriticwasright.

Undoingwasunlikelytobetheevolvedfunctionofpositiveemotions.Itlookedinsteadbe

thebyproductofafarmoreconsequentialfunction.

Thefunctionofpositiveemotions,asshapedovermillenniabynaturalselection,I

cametoconclude,wastobuildanindividual’sresourcesforsurvival.Themeansbywhich

thisbuildfunctionwasachievedwasbyamomentarilybroadenedscopeofawareness,

creatingaformofconsciousnesswithinindividualsthatincludedawiderarrayofthoughts,

actions,andperceptsthantypical.Thismeantthatnegativeandpositiveemotionsalike

cametobepartofouruniversalhumannaturethroughselectivepressuresrelatedto

survival,albeitonvastlydifferenttimescales.Negativeemotionscarriedadaptive

significanceinthemomentthatourhumanancestors’experiencedthemastheirassociated

actionurges–e.g.,tofight,flee,orspit–drovebehaviorsthatsavedlifeandlimb.Positive

emotions,bycontrast,carriedadaptivesignificanceforourhumanancestorsoverlonger

time-scales.Havingamomentarilybroadenedmindsetisnotakeyingredientintherecipe

foranyquicksurvivalmaneuver.Itis,however,intherecipefordiscovery,discoveryof

newknowledge,newalliances,andnewskills.Inshort,broadenedawarenessledtothe

accrualofnewresourcesthatmightlatermakethedifferencebetweensurvivingor

succumbingtovariousthreats.Resourcesbuiltthroughpositiveemotionsalsoincreased

theoddsthatourancestorswouldexperiencesubsequentpositiveemotions,withtheir

attendantbroadenandbuildbenefits,thuscreatinganupwardspiraltowardimproved

BroadenandBuild21

oddsforsurvival,health,andfulfillment.Figure1providesagraphicsummaryofthis

broaden-and-buildtheoryofpositiveemotions.

ThisiswhatIofferedasanewaccountoftheevolvedadaptivefunctionofpositive

emotionsinthatRGPSpecialIssue(Fredrickson,1998).Itstatedthatpositiveemotions

havebeenusefulandpreservedoverhumanevolutionbecausehavingrecurrent,yet

unbiddenmomentsofexpandedawarenessprovedusefulfordevelopingresourcesfor

survival.Little-by-littlemicro-momentsofpositiveemotionalexperience,although

fleeting,reshapewhopeoplearebysettingthemontrajectoriesofgrowthandbuilding

theirenduringresourcesforsurvival.Thebroaden-and-buildtheorydescribestheformof

positiveemotionsastobroadenawarenessandtheirfunctionastobuildresources.

Fromtheperspectiveofthefreshlyarticulatedbroaden-and-buildtheory,the

undoingeffectofpositiveemotionswasaby-productofthebroadeneffect.Totheextent

thatpositiveemotionsbroadenedanindividual’saccessiblerepertoireofthoughtsand

actionurges,theywouldalsoservetoloosentheholdthatanyparticularnegativeemotion

mightgainonanindividual’smindsetbyvirtueofitsassociatedurgeforspecificaction.

Onemarkerofthebody’spreparationforspecificactioniscardiovascularactivation.If,by

broadeningpeople’smindsets,positiveemotionscandismantlepreparationforspecific

actions,theyshouldalsoserveasefficientantidotesforthecardiovascularsequelaeof

negativeemotions.

Anotherstrandofevidencethatswayedmefromtakingundoingtobetheevolved

functionofpositiveemotionswasthewidearrayofcontextsinwhichpositiveemotions

occur.Iftheundoeffectcapturedthefunctionofpositiveemotions,thentheoccurrenceof

positiveemotionsincontextsnotcharacterizedbypriornegativitywouldneedspecial

BroadenandBuild22

explanation.Giventhatmostpositiveemotionsareexperiencedindependentlyfrom

negativeemotions,itseemedthatshouldbetheruletobeexplainedratherthanthe

exceptiontotherule.

Sothebroaden-and-buildtheorywasitselfevokedbypointedcriticismandmyown

initialnegativeemotionalresponsestoit.Yetmywishtobeopentothatcriticismand

learnfromitcoaxedmetoexpandthescopeofmythinkingaboutpositiveemotions,which

allowedmetodiscovermoreoftheirunsungvalue.Thesharpwordsfromthatsenior

scholaratISRE,then,becametheirritatinggrainofsandthatcommandedmyfocusuntilit

emergedassomethingmoreappealinganduseful.IndeedI’vecometoviewthe

developmentofthebroaden-and-buildtheoreticalframeworkasmypearlforhaving

generatedastringofhypotheses.Itmarkedaturnawayfromnearexclusivefocusonthe

undoeffectofpositiveemotionsandtowardamoreencompassingfocusontheirabilities

tobroadenmindsetsandbuildresources.

EvidencefortheBroaden-and-BuildTheory

TheBroadenHypothesis

Thebroadenhypothesis,drawnfromthebroaden-and-buildtheory,statesthat

positiveemotions,relativetonegativeemotionsandneutralstates,widenthearrayof

thoughts,actionurges,andperceptsthatspontaneouslycometomind.Thishypothesis

wasconsistentwith–andindeedinspiredby–theextensiveresearchprogramofthelate

AliceIsenandhercollaborators.Isenandcolleagues’workwasexemplaryfortworeasons.

First,shedidnotassumethatpositiveandnegativeemotionswere“opposites”andassuch

alwayscomparedtheeffectsofpositiveemotionstotheeffectsofneutralstatesintightly

controlledlaboratoryexperiments.Second,bolsteringgeneralizability,acrossstudiesshe

BroadenandBuild23

andhercolleaguesusedawiderangeoftechniquestoinducepositiveemotions,ranging

fromhavingparticipantsreadalistofpositivewords,viewcartoonsorashortcomedyclip,

hearsuccessfeedback,orhavingthemreceiveasmallbagofcandyasanunexpectedgift.

FromIsen’sexperiments,wecanconcludethatpeopleexperiencingpositiveemotions

showpatternsofthoughtthatarenotablyunusual(Isen,Johnson,Mertz,&Robinson,

1985),flexibleandinclusive(Isen&Daubman,1984;seealsoBolte,Goschke,&Kuhl,2003;

Dreisbach&Goschke,2004;andCompton,Wirtz,Pajoumand,Claus,&Heller,2004;),

creative(Isen,Daubman,&Nowicki,1987;seealsoPhillips,Bull,Adams,&Fraser,2002;

andRowe,Hirsh,&Anderson,2007),integrative(Isen,Rosenzweig,&Young,1991),open

toinformation(Estrada,Isen,&Young,1997),forward-lookingandhigh-level(Pyone&

Isen,2011),andefficient(Isen&Means,1983;Isen,etal.,1991).Isenandcolleagues’work

alsoprovidesevidencethatpositiveemotionsbroadenpeople’sactionurges,with

experimentsshowingincreasedpreferencesforvarietyandopennesstoawiderarrayof

behavioraloptions(Kahn&Isen,1993;seealsoRenninger,1992)

Fromtheperspectiveofthebroaden-and-buildtheory,Ireasonedthatthecognitive

andbehavioraleffectsofpositiveemotionsthatIsenandcolleagueshadpreviously

uncoveredwerethedownstreamconsequencesofamorebasiccognitiveshift,onein

whichtheboundariesofawarenessstretchopenabitfurtherduringpositiveemotional

experiences,enablingpeopletoconnectthedotsbetweendisparateideasandtherebyact

creatively,flexibly,andwithgreatersensitivitytofuturetimehorizons.Althoughaslim

amountofpriorevidencesupportedtheviewthatpositiveemotionsbroadenthescopeof

attention(seeBasso,Schefft,Ris,&Dember,1996;Derryberry&Tucker,1992;each

describedinFredrickson,1998;seealsoGasper&Clore,2002),conclusivenesswaslimited

BroadenandBuild24

becausethispriorworkdidnotincludeneutralcomparisonconditions.Notingthis,my

studentsandIsetouttotestthebroadenhypothesisadoptingmethodsfromcognitive

psychologythatcapturedthebreadthmomentaryawareness.

OneexperimentthatIconductedincollaborationwithChristineBranigan,for

instance,usedshortfilmclipstoinducepositive,negative,andneutralstatesinUniversity

studentparticipantsusingabetween-participantsdesign(Fredrickson&Branigan,2005,

Study1).Onestrengthofthisworkisthatwetestedtheeffectsoftwodistinctpositive

emotions(amusementandcontentment)andtwodistinctnegativeemotions(angerand

anxiety),eachrelativetoaneutralstate.Ourdependentmeasureofthescopeof

participants’attentionwasavariantofaglobal-localvisualprocessingtask,firstdeveloped

byNavon(1977;seeFigure2).Immediatelyafterviewingtherandomly-assignedvideo

clip,participantswereshownatriooffiguresandaskedtochoosewhichoftwo

comparisonfigures(onthebottom)wasmostsimilartothetargetfigure(thetop).While

therearenorightorwronganswers,onecomparisonfigurealwaysresembledthetarget

figureinitsglobalconfiguration(seelowerleftchoiceineachitemshowninFigure2),

whereastheothercomparisonfigurealwaysresembledthetargetfigureinitslocaldetail

elements(seelowerrightchoiceineachitemshowninFigure2).Pastworkhadshown

thatpersonalitytraitsassociatedwithnegativeemotions–namelyanxietyanddepression

–correlatedwithabiastochoosethelocaloption,consistentwithanarrowedscopeof

attention,whereastraitsassociatedwithpositiveemotions–namelysubjectivewell-being

andoptimism–correlatewithabiastochoosetheglobaloption,consistentwitha

broadenedscopeofattention(Basso,etal.,1996).Althoughourresultsfornegative

emotionswereinconclusive,thoseforpositiveemotionsclearlydemonstratedthat

BroadenandBuild25

temporarystatesoftwodistinctpositiveemotionsbroadenthescopeofattention:

Participantsinboththeamusementconditionandthecontentmentconditionchosethe

globaloptionsignificantlymoreoftenthanthoseintheneutralcondition(Fredrickson&

Branigan,2005,Study1).

Inasecondexperimentthatusedthesamesampleandsamefivevideoclipsto

inducepositive,negative,andneutralstates,weexaminedthebreadthofparticipants’

actionurgesusingathoughtlistingtask(Fredrickson&Branigan,2005,Study2).

Specifically,afterthevideoclipended,participantswereaskedtodescribe,inawordor

two,thestrongestemotiontheyfeltwhileviewingtheclip.Then,theywereaskedtostep

awayfromthespecificsofthevideoclipandimaginebeinginasituationinwhichthis

particularemotionwouldarise,andthen“giventhisfeeling,pleaselistallthethingsyou

wouldliketodorightnow.”Participantswerethengivenaformwith20blanklinesthat

beganwith“Iwouldliketo_____.”Wesimplytalliedthenumberofstatementscompleted

asanindexofthebreadthofparticipants’thought-actionrepertoire.Figure3presentsthe

results.Wefoundthatpositiveemotions,relativetoboththeneutralstateandthenegative

emotions,broadenedpeople’srepertoireofactionurges.Inthissecondexperimentwe

alsofoundmarginalevidencethatnegativeemotions,relativetotheneutralstate,

narrowedpeople’srepertoireofactionurges(Fredrickson&Branigan,2005,Study2).

Inlaterstudies,againwithUniversitystudents,weusedfacialEMGtomeasurethe

frequencyofparticipants’Duchenne(genuine)smilesduringemotioninductionsand

relatedsmilefrequencytochangesintheirperformanceoncognitivetestsofattentional

breadthandattentionalflexibility(Johnsonetal.,2010).Inthefirstoftwostudies,we

examinedfacialEMGdatawhileparticipantsviewedoneofseveralrandomly-assigned

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videoclipsknowntoelicitthepositiveemotionsofjoyorcontentment,thenegative

emotionsofangerorsadness,oremotionalneutrality.Thedependentmeasureinthis

studywasareaction-timebasedmeasureofglobal-localvisualprocessingadministeredat

baselineandthenagainfollowingtheemotioninduction.Inthistask,participantswere

shownalarge“T”(presentedupright,inverted,ororientedtowardtherightortheleft)

madeupofsmallerimagesoftheletter“T”(allalsoeitherupright,inverted,ororientedto

therightortheleft).Participantsweretoindicate,asquicklyandaccuratelyaspossible,

whethereitherthelargeorsmallerletterswereuprightorinverted.Resultsshowedthat

participantswithfrequentDuchennesmilesshowedasignificantlylargerchange(relative

totheirownbaselinescores)intheirbiastowardglobaltargets(Johnsonetal.,2010,

Experiment1).Inasecondstudy,weusedfacialEMGtoidentifytheDuchennesmiles

emittedwhileparticipantsreadaseriesof25self-relevantstatementswrittentoinduce

elation,anger,orneutralitywhilelisteningtoemotionally-consistentmusic.Thedependent

measureinthisstudywasacovertattentionalorientingtask,developedbyPosner(1980),

againadministeredbothatbaselineandfollowingtheemotioninduction.Participants’task

wastorespond,asquicklyandasaccuratelyaspossible,totargetsthatappearedoneither

sideofacentralfixationpoint.Onsometrialsthesetargetswereuncued,whereasonother

trialstheywereprecededbyabriefvisualcuethatwaseithervalidorinvalid,meaningthat

itappearedeitheronthesameoroppositesideastheensuingtarget,respectively.

Changesinattentionalflexibilitywereindexedbychangesinthevalidityeffect,calculated

asthedifferencebetweenreactiontimestotargetsprecededbyvalidversusinvalidcues.

ResultsshowedthatparticipantswithfrequentDuchennesmilesshowedthegreatest

increasesinattentionalflexibility(Johnsonetal.,2010,Experiment2).

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Takentogether,thesetwostudiesprovideevidencethatpositiveemotions,as

indexedbythefrequentexpressionofgenuine(Duchenne)smiles,forecastbroadened

cognition,namelyholisticprocessingandattentionalflexibility.Notably,although,the

randomly-assignedemotioninductiondidnotpredictcognitiveshiftsineitherofthesetwo

experiments,theseinductionsdidpredictthefrequencyofDuchennesmiles.Inturn,

frequentDuchennesmilespredictedcognitiveshifts.Importantly,ourstrategyofassessing

cognitiveprocessingatbothbaselineandfollowingtheemotioninductionallowedusto

concludethatsmilingperseappearstodrivetheobservedcognitiveshiftsratherthanany

stablepersonalitytraitsassociatedwithfrequentsmiling.Soevenincasesinwhich

people’sself-reportedemotionsdonotforecastchangesinthescopeoftheirattention,we

seethatfleetingchangesinfacialmuscleactivitydo.Smiling,then,doesn’tjustopenthe

face,italsoopensthemind.

Investigatorsinotherlaboratorieshavealsofoundevidencetosupportthebroaden

hypothesis.WadlingerandIsaacowitz(2006),forinstance,usedaneye-trackingapparatus

torecordthelocationanddurationofparticipants’gaze60timespersecondasthey

viewedasequenceof25arraysofimagesfromtheInternationalAffectivePictureSystem

(IAPS).Eacharrayincludedonecentralimageandtwoperipheralimagesinvarious

locations.Withinanysinglearray,imageswereofthesameaffectivevalence,butbetween

arrays,theimageswereselectedtoevokepositive,negative,orneutralaffectstates.Using

Isen’sclassictechnique,byrandom-assignment,universitystudentparticipantswere

inducedtofeeleitherapositiveemotionoraneutralstatebyreceivingasmallbagofcandy

eitherbeforeoraftertheeye-trackingtask.Specifically,theywereaskedtotakeintheslide

show“naturally,viewingwhateverinterestsyou–asifyouwerewatchingatelevision

BroadenandBuild28

show.”Comparedtothoseintheneutralcontrolcondition,participantsinapositive

emotionalstatechangedthefocusoftheirgazemorefrequently,andspentmoretotaltime

lookingatperipherally-locatedimages.Thesedatasuggestthatpositiveemotionsbroaden

thescopeofpeople’svisualattention.

Inaconceptuallyrelatedexperiment,Rowe,HirschandAnderson(2007)examined

theeffectsofpositiveandneutralstates,inducedthroughmusic,onbreadthofvisualand

semanticattention.Theyfoundthatrelativetosadandneutralstates,positivestatesnot

onlyincreasedthescopeofsemanticaccessonaremoteassociatestest(replicatingclassic

workbyIsenetal.,1987)butalsoincreasedthescopeofvisuospatialattentiononaflanker

task.Moreover,withinthepositiveemotioncondition,Roweandcolleaguesobserveda

significantassociationbetweenthespanofvisuospatialattentionandthespanofsemantic

attention,suggestingthatbroadenedvisualattentionundergirdsbroadenedsemantic

access(Roweetal.,2007).

Particularlycompellingevidenceforthebroadeneffectofpositiveemotionscomes

fromanelegantbrainimagingexperimentconductedbySchmitz,DeRosa,andAnderson

(2009).Theirempiricalapproachrestedonwell-validatedevidencefromcognitive

neurosciencethatoneparticularbrainarea,theextrastriatefusiformfacearea(FFA),

reliablyrespondstohumanfaces,whereasadistinctbrainarea,theparahippocampalplace

area(PPA)reliablyrespondstoplaceprocessing.Theyassessedthebreadthof

participants’fieldofviewinvisualcorticalencodingbyshowingthemaseriesofcompound

imagesthatfeaturedhumanfacesinacentrallocationsurroundedbyimagesofhouses.

Participantswereaskedtoindicatewhetherthefaceineachcompoundimagewasmaleor

female,whileignoringthehousethatsurroundedtheface.Positive,negative,orneutral

BroadenandBuild29

stateswereinducedinalternatingblocksusingIAPSimages.Thephysiologicalindicatorof

emotion-relatedchangesinscopeofparticipants’fieldofviewwasthechangesinblood

flowwithinthePPA.Consistentwiththebroadenhypothesis,resultsshowedgreater

activationinthePPAinthepositiveemotionconditions,relativetotheneutralcondition,

suggestingthatwhenundertheinfluenceofpositiveemotions,participantscan’thelpbut

takeinmoreofthecontextualsurround.Notably,thisstudyalsofounddecreased

activationinthePPAinthenegativeemotioncondition,relativetotheneutralcondition,

consistentwiththehypothesisthatnegativeemotionsnarrowpeople’sfieldofview

(Schmitzetal.,2009).

Intriguingevidenceconsistentwiththebroadenhypothesishasalsoemergedin

studiesofstrokepatientswithvisualneglectduetolesionsintheirparietalcortex.These

patientsareunabletoperceiveandactoninformationpresentedwithinthevisualfield

oppositethebrainlesion.Usingbothcontrolledbehavioraltasksaswellasbrainimaging,

researchersdiscoveredthatwhensuchpatientslistentopleasantmusic,theyovercome

theirlossofawareness.Thatis,theyaretemporarilyabletoseeandactoninformationthat

simplydoesn’tregisterforthemwhilenotlisteningtomusic,orwhenlisteningtomusic

theydon’tlike(Sotoetal.,2009).

Positiveemotionshavealsobeenlinkedwithbettersteeringperformancefor

participantsinadrivingsimulator,consistentwiththetheorythatbroadenedvisual

awarenesscontributesfavorablytosteeringperformance(Trick,Brandigampola,&Enns,

2012).Experimentsalsoshowthatrelativetonegativeemotionsandneutralstates,

positiveemotionsareassociatedwithbettertaskswitching,especiallywhenencountering

novelinformation(Wang&Guo,2008).

BroadenandBuild30

Evidencealsosuggeststhatthebroadeneffectofpositiveemotionsextendsintothe

socialdomain.Relativetothoseexperiencingneutralstates,peopleinducedtofeelpositive

emotionsexpandtheircircleoftrust(Dunn&Schweitzer,2005).Theyarealsomorelikely

toforminclusivesocialcategories(Dovidio,Gaertner,Isen,&Lowrance,1995;Isen,

Niedenthal,&Cantor,1992)andcommonin-groupidentitiessuchthattheyaremorelikely

tosee“them”as“us”(Dovidio,Isen,Guerra,Gaertner,&Rust,1998).Likewise,Johnsonand

Ifoundthatundertheinfluenceofinducedpositiveemotionstheown-racebiasinface

perceptiondisappearscompletely(K.J.Johnson&Fredrickson,2005).Consistentwith

thesedata,Nelson(2009)foundthat,comparedtothoseinneutralstatesornegative

emotions,peopleexperiencingpositiveemotionsshowgreaterperspective-takingand

compassionforapersonfromadissimilarculturalbackground.Theexperienceofpositive

emotionsalsopredictsthebreadthofconnection,assessedasself-otheroverlap,incoming

collegestudentsfeelwiththeirnewroommates,aswellasgreaterperspective-takingin

theirunderstandingoftheirroommates’actions(Waugh&Fredrickson,2006).

Beyondexpandingthescopeofpeople’svisual,semantic,andsocialawareness,

positiveemotionsalsoappeartobroadenpeople’sphysicaldemeanor.Instudies

conductedwithMelissaGross,weusedeffort-shapeandkinematicassessmentsto

characterizepeople’sbodymomentsduringdifferentemotionalstates.Participantswore

close-fittingexerciseclotheswith31lightweightsphericalmarkerstapedoveranatomical

landmarksandthenengagedinarangeofwarm-upactivities,Inalargelaboratory

equippedwithsixmotioncapturecameras,eachparticipantwalkedacrosstheroomas

theyrelivedpositive,negativeorneutralemotionalmemories(Gross,Crane,&Fredrickson,

2012).Thisstudyincludedtwodistinctpositiveemotions–joyandcontentment–and

BroadenandBuild31

eachwasmarkedbyamoreexpansivetorsoshape,comparedtoneutral,andamore

extendedneckandthorax,comparedtosadness.Conceivably,anuprightpostureofthe

upperbodyandneckwouldenableawiderscopeofvisualinformationandmorefreedom

ofmovementthanaflexedspine.Expandedbodiesmaytherebysupportexpanded

mindsetsandbehavioralrepertoires.Thesecommonalitiesalsoraisethepossibilityofa

commonneurologicalsourcefortheembodimentoftheopenheartsandopenmindsthat

arecharacteristicofpositiveemotions.

Boundaryconditionsofthebroadeneffecthavebeenuncoveredaswell.Workby

GableandHarmon-Jones(2008)forinstance,examinedparticipants’reactiontimesto

respondtoglobal-localvisualtargetsafterviewingeitherneutralimagesorimagesof

deliciousdesserts.Havingfoundlessglobalfocusofattentionafterpeopleviewdesserts

theseauthorsarguethatapproach-relatedpositiveaffectreducesthebreadthofattention,

aspeoplenarrowlyfocusonobtainingtheobjectoftheirdesire.Thesedataareconsistent

withthespeculationthatIhavemadethatpositiveemotionsaredistinctfromphysical

pleasures(Fredrickson,2001).Whilebothcarryapleasantsubjectivefeelingstate,Iposit

thatonlypositiveemotionsbroadenawareness.Byconsequence,then,itmaybethatonly

positiveemotions(andnotphysicalpleasures)arebecapableofhavingalong-termimpact

ontheaccrualofpersonalandsocialresources.Possiblyconsistentwiththisreasoning,

researcherswhohavetestedforthebroadeneffectfollowingthepleasuresinducedby

massagetherapyhavefoundnoevidenceforit(Finucane&Whiteman,2007).Ofcourse,

nullresultsareinherentlyambiguous,somyspeculationsaboutthepsychological

differencesbetweenpositiveemotionsandphysicalpleasuresawaitfurtherandmore

rigorousempiricaltest.

BroadenandBuild32

TheBuildHypothesis

Evidencethatsupportsthebroadeneffectofpositiveemotionsprovidesinitial

supportforthebroaden-and-buildtheory.Theformoftheexperienceofpositiveemotions,

thisevidencesuggests,isexpansive.Undertheinfluenceofpositiveemotionspeoplehave

widerperceptualaccess,widersemanticreach,moreinclusiveandconnectedsocial

perceptions,andmorerelaxedandexpansivebodilycomportment.Whiletheconnections

betweenandamongthesevariousformsofthebroadeneffectawaitfurtherinvestigation,

thebroaden-and-buildtheorypositsthatthefunctionoftheexpansiveformofpositive

emotionsistospurthedevelopmentofresources,placingpeopleonpositivetrajectoriesof

growth(Fredrickson,1998,2001,2005).Consistentwiththisbuildhypothesis,ample

researchhasshownthatpeoplewhoexperienceandexpresspositiveemotionsmore

frequentlythanothersaremoreresilient(Fredricksonetal.,2003),resourceful

(Lyubomirsky,King,&Diener,2005),sociallyconnected(Maussetal.,2011)andmore

likelytofunctionatoptimallevels(Fredrickson&Losada,2005;Maussetal.,2011).

Extendingbeyondsuchcorrelationalevidencelinkingpositiveemotionexperience

toresourcefulnessandoptimalfunctioning,prospectiveevidencemorespecificallylinks

positiveemotionalexperiencewithfutureincreasesinresourcefulnessandoptimal

functioning.Notably,thebroaden-and-buildtheorypositsthatpositiveemotions,although

fleeting,accumulateandcompoundovertimeinwaysthatincrementallybuildpeople’s

enduringresources.Assuch,testsofthebuildhypothesisdefytestwithinone-time

laboratorystudies,requiringinsteadthefrequentrecurrenceofpositiveemotional

experiencesplussufficienttimeforresourcestoaccrue.Anumberofstudiesthathavemet

thesecriteriahaveuncoveredevidenceconsistentwiththebuildhypothesis.Mystudents

BroadenandBuild33

andIfound,forinstance,thatdailyexperiencesofpositiveemotionspredictincreasesover

timeintraitresilience,whichareinturnassociatedwithimprovedlifesatisfaction(Cohn,

etal.,2009).Relatedly,Gableandcolleaguesfoundthatpositiveemotionalexchanges

betweenpartnerswithincloserelationshipsprospectivelypredictincreasesinrelational

resourcesoveratwomonthperiod(Gable,Gonzaga,&Strachman,2006;seealsoAlgoe,

Fredrickson,Gable,&Akers,2012).Studyingasampleofmultiplesclerosispatients,Hart

andcolleaguesfoundthatpositiveemotionspredictincreasesintheabilitytofindbenefit

inadversity(Hart,Vella,&Mohr,2008).

Akeyextensionoftheprospectivecorrelationalapproachtotestingthebuild

hypothesishasbeentoexplorewhetheranupwardspiraldynamicisproducedby

reciprocalprospectiverelationsbetweenpositiveemotionalityandincreasedpersonal

resources.Thatis,justasexperiencesofpositiveemotionsforecastincreasesinpersonal

resources,personalresourcesmayreciprocallyforecastincreasesovertimeinpositive

emotions.Thismutualinfluencerepresentstheupwardspiral,depictedinFigure1,that

leadstohigherlevelsofwell-beingandfunctioningovertime.

Inaninitialinvestigationintopositivity-triggeredupwardspiralprocesses,Thomas

JoinerandIexaminedthereciprocalrelationsbetweenpositiveemotionalexperienceand

thepsychologicalresourceofbroad-mindedcoping,whichcapturesthedegreetowhich

peoplecanstepbackfromtheircurrentproblemsandapproachthemfromabigpicture

perspective.Resultsrevealedboththatpositiveemotionspredictedincreasesovertimein

broad-mindedcoping,andthatbroad-mindedcopingpredictedincreasesovertimein

positiveemotions.Furtheranalysesrevealedthatthesetwovariablesseriallyinfluenced

eachother.Thatis,initiallevelsofpositiveemotionalitypredictedlaterlevelsofpositive

BroadenandBuild34

emotionalityinpartthroughchangesinbroad-mindedcoping;likewise,initiallevelsof

broad-mindedcopingpredictedlaterlevelsofbroad-mindedcopinginpartthrough

changesinpositiveemotionality(Fredrickson&Joiner,2002).

Subsequentworkhasreplicatedandextendedthisinitialevidenceforanupward

spiraldynamicbetweenpositiveemotionsandpersonalandsocialresourcesinmultiple

ways.ContinuingmycollaborationwithJoiner’sresearchteam,wefoundthatamore

encompassing,factor-analyticallyderivedindexofpositivecopingshowedthepredicted

reciprocalandserialrelationswithpositiveemotionsovertimeasdidanindexof

interpersonaltrust(Burnsetal.,2008).Exploringthebenefitsofmindfulnesstraining,Eric

Garland,SusanGaylordandIalsofoundsupportforupwardspiraldynamicsinthe

reciprocalrelationsamongpositivereappraisals,traitmindfulness,andemotionalwell-

being(Garland,Gaylord,&Fredrickson,2011).Inalongitudinalassessmentof258

secondaryschoolteachers,Salanovaandcolleaguesfoundthatpositiveemotionsatwork

(indexedasflowandintrinsicmotivation)werereciprocallyrelatedbothtopersonal

resources(indexedasself-efficacybeliefs)aswellastoorganizationalresources(indexed

associalsupportandcleargoals)inanupwardspiraldynamic(Salanova,Bakker,&

Llorens,2006;seerelatedworkon"gaincycles"describedinOuweneel,LeBlanc,&

Schaufeli,2011;Salanova,Schaufeli,Xanthopoulou,&Bakker,2010,andSalanova,Llorens,

&Schaufeli,2011).

Takingadeeperlookintohowtoday’soptimalfunctioningbegetsfutureincreases

inoptimalfunctioningthroughtheexperienceofpositiveemotions,LahnnaCatalinoandI

examinedtheprospectiveandreciprocalrelationsamongflourishingmentalhealth,

positiveemotionality,andthecognitiveresourceofmindfulness(Catalino&Fredrickson,

BroadenandBuild35

2011).Wefoundthatpeoplewhoflourishstandapartfromtheirnon-flourishingpeersin

themagnitudeofthepositiveemotionalboosttheygetoutofeverydaypleasantevents,

suchashelpingothers,interacting,playing,learning,andspiritualactivity.Thesebigger

“boosts”inday-to-daypositiveemotionforecastgreatergainsovertimeinthecognitive

resourceofmindfulness,whichinturnpredictsincreasedlevelsofflourishinginan

upwardspiraldynamic.

Inourfirstattempttoinvestigatethephysiologicalsubstrateofupwardspiral

dynamics,BethanyKokandIlookedattheprospectiveandreciprocalrelationsbetween

positiveemotionalityandthephysicalresourceofcardiacvagaltone(Kok&Fredrickson,

2010).Vagaltoneisassessedastheveryslightyetfunctionalarrhythmiainheartrate

associatedwithrespiration,markedbyadecreaseinheartrateduringexhalationrelative

toinhalation(Grossman,1983).Asakeymeasureofparasympatheticinfluenceonthe

heart,vagaltoneisofparticularinterestnotonlybecauseithasbeenrelatedtotrait

positiveemotionality(Oveisetal.,2009),butalsobecauseofitsstrongtiestobothphysical

andmentalhealth(Porges,2007;Thayer&Sternberg,2006).Thatis,vagaltonefunctions

asapersonalphysicalresourcewithimplicationsforbothcardiovascularandmetabolic

functioningaswellasemotionalandsocialwell-being.Supportingtheupwardspiral

hypothesis,ourresultsdemonstratedthatvagaltoneprospectivelypredictedincreasesin

positiveemotionsoverthespanoftwomonthsand,reciprocally,thattheseincreasesin

positiveemotionsprospectivelypredictedincreasesinvagaltone(Kok&Fredrickson,

2010).Takingvagaltoneasamarkerofphysicalhealth,thesedatashowthatpeoplecan

becomephysicallyhealthierthroughtheirexperienceofpositiveemotions.

BroadenandBuild36

Themostdecisivetestsofthebuildhypothesisnotonlyrequirelongitudinal

assessmentstogetherwithmeasured(orpresumed)positiveemotionalrecurrence,but

alsotheabilitytorandomlyassignpeopletodistinctemotionaltrajectories,andtolink

theseemotionaltrajectoriestolongitudinalincrementsinresources.Togetherwithmy

students,Imadetwoinitialattemptstoreachthislevelofempiricalrigor,yeteachfailedto

providetheopportunitytotestthebuildhypothesisexperimentallybecausethe

interventionsused,namelyfindingpositivemeaningindailylifeevents,didnotreliably

boostpositiveemotionalexperiences(e.g.,seeFootnote3inCohnetal.,2009;seeFootnote

3inFredrickson&Losada,2005).Withnodifferencesinpositiveemotionsbetween

experimentalgroups,acausaltestofthebuildhypothesiswasnotpossible.Inlate2004,

whileonthelookoutforamorepotentandreliableinterventiontoincreasepeople’sdaily

experiencesofpositiveemotions,Iwasfirstexposedtoloving-kindnessmeditation(LKM;

Salzberg,1995)inafacultyseminaronIntegrativeMedicineattheUniversityofMichigan

MedicalSchool(ledbyDr.RitaBenn).Emboldenedbyemergingempiricalinterestinthe

long-rangeeffectsofmind-trainingtechniques(e.g.,Davidsonetal.,2003),andwithgrant

supportfromNIMH,Ilaunchedaninitiallongitudinalfieldexperimentoftheeffectsof

learningLKMontheexperienceofpositiveemotionsandresource-building(Fredrickson,

etal.,2008).

Inthecontextofaworkplacewellnessprogram,weoffereda7-weekmeditation

workshoptoemployeesofalargecomputercompany.Theworkshopwaspresentedasan

opportunitytolearntechniquesto“reducestress.”Twohundredandtwovolunteers

completedaninitialsurveythatassessedtheirlifesatisfaction,depressivesymptomsand

theirstatusonawiderangeofpersonalresources.Theywerethenrandomlyassignedto

BroadenandBuild37

eitherourLKMmeditationworkshoporamonitoringwaitlistcontrolgroup.Overthenext

9weeks,bothgroupscompleteddailyreportsoftheiremotionexperiencesandmeditation

practice.Abouttwoweeksaftertheworkshopended,participantscompletedafinalsurvey

thatreassessedtheirlifesatisfaction,depressivesymptoms,andstatusonthesame

personalresourcesmeasuredpreviously.Atthissametime,participantsalsoprovideda

detailedaccountoftheemotionstheyhadexperiencedonthatparticularweekday(upto

andincludinglunch)usingtheDayReconstructionMethod(DRM,Kahneman,Krueger,

Schkade,Schwarz,&Stone,2004).

Firstandmostpivotally,ourresultsshowedthat,comparedwaitlistparticipants,

peoplerandomlyassignedtolearnLKMdidinfactexperienceincreasinglevelsofpositive

emotionsacrossthenineweeksofdailyreporting.Figure4depictsthisincrease.

Interestingly,weobservedthepredictedTimeXExperimentalConditioneffectnotonlyfor

ouraggregatepositiveemotionscore(computedfromthemDES),butalsoforeachofthe

ninespecificpositiveemotionsweassessed(inspirationwasnotyetanitemonthemDES

atthetimeofthisstudy).Inadditiontorandomassignmenttoexperimentalcondition,we

foundthatindividualeffort,assessedastimespentmeditating,alsosignificantlypredicted

thedailyexperienceofpositiveemotions,anddidsoincreasinglyoverthenineweeksof

assessment.Indeed,weobservedthatforparticipantsintheLKMgroup,thedose-response

relationshipbetweenthetimetheyspentmeditatingandthepositiveemotionalyieldfor

theirinvestedefforttripledoverthecourseofthestudy.Nocomparableorinverseeffects

emergedfornegativeemotionswhatsoever,suggestingthattheeffectsofLKMarespecific

topositiveemotions.Additionally,theDRMdatarevealedthatthetotalnumberofhours

spentinmeditativeactivityovertheprevious9weekspredictedtheamountofpositive

BroadenandBuild38

(butnotnegative)emotionsexperiencedonatypicalweekdaymorning,especiallywhen

interactingwithothers.

TheevidencethatLKMreliablyincreasedpositiveemotionswaspivotalbecauseit

createdthenecessaryplatformfromwhichwecouldtestthebuildhypothesis.Todoso,we

combinedagrowthmodelforpositiveemotionswithanSEMpathanalysistotestfor

mediation,asdepictedinFigure5,andtesteditforeachofthe18resourcesassessedpre-

andpost-workshop.Thatis,wetestedwhethertheslopeofpositiveemotionspredicted

increasesinresources(pathBinFigure5).Wemadeourtestofthebuildhypothesismore

stringentbyalsorequiringthatanyincreaseinresourcesproducedbyincreasingpositive

emotionsbeconsequentialasevidencedbyanincreaseinlifesatisfactionoradecreasein

depressivesymptoms(pathCinFigure5).Usingtheseconjointcriteria,wefoundthat9of

the18resourcesweassessedprovidedsupportforthebuildhypothesis,including

cognitiveresources(i.e.,mindfulness,pathwaysthinking,andtheabilitytosavorthe

future),psychologicalresources(i.e.,environmentalmastery,self-acceptance,andpurpose

inlife),socialresources(i.e.,socialsupportreceived,andpositiverelationswithothers),

andphysicalresources(i.e.,areductioninself-reportedillnesssymptoms).Thesewerethe

firstexperimentaldatatosupportthebuildhypothesis.

Insubsequentworkusingthissamelongitudinalexperimentaldesign,my

collaboratorsandIhaveaddedobjectivemeasuresofphysicalresources,mostnotablyby

measuringcardiacvagaltonebeforeandafterpeoplelearnLKM.Asnotedpreviously,vagal

tonehasbeenrelatedbothtotraitpositiveemotionality(Oveisetal.,2009)andtophysical

andmentalhealth(Porges,2007;Thayer&Sternberg,2006).Ourprimaryaimwastotest

thehypothesisthatlearningtoself-generatepositiveemotionswouldservetoaugment

BroadenandBuild39

vagaltone.Inaddition,becausepeoplewithhighvagaltonehavebeenshowntobebetter

abletoregulatetheirattentionandemotions(Porges,Doussard-Roosevelt,&Maiti,1994),

asecondaryhypothesiswasthattheseindividualswouldbepoisedtogetthemostoutof

theireffortstolearnLKM.

Beyondextendingourevidenceforthebuildhypothesisintoobjectivemeasures,

thissecondfieldexperimentontheeffectsofLKMallowedustotestwhetherthebroaden

effectofpositiveemotionsaccountsforitsbuildeffect.Todothis,weaddedassessments

ofsocialconnectionfollowingthedailyreportsofmeditationpracticeandemotion

experience.Specifically,participantscalledtomindtheirthreelongestsocialinteractionsof

thedayand,consideringthemasaset,ratedhow“intune”and“close”theyfelttothe

person/sinthoseinteractions.Basedonourpreviousevidencethatpositiveemotions

broadenpeople’sfeltsocialconnectionsasindexedbyperceptionsofself-otheroverlap

(Waugh&Fredrickson,2006),weconsiderthesedailyratingsasofferinganindexof

broadenedsocialawareness.

OurresultsreplicatedthefindingthatparticipantsrandomlyassignedtotheLKM

workshopeffectivelylearnedtoself-generateincreasinglymorepositiveemotionsindaily

life.Inaddition,resultsshowedthatpre-workshopvagaltonemoderatedthiseffect,

supportingourhypothesisthatparticipantswithhighervagaltonewouldexperiencethe

largestincreasesinpositiveemotions.Moreover,theupwardslopeinweek-by-week

positiveemotionsalsopredictedanupwardslopeinweek-by-weekreportsofsocial

connection.Plus,thetwoexperimentalgroupsdifferedintheirchangeinvagaltoneover

thecourseofthestudy,withthoseintheLKMgroup,onaverage,showingasignificantly

largerincrease.Wetestedtheplausiblecausalpathwaysofthiseffectonvagaltoneby

BroadenandBuild40

usingavariantofamediational,parallelprocesslatentcurvemodel.Theoverallmodelfit

providedstrongsupportforthebuildhypothesis,aswellasformediationbybroadening

andmoderationbyinitialvagaltone.Inotherwords,theupwardslopeinpositive

emotionsaccountedfortheupwardslopeinbroadenedreportsofsocialconnection,and

positiveemotionsandsocialbroadeninginturnmediatedtheeffectofLKMontheincrease

invagaltone,allofwhichwasmoderatedbyinitialvagaltone.Thisisthefirst

experimentalevidencethatsupportsbothaspectsofthebroaden-and-buildtheory:that

positiveemotionsbuildconsequentialresources,inthiscase,vagaltone,throughtheeffect

theyhaveonbroadenedawareness,inthiscase,bymakingpeoplefeelcloser,more

connected,andintunewithothersindailylife(Kok,Coffey,Cohn,Catalino,

Vacharkulksemsuk,Algoe,Brantley,&Fredrickson,2012).

Inmorerecentexperimentalwork,KokandItestedwhetheraveryminimalsocial

connectioninterventionmightproducesimilareffectsonpositiveemotionsandvagaltone

asdoesthemoreintensiveLKMworkshop(Kok&Fredrickson,2012).Theinterventionin

thiscasewassimplythetwoquestionstowhichpeoplewereaskedtorespondconcerning

theirlongestsocialinteractionsoftheday,asusedinthepreviousstudy.Specifically,

participantsratedhow“closeto”and“intunewith”theirinteractionpartnerstheyfelteach

dayfor49consecutivedays.Wewereinspiredtotestthisveryminimalintervention

becauseourfirstlongitudinalstudythatincludedthesetwoquestionsdailywasthefirst

studyinwhichwe’deverfoundthatdailypositiveemotionsincreasedforallparticipants–

evenforthosewithinthewaitlistcontrolgroup,andthisincreasepredictedanincreasein

vagaltone.Idescribedthesefindingsearlier,asreflectinganupwardspiralbetween

positiveemotionsandvagaltone(Kok&Fredrickson,2010).Totestwhethermerely

BroadenandBuild41

reflectingonsocialconnectionsmightcauseupswingsinpositiveemotionswithattendant

increasesinvagaltone,werandomlyassignedparticipantstoreflecteitheronthesetwo

socialconnectionquestions,orontwoplaceboquestionsthatinquiredhow“useful”and

“important”theirthreelongesttasksthatdayhadbeenforthem.Ashypothesized,

participantsrandomlyassignedtothesocialconnectionconditionreportedsignificantly

greaterweek-by-weekincreasesintheirpositiveemotions(withnoparalleloropposing

patternfortheirnegativeemotions).Inaddition,experimentalconditionproduced

increasesinvagaltone,aneffectmediatedbytheupswinginpositiveemotions.Asinour

pastwork,wealsofoundthatinitiallevelsofvagaltonemoderatedtheseeffects,yetthis

time,participantswithlowvagaltoneweretheonestoexperiencethebiggestpositive

emotionupliftfromtheintervention.Wespeculatethatbecauselowvagaltoneis

associatedwithlowersocialskillandlesserabilitytoregulateone’sownattentionand

emotions,thisveryminimalinterventionmayhavematchedtheskilllevelsforpeoplelow

onvagaltone,butmayhavebeentooelementary,andthereforemorefrustrating,forthose

highinvagaltone(Kok&Fredrickson,2012).Inanycase,insupportofthebuild

hypothesis,itappearsthatwhenpeoplelearntoself-generatemorefrequentpositive

emotions–eitherthroughmeditationorthroughmoreelementalshiftsintheirattention–

theylaunchthemselvesontopositivetrajectoriesofgrowth

NewFrontiersfortheBroaden-and-BuildTheory

DeeperInvestigationsintoBiologicalResourcesBuilt

SomeofthelatestevidencefrommyPEPLabdocumentsthatpeoplewhocan

cultivatemorefrequentpositiveemotionscanshifttheircharacteristiccardiovascular

patternstowardhealth,asindexedbyincreasesinvagaltone(Koketal.,underreview).

BroadenandBuild42

Inspiredbythesedata,thePEPLabisnowengagedintestingwhetherpeople’seffortsto

increasetheirdailydietsofpositiveemotionsbuildotherbiologicalresourcesforhealthas

well.Inaprojectcurrentlyunderway(fundedbytheNationalInstituteforNursing

ResearchthroughtheNIHinitiativetoadvancetheScienceofBehaviorChange),weare

investigatingwhether,inadditiontoincreasingvagaltone,astableriseinpositive

emotionsalsoyieldsenduringincreasesintonicoxytocinlevels,asassessedinurine

samplesgatheredovera24-hourperiod,andenduringreductionsinsystolicanddiastolic

bloodpressure.KarenGrewenandKathleenLightarekeyPEPLabcollaboratorsonthis

work.Previously,oxytocincouldonlybeassessedreliablyinhumansfromplasmaor

cerebralspinalfluid.Recentbreakthroughshaveledtonewmethodstoassayoxytocin

noninvasively,throughenzymeimmunoassay(EIA)ofurinesamples,aprocedure

pioneeredbyGrewenandLight(Grewen,Girdler,Amico,&Light,2005;Grewen,Light,

Mechlin,&Girdler,2008;Light,Grewen,&Amico,2005;Lightetal.,2004).Ourapproachof

collecting24-hoururinesamplesaspeoplebehavenormallyintheirhomeenvironments

allowsustoinfercharacteristicandpresumablystablelevelsofoxytocin.Weconceptualize

highertoniclevelsofoxytocinasabiologicalresourceforhealthbasedonpastevidence

thathigheroxytocinlevelspredictlowerbloodpressureandreducedstress.

Inthissameproject,wealsoventureintosocialgenomicsbyinvestigatingwhether

astableriseinpositiveemotionsalsoproducesreliablechangesingeneexpression,

particularwithingenesrelatedtotheimmunesystem’sregulationofinflammatory

processes.Ourinterestininflammationwasinspiredbythecytokinetheoryofdepression,

whichassertsthatbasalproductionlevelsofinflammatorymediatorsinperipheraltissues

signalthebraintoproduce“sicknessbehaviors”includingdecreasedpositiveaffectand

BroadenandBuild43

motivationandincreasednegativeaffectandsocialwithdrawal(Dantzer,2001;Dantzer&

Kelley,2007).SteveColeisakeyPEPLabcollaboratoronthiswork.Cole’spioneering

bioinformaticsapproachtosocialgenomicshaslinkedtheincreasedexpressionofpro-

inflammatorycytokinegenestovariouscircumstancesrepletewithchronicnegativeaffect,

suchasloneliness(Coleetal.,2007),socialstress(Milleretal.,2008;Miller,Rohleder,&

Cole,2009),lowsocioeconomicstatus(Chenetal.,2009),andgeneralsocialadversity(Cole

etal.,2010).Ourcurrentworknotonlyextendshumansocialgenomicsintothedomainof

positiveemotions,butalsoexpandsitfromcorrelationaltoexperimentaldesigns,which

willsubstantiallyenhanceunderstandingofhowpeople’spatternsofemotionexperience

andexpressionmayaltertheirpatternsofgeneexpression,withattendantconsequences

forphysicalhealth.Wearethuspoisedtodiscoverwhethertoandwhatextentpositive

emotionsfunctiontobuildcellularresources.

ClinicalandOrganizationalApplications

Puttingthebroaden-and-buildtheorytousewithaimstoalleviatepsychological

disordersoroptimizeorganizationalfunctioninghasbecomeagrowinginterest.Onelineof

clinicalapplicationemergedfollowingapresentationImadeonthePEPLab’sfirstLKM

fieldexperimenttotheClinicalPsychologyDoctoralProgramattheUniversityofNorth

Carolina–ChapelHill.NotingthatLKMincreasedpeople’sabilitytosavorfutureevents

(Fredricksonetal.,2008),myUNCcolleagueandschizophreniaexpert,DavidPenn

suspectedthatitmightalsobeparticularlyhelpfulforindividualsexperiencingthe

negativesymptomsofschizophrenia.Unlikethepositivesymptomsofschizophrenia,

whichincludehallucinationsanddelusions,negativesymptomsinvolveavarietyof

intertwinedemotionalandbehavioraldeficits,includinganhedonia(diminishedpleasure),

BroadenandBuild44

avolition(diminishedmotivation),asociality(diminishedinterestinordesirefor

interpersonalinteractions),alogia(diminishedspeech),andbluntedaffect(diminished

expressionofaffect).Negativesymptomsareespeciallyvexingbecausetheyareresistant

totreatmentandgreatlydiminishthequalityoflife.AnnKring,aschizophreniaresearcher

atUCBerkeley,hasproposedthatindividualswithschizophreniaexperiencenormallevels

ofpositiveemotions,orconsummatorypleasure,whentheydirectlyengagedinenjoyable

activities,yetsufferdisturbancesintheexperienceofpositiveemotionsinrelationto

futureactivities,oranticipatorypleasure(Kring,1999).Bothself-reportandfMRIdata

supportthisdistinction(Gard,Kring,Gard,Horan,&Green,2007;Juckeletal.,2006).Penn,

togetherwithDavidJohnson,agraduatestudentatthattime,putKring’sproposaltogether

withthePEPLab’sfindingonsavoringthefuture,andsuggestedthatwecollaborateto

explorewhetherLKM,usedasanadjunctivetreatmenttomedication,couldreduce

negativesymptomsforindividualswithschizophrenia.Topilotthisidea,weconductedan

opentrialacrosstwoLKMgroup-basedworkshopswith18outpatientsattheUniversityof

NorthCarolinaHospitals.Ourresultswerepromising.First,theoverallattendanceratewas

84%,whichisremarkableforclientswithnegativesymptomswhoareknowntohave

difficultieswithmotivationandsocialinteraction.Moreimportantly,however,clients

showedsignificantimprovementsintheirnegativesymptomsaswellastheirpositive

emotionsandlifesatisfaction,allofwhichmaintainedat3-monthfollow-up(Johnsonetal.,

2011;seealsoJohnsonetal.,2009).

Extendingfromthesepromisinginitialdataonschizophrenia,Ihaveworkedwith

EricGarlandandcolleaguestoarticulatemorepreciselyhowtheupwardspiraldynamics

triggeredbypositiveemotionsmightbeusedtocounterthedownwardspiraldynamicsof

BroadenandBuild45

negativitythatcharacterizeanumberofemotiondysfunctionsanddeficitsin

psychopathology(Garland&Fredrickson,inpress;Garlandetal.,2010).Emotions,we

pointout,areself-organizingsystemsthatoperatetomaximizeandmaintaintheirown

existence.Despair,forexample,triggersnarrowed,ruminativeandpessimisticpatternsof

thoughtalongsidebehavioralwithdrawalandsluggishness,thought-actiontendenciesthat

servetoincreasetheoddsthatdespairwillcontinueandexacerbateinaself-destructive

cycle.Positiveemotions,bycontrast,triggerbroadened,curious,andoptimisticpatternsof

thoughttogetherwithmorespontaneousandenergeticbehavior.Thesethought-action

tendenciesincreasetheoddsthatpeoplefindpositivemeaningintheirfuture

circumstancesinwaysthatseedfurtherpositiveemotionsthatdecreasestress,provide

emotionaluplift,andsupportresilience.Figure6depictsthisprocess.Weproposethat

upwardanddownwardspiralsarenotmirroropposites.Beyondtheirdifferencesin

valenceanddirection,upwardspiralsaremoreopen,permeable,flexible,andsocialthan

downwardspirals.Thesedistinctionsmaythusmakepositiveemotion,andthebroadened

thought-actionrepertoiresandupwardspiralstheytrigger,linchpinsinthepreventionand

treatmentoftheinertiaoftenobservedamongthosewithclinicaldisorders,particularly

depressionandanxiety.

Thebroaden-and-buildtheoryhasalsobeenappliedwithinorganizationswithan

eyetowardcreatingworkplaceclimatesthatfosterinnovativewaystobuildmore

sustainablebusinesspracticesthatbothpromoteworkers’healthandinspiretheir

productivity(Vacharkulksemsuk,Sekerka,&Fredrickson,2011).Asjustoneexample,ina

studyofworkersfromabroadrangeoforganizationswiththeirimmediatesupervisors,

Carsonandcolleaguesfoundthatthepositiveemotionsthatsupervisorshaveatthe

BroadenandBuild46

intersectionsoftheirworkandfamilylivescrossovertocreatesimilarpositive

experiencesfortheirsubordinates.Thispositivecontagioneffectwasfoundtobemediated

bysubordinates’perceptionsofgreaterautonomyinsettingtheirworkschedules,and

ultimatelyledtoimprovementsintheirjobperformance(Carlson,Kacmar,Zivnuska,

Ferguson,&Whitten,2011).Another,massiveorganizationalintervention,basedinpart

onbroaden-and-buildprinciples,isnowunderwayintheU.S.Army,undertheauspicesof

thearmy-wideComprehensiveSoldierFitnessinitiative(Cornum,Matthews,&Seligman,

2011).Trainingsoldiersinbasicskillsassociatedemotionalfitness,includingtheabilityto

increasethefrequencyanddurationofpositiveemotionsispartoftheArmy’soverall

effortstobuildgreaterresiliencetotheinevitableadversityandtraumathatsoldiers

experienceduringdeploymenttowarzones(Algoe&Fredrickson,2011;seealsoLuthans,

Vogelgesang,&Lester,2006).

OffshootsfromtheBroaden-and-BuildTheory

TheUpwardSpiralTheoryofLifestyleChange

AcurrentoverarchinggoalofmyPEPLabistoinvestigatewhetherandhow

positiveemotionsalterpeople’sbodilysystemsandnonconsciousmotivesinwaysthat

ultimatelyreinforcelifestylechange,definedassustainedadherencetopositivehealth

behaviors.TheU.S.NationalCancerInstituterecentlyputforththequestion“Whydon’t

morepeoplealterbehaviorsknowntoincreasetheriskofcancers?”(NIHRFA-CA-11-011).

Theneedtoaddressthisquestionisenormous,giventhattheAmericanCancerSociety

estimatesthat62%ofallcancerscouldbepreventedaltogetherthroughlifestylechange.

Yetthequestionhaslongdefiedarigorousandsatisfyinganswerbecausetoooftenwe’ve

assumedthatknowledgeispower.Peopleknowthattheirdailybehavioralchoices–about

BroadenandBuild47

theirphysicalactivitiesandintakeoffood,tobacco,andalcohol–accumulateand

compoundtosettheirrisksforcancerandotherchronicdiseasesthatshortenlives.

Armedwiththisknowledge,millionsresolvetomakechangeseachyear.Yetmostattempts

atlifestylechangefailbecauseknowledgeisnotpowerfulenoughtooverrideimplicit

nonconsciousdesires.

Anintriguingassociationbetweenpositiveemotionsandlifestylechangefirst

emergedinmylabwhenmyformerstudentandcollaboratorMichaelCohnconducteda

follow-uptoourinitialstudy(Fredricksonetal.,2008)oftheeffectsoflearninghowtoself-

generatemorefrequentpositiveemotionsthroughLKM.Ourresults,presentedinFigure7,

showcasethesubstantialpowerofpositiveemotionstopredictsustainedbehaviorchange:

Individualsonestandarddeviationabovethemeanintheirpositiveemotionalresponseto

theirnewly-adoptedhealthbehaviorofLKMwere~4.5timesmorelikelytomainthat

behavior15monthslater,comparedtothoseonestandarddeviationbelowthemean

(Cohn&Fredrickson,2010).Theextentofpeople’searlypositiveemotionalreactivityto

LKMwasthesolepsychologicalpredictorofwhether,morethanoneyearlater,they

voluntarilychoosetocontinuemeditatingasaregularhabit.

Theseandotherdatainspiredmetodevelopanewtheoreticaloffshootofthe

broaden-and-buildtheory,onethatIcalltheupwardspiralmodeloflifestylechange.This

modelstatesthatpositiveemotionscanbothknitpeopletonewpositivehealthbehaviors

andalsoraisetheiroverallpsychologicalpropensityforasuiteofwellnessbehaviors.

PositiveemotionsachievewhatNewYear’sresolutionscannotbymotivatingsustained

adherencetohealthbehaviorsbythecarrotofflexible,nonconsciousdesireratherthanthe

whipofrigid,consciouswillpower.Theupwardspiralmodeloflifestylechangeexpands

BroadenandBuild48

onthebroaden-and-buildtheorysubstantiallybyarticulatingkeyrolesfor(a)

nonconsciousmotivessparkedbypositiveemotions;(b)arangeofwellnessbehaviors

throughwhichindividualsbecomemoreactive,curious,andsociallyengaged,and

ultimatelyhealthierandmoreresilient;and(c)individualdifferencesinmutableresources,

bothbiological(e.g.,oxytocin,cardiacvagaltone,inflammation)andpsychological(e.g.,

resilience,other-focus,mindfulness),thatpredisposecertainpeopletosuccessfullong-

termlifestylechangebymoderatingthepositiveemotionyieldoftheirwellnessbehaviors.

Thespiralframeofthisnewmodelrestsonevidencethattherelationsbetween

emotionsandlifestyle-relevantresourcesisreciprocal.Forexample,whereasCo-

InvestigatorCole’spastworksuggeststhatnegativeemotionalitypromptspro-

inflammatoryprocesses,experimentalworkbyEisenbergerandcolleaguesdocumentsthe

reversecausalpathway,frominflammationtoaffect(Eisenberger,Inagaki,Rameson,

Mashal,&Irwin,2009).Specifically,theseinvestigatorsrandomlyassignedhealthyadult

volunteerstoreceiveeitheraninflammatorychallenge(i.e.,aninjectionofendotoxin)ora

placeboinjection.Thoseundertheinfluenceofendotoxinreportedincreasedfeelingsof

socialdisconnection,whichinturnincreaseddepressedmood.Inlinewiththecytokine

theoryofdepression,thisandotherworksuggeststhatinflammationbyitselfcanalterthe

affectivepropertiesofsocialandotherwellnessbehaviors.Evidenceforsuchreciprocal

andmutualinfluencecanexplainthedownwardspiraldynamicthatemergesbetween

negativeemotionsandnegativehealthbehaviorsthatcanleadtothefurtherentrenchment

ofinflammation-relatedchronicdiseases,suchastypeIIdiabetes,cardiovasculardisease

(bothhypertensionandstroke)andarthritis.

BroadenandBuild49

Preliminaryevidencesupportsmyhypothesisthatanopposingupwardspiral

dynamiccanemergebetweenpositiveemotionsandpositivehealthbehaviors.As

describedearlier,arangeofbiologicalandpsychologicalresources–namelyvagaltone,

oxytocin,resilience,other-focus,andmindfulness–notonlypredictenhancedpositive

emotions,butalsohavebeenshowntoincreasewithenhancedpositiveemotion(Burnset

al.,2008;Cohnetal.,2009;Fredricksonetal.,2008;Holt-Lunstad,Birmingham,&Light,

2008;Kok&Fredrickson,2010;Oveisetal.,2009;Waugh&Fredrickson,2006).This

reciprocalcausalitysetsthestageforupwardspiralprocessestounfoldthatcanfurther

reinforceadherencetopositivehealthbehaviors.

Anotherkeydriveroftheupwardspiraldynamicbetweenpositiveemotionsand

positivehealthbehaviorspositedbytheupwardspiralmodelisthenonconsciousincentive

salience,or“wanting”thatanypastpleasantexperienceengenders.Thisaspectofthe

theorystemsfromrecentadvancesinbehavioralneurosciencethatunpacksthecomplex

rewardsystemintoseparate“liking”and“wanting”systems,fueledbyopioidand

dopamineactivation,respectively(Berridge,2007).Overtime,“liking”agivenactivity–the

situatedexperienceofpositiveaffect–precedesandproducescue-triggered“wanting”for

thatsameactivity–whichinturnmotivatesdecisionstorepeatthatactivity,even

nonconsciously.ThroughsuchdopaminergicPavlovianlearning,cuesassociatedwithpast

pleasantexperiencesgainnonconsciousincentivesalienceandbecomeintrinsically

alluringasifcoveredineye-catchingglitterdust.Inthecaseofdrugaddictions,“wanting”

becomesdecoupledfrom“liking”asaddictsattemptingrecoveryexperienceintense

cravingstriggeredbybehavior-relatedcues(e.g.,drugparaphernalia)eventhoughthedrug

nolongerprovidespleasure(Robinson&Berridge,2003).Thenovelpremiseofthe

BroadenandBuild50

upwardspiralmodelisthatthesamenonconscious,biologically-basedprocessesthat

underliepeople’sunbiddencravingstoenactunhealthylifestylescanbeharnessedto

fostersimilar,yetpositivecravingstoenacthealthylifestyles,makingcuestopositive

healthbehaviorssparklewithincentivesaliencethatnonconsciouslypromptsbehavioral

adherence.Whereasbothphysicalpleasuresandpositiveemotionscarrythepleasant

subjectivefeelthatsparksnonconsciousincentivesalience,or“wanting,”asIsuggested

earlier,itappearsthatonlypositiveemotions–andnotpleasures–broadencognition.As

such,positiveemotionsappeartohaveuniquepsychologicalpropertiesbeyondtriggering

approach-relatedmotivation.Perhapsmostsignificantly,positiveemotions,inwidening

people’sawareness,engenderflexibleandcreativebehavioralchoicesratherthanrigidly-

pursuedbehavioraladdictions.

Figure8providesaconceptualdepictionoftheupwardspiralmodel.Thisnew

modelincorporatesthebroaden-and-buildtheoryastheouterloopofadual-layeredspiral.

Thislayer,asthischapterhasshown,restsonthenowsubstantialevidencethatpositive

emotionsbroadencognitionandbuildresources.Theinnerloopofthedual-layeredspiral

incorporatesBerridge’sperspectivesonlikingversuswantingandpositionsnonconscious

motivesrootedinpositiveemotions(asdistinctfromphysicalpleasures)askeydriversof

flexible–andthereforesustainable–decisionstomaintainwellnessbehaviors.Tethering

theouterandinnerloopstogether,themodelpositsthatcertainbiologicaland

psychologicalresources,knowntobebuiltupthroughrepeatedexperiencesofpositive

emotionsalsoservetoincreasethesubsequentpositiveemotionyieldofarangeof

wellnessbehaviors.Accordingtotheupwardspiralmodel,totheextentthatanew

wellnessbehaviorevokespositiveemotions,engaginginthatbehaviorgeneratesboth(a)

BroadenandBuild51

cue-triggerednonconsciousmotivesthatshapesubsequentbehavioraldecisions,

representedbytheinnerloopdepictedinFigure8,and(b)increasesinkeybiologicaland

psychologicalresourcesthatboostthesubsequentpositiveemotionyieldofthatwellness

behavior,asrepresentedbytheouterloopofthespiral,andmostcritically,bythecausal

arrowthatrunsbetweentheinnerandouterloops(seeFigure8).ThePEPLabhasaseries

oflongitudinalstudiesunderway(supportedbyNINRandNCI)totestthisnewtheoretical

offshootofthebroaden-and-buildtheory.

PositivityResonance:Broaden-and-BuildinSyncwithOthers

Backinmyinitialpresentationofthebroaden-and-buildtheory(Fredrickson,

1998),Iincludedloveasoneoffourpositiveemotionsfeatured,theothersbeingjoy,

interest,andcontentment.Loveiscomplex,however,inthatmosttheoristsacknowledge

thatloveisnotasingleemotionandthatpeopleexperiencevarietiesofit(e.g.,romanticor

passionatelovevs.companionatelovevs.nurturantlovevs.attachmentlove).Moreover,

loveexperiencesneedtobedistinguishedfromloverelationships.Whereasthelatter

mightlastalifetime,theformer,myfocushere,lastonlymoments.Backin1998,Iadopted

aperspectiveonlovethatI’dfoundinCarrollIzard(1977)work,thatloveiscomprisedof

anyotherpositiveemotionthatisfeltinthecontextofpeople’sconnectionswithothers.As

Izardputit,“acquaintancesorfriendsrenewyourinterestbyrevealingnewaspectsof

themselvesandtheresultingincreaseinfamiliarity(deeperknowledgeoftheperson)

bringsjoy[andcontentment].Inlastingfriendshipsorloverelationshipsthiscycleis

repeatedendlessly.”(1977,p.243).iiiSoasIforecastinearlierandinTable1,myinitial

theorizingonbroaden-and-buildprocessespresentedloveasan“alloftheabove”positive

emotion.Totheextentthatlovetriggeredthemorespecificmomentsofinterest,

BroadenandBuild52

contentment,joy,andthelike,italsobroadenedpeople’sthought-actionrepertoiresand

buildtheirenduringpersonalresources,particularlytheirsocialbonds.

Viewingloveasanypositiveemotionssharedbetweentwoormorepeopleisa

reasonableinitialdescriptionoflovetobesure.Lookingback,however,Iseethatitdoes

notgonearlyfarenoughtofullydescribewhathappensinthosepotentinterpersonal

momentsofsharedpositivity.Inmymostrecenttheorizingonlove(Fredrickson,inpress),

Iaddtwofurtherdefiningattributesofthismostubiquitousandconsequentialpositive

emotion,inadditiontosharedpositivity.Thesearebiobehavioralsynchronyandmutual

care.

Biobehavioralsynchronyreferstothemirroringacrosspeople’sbehaviors,bodies,

andbrainsthateachmomentofsharedpositiveemotionalconnectioncreates.Studying

thenonverbalgesturesoftwopeoplejustgettingtoknowoneanother,Tanya

VacharkulksemsukandIhavefoundthatnonverbalbehavioralsynchronyisakey

mechanismthroughwhichself-disclosureproducesanembodiedsenseofrapport

(Vacharkulksemsuk&Fredrickson,2012).Studyingchangesinoxytocinwithinparentsand

theirinfantsengagedinface-to-faceplay,RuthFeldmanandcolleagueshavediscovered

thatpositivity-infusedbehavioralsynchrony–thedegreetowhichamother,througheye

contactandaffectionatetouch,laughs,smiles,andcoosintimetogetherwithherinfant–

predictsasynchronybetweentheoxytocinsurgesevidentwithinbothherandherinfant.

Thesamepatternofoxytocinsynchronyalsoemergesforfathersandtheirinfants

(Feldman,Gordon,&Zagoory-Sharon,2010).Anotherindicationofbiologicalsynchrony

canbedrawnfromthebrainimagingworkofUriHassonandcolleagues.UsingfMRIof

people’sbrainswhileeithertellingorlisteningtoanengagingstory,Hassonandcolleagues

BroadenandBuild53

findwidespreadbraincouplingbetweenspeakerandlistener,especiallyduringemotional

momentsandforpairsforwhomcommunicationisparticularlyeffective(Hasson,2010;

Hasson,Nir,Levy,Fuhrmann,&Malach,2004;Stephens,Silbert,&Hasson,2010).It

appears,then,thatwhenpeopleshareapositiveemotionalstate,theyalsosharegestural,

biochemical,andneuralpatterns.Abiobehavioralunityoronenessunfolds.

Likeallemotions,lovesparksmotivationalchanges.Beyondthethought-action

tendenciesassociatedwithwhicheverparticularpositiveemotionisatthatmoment

shared,lovemotivatesmutualcare.Eachperson,inamomentofsharedpositivity,

becomesmomentarilyinvestedintheother’swell-being.ThisisanideaIdrawfrom

crossingemotionssciencewithrelationshipscience.Themomentaryexperienceoflove

bringsanurgetofocusontheotherperson,holistically,withcareandconcernforhisor

herwell-being,amotivethatmomentarilyeclipsesanytendencytowardself-absorption.

Andthiscaringmotiveismutual,reflectedback-and-forthbetweenthetwo.Whereas

relationshipscientistscastcaringandresponsiveinvestmentinthewell-beingofanother

forhisorherownsakeasahallmarkofintimateandlovingrelationships(Hegi&Bergner,

2010;Reis,Clark,&Holmes,2004),Iseemutualcareasamomentarystatethatrisesand

fallsinstepwithchangesincontextandemotion.

Icallthistrioofoccurrencespositivityresonance(Fredrickson,inpress).Within

momentsofinterpersonalconnectionthatarecharacterizedbythisamplifyingsynchrony–

ofsharedpositiveemotions,biobehavioralsynchrony,andmutualcare–resource-building

positivityresonatesbetweenandamongpeople.Thisback-and-forthreverberationof

positiveemotionalenergysustainsitself–andcanevengrowstronger–untilthe

momentaryconnectioninevitablywanes.

BroadenandBuild54

Indeed,Ipositsensoryandtemporalconnectionasafundamentalpreconditionfor

momentsofpositivityresonancetoemerge(Fredrickson,inpress).Neitherabstractnor

mediated,connectionlikethisisphysicalandunfoldsinreal-time,asgainedthrougheye

contact,touch,sharedvoice,ormirroredbodymovements.

Eyecontactappearstobeespeciallypowerful(Farroni,Csibra,Simion,&Johnson;

Niedenthal,Mermillod,Maringer,&Hess,2010).Eyecontact,studiesshow,isnecessaryfor

facialmimicrytounfold(Schrammel,Pannasch,Graupner,Mojzisch,&Velichkovsky,2009),

andfacialmimicry,inturn,isneededtoaccuratelydecodewhatanotherpersonisfeeling

(Maringer,Krumhuber,Fischer,&Niedenthal,2011).AccordingtoNiedenthaland

colleagues’SimulationofSmiles(SIMS)model(Niedenthaletal.,2010),braincoupling

mediatestheeffectoffacialmimicryondecodingaccuracy,whereaseyecontactmoderates

theeffect.

ExtendingtheideasonembodiedcognitionpresentedintheSIMSmodel,Ihave

proposedthattheevolvedadaptivefunctionofspontaneousandgenuinesmiles–what

havebeentermedDuchennesmiles–goesbeyondwhatothertheoristshavesuggested.

FollowingDarwin(1872),Ekmanandcolleaguescontendthatsuchsmilesevolvedasan

outwardexpressionofaperson’sotherwiseunseeninnersubjectivestate(Ekman,

Davidson,&Friesen,1990).Anopposingviewshiftsthefocusontotherecipientofasmile,

andproposesthatsmilesevolvednotbecausetheyprovidedreadoutsofpositiveemotional

states,butinsteadbecausetheyevokedpositiveemotionsinthosewhomeetasmiling

person’sgaze(Owren&Bachorowski,2003;seealsoGervais&Wilson,2005).Maintaining

thefocusonthepersonwhomeetsthesmiler’sgaze,theembodiedcognitionperspectiveof

theSIMSmodelsuggeststhat,throughneuralsimulation,smilestuneanobservertowarda

BroadenandBuild55

betterunderstandingthesmiler’ssubjectiveexperienceandmotives(Niedenthaletal.,

2010).Eachoftheseaccountsofthefunctionofgenuinesmilesseemsviable,albeitI’ve

arguedthateachremainsincompletebyremaininganchoredtooexclusivelywithinan

individual-levelpsychology.

Steppinguptothedyadiclevel,inwhichboththesmilerandthesmilerecipientplay

equalandimportantroles,IhaveproposedthatthefunctionofDuchennesmilesisto

createamomentofintersubjectivitycharacterizedbypositivityresonance,asreflectedby

thetriooflove’sfeatures:anowsharedpositiveemotion,biobehavioralsynchrony,andan

orientationtowardmutualcare(Fredrickson,inpress).Harkeningbacktothebroaden-

and-buildtheory,totheextentthatpositivityresonancebuildsresourcesinindividualsand

indyads,genuinesmilesmayhaveevolvedtospurpositivepsychosocialdevelopmentand

improvedphysicalhealthinindividuals,relationships,andindeedwholecommunities.

Castingloveasamomentofpositivityresonance,then,offersadetailedevolutionary

perspectiveonhowgenuinesmilesdogoodbothwithinthebodyandwithinsociety.iv

Recallingtherecentevidence(frommyPEPLab)thatshowsthatpositiveemotions

improvephysicalhealth,asindexedbyincreasesincardiacvagaltone,throughpeople’s

experiencesofsocialconnection(Koketal.,underreview),leadsmetospeculatethatlove,

definedasaformofsocialconnectionmarkedbypositivityresonance,mayperhapsbethe

mostgenerativeandconsequentialofallpositiveemotions.Thatis,Ihypothesizethatlove

broadensandbuildstoagreaterdegreethanother,individually-experiencedpositive

emotions.Love,then,maynotbejustanotherpositiveemotion.Byvirtueofbeingasingle

state,distributedacrossandreverberatingbetweenthebrainsandbodiesoftwo(ormore)

BroadenandBuild56

individuals,love’sabilitytobroadenmindsetsandbuildresourcesmayhavesubstantially

greaterreach.

ClosingComments

Thescienceofpositiveemotionshasmaturedgreatlysincethe1990s,whenIfirst

beganworkinthisarea.Thismaturityisreflectedintheemergenceofthefirstandsecond

editedvolumesdevotedexclusivelytoempiricalresearchonpositiveemotions,namelythe

HandbookofPositiveEmotions,editedbyMicheleTugade,MichelleL.Shiota,andLeslie

Kirby,forthcomingfromGuilfordPress,andtheDarkandLightSidesofPositiveEmotions,

editedbyJuneGruberandJudithMoskowitz,forthcomingfromOxfordUniversityPress.It

hasbeenequalpartsgratifyingandhumblingtoseethatthebroaden-and-buildtheoryhas

offeredonegenerativeframeworkforsustainedempiricalcontributionsinthisnow-active

areaofemotionsscience.

Perhapsthemostpivotalnudgethatthebroaden-and-buildperspectivehasoffered

thefieldistofullyuntetherourcollectivescientificimaginationaboutthevalueofpositive

emotions.Evidenceforthebroadenandundoeffectsofpositiveemotionsdemonstrates

thatfruitfuladvancescanbemadebylookingbeyondtheemotionalrewardsthatgood

feelingsbring.Likewise,evidenceforthebuildeffectofpositiveemotionsshowsthatit

paystolookbeyondtheexperientialmomenttounderstandthefunctionofthesepositive

statesoverthelong-term.Now,newtheorizingaboutpositivityresonancesuggeststhat

wemayalsoneedtolookbeyondthefamiliarindividual-levelpsychologicalprocessesto

bettergraspthefullpotentialofpositiveemotions.

Tobesure,theempiricaldiscoveriesmadethusfaraboutpositiveemotionsraise

manymorequestions.Additionalempiricalworkisstillneeded.Wehaveonlythe

BroadenandBuild57

slimmestempiricalliterature,forinstance,ontheneuroscienceofpositiveemotions(for

exemplarycontributionsseeworkbyAdamAnderson’slabattheUniversityofToronto

andTorWager’slabattheUniversityofColoradoatBoulder).Wealsoneedtoexpand

furtherintoepigenetics,tocharthowpositiveemotionalprocessesbuildcellularresources

(socialgenomicspioneerSteveColecollaborateswithmyPEPLabinthisarea).Wealso

needfarmoreworkonthedifferencesandsimilaritiesinthewayspositiveemotions

shape,andareshapedby,distinctculturesaroundtheglobe(forexemplarycontributions,

seeworkbyJeanneTsai’slabatStanfordUniversityandShigehiroOishi’slabatthe

UniversityofVirginia;seealsoLee,Lin,Huang,&Fredrickson,2012).Finally,although

manyofthemomentaryanddownstreameffectsofpositiveemotionsarebeneficial,we

can’tassumethattheyareexclusivelyorinvariablyso.Additionalstudiesareneededto

exploretheboundaryconditionsofthebenefitsofpositiveemotionsaswellastheir

potentialdarksides(Forexemplaryworkinthisvein,seeworkbyJuneGruber’slabatYale

University;seealsoMcNulty&Fincham,2012;Vincent,Emich,&Goncalo,inpress).

WhenIconsiderthecurrentcadreofcreativeandimpeccably-trainedearly-career

scientistswhohavealreadydevotedconsiderableempiricalattentiontothescienceof

positiveemotions,Ifeelconfidentthatthelight-heartedaspectsofhumanexperiencewill

neveragainbecastoutofpsychologicalscience.Withcontinuedapplicationofthemost

rigorousempiricalapproaches,ourempiricalunderstandingofpositiveemotionswill

broadenandbuildandperhapsevenyielddiscoveriesimportantenoughtoridpsychology

ofitslong-heldinferioritycomplexonceandforall.Timeanddatawilltell.

BroadenandBuild58

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Table1.TenRepresentativePositiveEmotions

EmotionLabel

AppraisalTheme

Thought-ActionTendency

ResourcesAccrued

CoretrioinmDESitem

Joy safe,familiar,unexpectedlygood

play,getinvolved

skillsgainedviaexperientiallearning

joyful,glad,orhappy

Gratitude receiveagiftorbenefit

creativeurgetobeprosocial

skillsforshowingcare;loyalty;socialbonds

grateful,appreciative,orthankful

Serenity(a.k.a.,Contentment)

safe,familiar,loweffort

savorandintegrate

newpriorities;newviewsofself

serene,content,orpeaceful

Interest safe,novel explore,learn knowledge interested,alert,orcurious

Hope fearingtheworst,yearningforbetter

planforabetterfuture

resilience;optimism

hopeful,optimistic,orencouraged

Pride sociallyvaluedachievement

dreambig achievementmotivation

proud,confident,orself-assured

Amusement non-serioussocialincongruity

sharejoviality,laugh

socialbonds amused,fun-loving,orsilly

Inspiration witnesshumanexcellence

strivetowardownhigherground

motivationforpersonalgrowth

inspired,uplifted,orelevated

Awe encounterbeautyorgoodnessonagrandscale

absorbandaccommodate

newworldviews

awe,wonder,amazement

Love any/alloftheaboveinaninterpersonalconnection

any/alloftheabove,withmutualcare

any/alloftheabove,especiallysocialbonds

love,closeness,ortrust

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Figures

Figure1.Thebroaden-and-buildtheoryofpositiveemotions.(adaptedfrom

Fredrickson&Cohn,2008,Figure48.1).

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Figure2.Sampleglobal-localitemsusedtotestthebroadenhypothesis(adapted

fromFredrickson&Branigan,2005,Figure1).

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Figure3.Thought-actionrepertoiresizebyemotioncondition.Note:Penguinsand

Natureelicitedamusementandcontentment,respectively.WitnessandCliffhanger

elicitedangerandfear,respectively.Stickselicitednoparticularemotion

whatsoever.(adaptedfromFredrickson&Branigan,2005,Figure3)

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Figure4.Week-by-weekpositiveemotionsbyexperimentalcondition.Note:

Meditationtrainingcenteredonloving-kindnessmeditataion.Positiveemotions

werecomputedasthemeanacrossallpositivestatesonthemDES,ratedonascale

from0-4.(adaptedfromFredricksonetal.,2008,Figure2).

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Figure5.Combinedlatenttrajectoryandpath-analysismodelusedtotestthebuild

hypothesisinthecontextofmeditationtraining.Avg.dailypos.emo.=Average

dailypositiveemotions;PE=positiveemotions;SWLS=satisfactionwithlife.Paths

labeledBandCarecentraltotestsofthebuildhypothesis,whereasthoselabeledA

andDserveasstatisticalcontrols.(adaptedfromFredricksonetal.,2008,Figure3).

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Figure6.Upwardspiralsofpositiveemotionsthatcancounterdownwardspirals

ofnegativity(adaptedfromGarlandetal.,2010,Figure2).

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Figure7.Earlypositiveemotionalreactivitytomeditationtrainingpredicts

continuedmeditationat15-monthfollow-up.(adaptedfromCohn&Fredrickson,

2010,Figure1).

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Figure8.Theupwardspiralmodeloflifestylechange.

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Appendix

modifiedDifferentialEmotionsScale(mDES)

Instructions: Please think back to how you have felt during the past twenty-four hours. Using the 0-4 scale below, indicate the greatest amount that you've experienced each of the following feelings.

Not at all A little bit Moderately Quite a bit Extremely 0 1 2 3 4

____ 1. What is the most amused, fun-loving, or silly you felt? ____ 2. What is the most angry, irritated, or annoyed you felt? ____ 3. What is the most ashamed, humiliated, or disgraced you felt? ____ 4. What is the most awe, wonder, or amazement you felt? ____ 5. What is the most contemptuous, scornful, or disdainful you felt? ____ 6. What is the most disgust, distaste, or revulsion you felt? ____ 7. What is the most embarrassed, self-conscious, or blushing you felt? ____ 8. What is the most grateful, appreciative, or thankful you felt? ____ 9. What is the most guilty, repentant, or blameworthy you felt? ____ 10. What is the most hate, distrust, or suspicion you felt? ____ 11. What is the most hopeful, optimistic, or encouraged you felt? ____ 12. What is the most inspired, uplifted, or elevated you felt? ____ 13. What is the most interested, alert, or curious you felt? ____ 14. What is the most joyful, glad, or happy you felt? ____ 15. What is the most love, closeness, or trust you felt? ____ 16. What is the most proud, confident, or self-assured you felt? ____ 17. What is the most sad, downhearted, or unhappy you felt? ____ 18. What is the most scared, fearful, or afraid you felt? ____ 19. What is the most serene, content, or peaceful you felt? ____ 20. What is the most stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed you felt?

BasedonFredrickson,2009andFredrickson,Tugade,Waugh,&Larkin,2003.Scoring:Usesingleitemstoassessspecificemotions,orcreateoverallpositiveandnegativeemotionscoresbycomputingthemeanof10positiveand10negativeemotions,respectively.Instructionscanbemodifiedtoassessemotionsinresponsetospecificincidents(e.g.,laboratorymanipulationsorepisodesrecalledusingtheDayReconstructionMethod).Scalecanbemodifiedtocaptureemotionsexperiencedoverthepasttwoweeksbychangingtheinstructionsto“howoftenhaveyou’veexperienced…,”theitemsto“Howoftenhaveyoufelt____?”andtheresponseoptionsto0=never;1=rarely;2=someofthetime;3=often;4=mostofthetime.

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Footnotes

i In my book, Positivity (2009, Crown), written for a general audience I refer to the mDES as the Positivity Self Test. The website that accompanies that book, www.PositivityRatio.com, offers a free version of this test along with on-line tools for tracking people’s changes in positivity, negativity, and positivity ratios over time. ii The 1996 Toronto meeting was my first ISRE meeting, and as a junior scholar, I did not recognize many senior scholars by sight. I had the chance to give a keynote on my positive emotions research a decade later at the 2006 ISRE meeting, and asked if anyone in the audience was or knew of this “unknown critic” because I wished to thank him personally. No one came forward, so the mystery continues. If you can help me solve this mystery, please do. iii Note that interest and joy were the only two positive emotions about which Izard wrote. He did, however, describe a low arousal state of “mild or receptive joy” that I think is better characterized as contentment or serenity. iv Although for simplicity I’ve depicted positivity resonance here as a property of dyads, I see it as equally able to account for communal experiences of shared positivity, or what Haidt and colleagues refer to as an innate hive psychology which periodically propels humans to lose themselves enjoyably in a much larger social organism, like the crowd at a football game, music festival, or religious revival (Haidt, Seder, & Kesebir, 2008). Through physical co-presence and behavioral synchrony, positivity resonance thus can spread from dyads to whole crowds or communities (e.g., Fowler & Christakis, 2008).