A variety of interventions have been developed to facilitate positive emotions, wellbeing, growth, creativity, relationships, fulfillment, and other desirable consequences (for related interventions, see appreciative inquiry and loving-kindness meditation). These interventions are, collectively, sometimes called positive psychology interventions (for possible mechanisms that underlie the benefits, see broaden and build theory).
To illustrate, in one study, Fordyce (1983) examined the utility of a program that was designed to enhance happiness, called the 14 fundamentals of happiness. Across several studies, some of the participants were exposed to this program. They learnt about 14 principles, including the importance of a busy life, social interactions, close relationships, meaningful work, organized plans, plausible expectations, orientation to the present, maintaining integrity, and optimistic thinking. Other participants were assigned to various control groups.
The happiness program did increase happiness. Furthermore, this program unearthed new insights, behaviors, and techniques to cope with difficulties. Many other programs have also been shown to enhance well-being, especially in older people (for a meta-analysis, see Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). Effect sizes tend to be moderate, approximating .3 (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
To demopnstrate, Seligman, Rashid, and Parks (2006) also developed a procedure that was designed to enhance happiness and wellbeing. Some participants were assigned to an intervention, demanding two hours a week for six weeks. In the first session, participants identified their key strengths and attempted to apply these strengths to their daily life. During the second session, participants reflected on three positive events during the day. In the third session, they imagined how they would like to be described during their obituary. Fourth, they wrote or read a letter to someone, expressing gratitude. Fifth, they learnt how to react positively and enthusiastically to favorable news from someone else. Finally, they learnt how to savor and enjoy daily experiences, like walking to class. The remaining participants were assigned to a control group, in which they were not exposed to any intervention.
One year later, individuals who had been exposed to the intervention, compared to the other participants, exhibited lower levels of depression. In another study, this intervention was also shown to curb depression in people diagnosed with unipolar depression (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006).
Several studies show that attempts to experience gratitude can evoke positive emotions and enhance wellbeing. In one study, conducted by Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005), some participants were asked to write a letter to someone, expressing gratitude. They were then encouraged to deliver this letter. Relative to participants who were assigned to a control group, and merely wrote about some of their early memories, participants who expressed gratitude experienced more happiness and less depression one month later.
Interestingly, exercises in which individuals experience gratitude can enhance the wellbeing of some people but diminish the wellbeing of other people. Specifically, in one study, conducted by Sergeant and Mongrain (2011), some participants completed a gratitude exercise: They were asked, each day, to recall five things for which they were grateful. Other participants listened to uplifting music. Finally, some participants were exposed to neither of these interventions.
At several times, participants also completed various measures of wellbeing, such as depression, self-esteem, and happiness. In addition, they were asked to indicate the degree to which they are self-critical or needy.
If self-critical, participants were especially likely to benefit from the gratitude exercise relative to the other conditions. That is, the gratitude exercise was especially likely to enhance happiness, but not necessarily curb depression, in self-critical individuals. However, if needy, participants reported a lower self-esteem if exposed to the gratitude exercise or music relative to neither of these procedures. Perhaps, the gratitude and music did not fulfill, and may have impeded, the needs of these individuals to feel connected to other people.
Furthermore, Ruini and Vescovelli (2013) showed that gratitude can also foster post traumatic growth. Post traumatic growth reflects the degree to which individuals feel that a trauma has facilitated their relationships, uncovered other pursuits or possibilities in the future, developed their strengths, enhanced their appreciation of life, and fostered a spiritual awakening.
Specifically, in this study, the participants had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone treatment. They completed questionnaires that gauge the degree to which they feel gratitude in general (e.g., "I feel thankful for what I have experienced in life"), experienced post traumatic growth and psychological well-being, as well as endure physical and psychological symptoms. Gratitude was shown to foster all facets of post traumatic growth, such as relationships, personal strengths, and awareness of meaningful possibilities. Furthermore, gratitude reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and hostility.
Several theories have been proposed to explain the role or benefits of gratitude. Presumably, gratitude evolved to facilitate social exchange. Without gratitude, individuals would not reciprocate the support of one another. Cooperation would thus diminish. Therefore, gratitude encourages individuals to perceive one another as affiliates who could help each other and, for example, increases the likelihood that people will mimic one another (Jia, Lee, & Tong, 2015)--a sign of trust and affiliation.
Individuals tend to experience one of two emotions after they receive help or support from someone else: gratitude or indebtedness. Gratitude is more likely than indebtedness to evoke positive emotions. According to Mathews and Shook (2013), whether individuals experience gratitude or indebtedness primarily depends on their regulatory focus, that is, the degree to which they are motivated to achieve future aspirations or merely fulfill their immediate duties.
Specifically, as Mathews and Shook (2013) emphasize, some people are primarily motivated to achieve their more immediate duties, called a prevention focus. Their primary concern is to avoid the punishment that is likely if they violate their social obligations and responsibilities. After they receive help or support from someone else, their attention is oriented towards the additional duties and obligations they may need to fulfill, culminating in feelings of indebtedness and, potentially, evoking anxiety.
In contrast, other people are primarily motivated to achieve their future aspirations, called a promotion focus. Their goals revolve more around growth and accomplishment. Therefore, after they receive help or support from someone else, their attention is directed towards the potential benefits of this event. They become more attuned to how this person has and could assist them. They feel motivated to strengthen their bonds with this person. According to the find-remind-and-bind theory (Algoe, 2012), gratitude evolved to inspire people to strengthen their relationships with helpful and responsive partners.
Mathews and Shook (2013) undertook a pair of studies to demonstrate this relationship between a promotion focus and gratitude. In one study, participants completed measures that ascertain their regulatory focus as well as the degree to which they experience gratitude (e.g., "I have so much in my life to be thankful for") and indebtedness (e.g., "One should return favors from a friend as quickly as possible in order to preserve the friendship"). As hypothesized, a prevention focus was positively associated with indebtedness, whereas a promotion focus was positively associated with gratitude.
In the second study, regulatory focus was manipulated. That is, participants completed a maze task in which they needed to avoid a predator, evoking a prevention focus, or approach a prize, evoking a promotion focus. They next received some raffle tickets. Finally, they specified the extent to which they experienced various emotions. Again, if a promotion rather than prevention focus had been evoked, participants were more likely to experience gratitude instead of indebtedness.
In some instances, participants are instructed to transcribe, each night for a week, three positive events that transpired during the day as well as the causes of these events. This procedure has also been shown to enhance wellbeing.
For example, in the study reported by Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005), some participants were asked to undertake this procedure. Compared to participants who were assigned to a control group, participants who reflected on three positive events experienced more happiness and less depression six months later.
The best possible selves is an activity in which individuals write about the feelings and events they would experience if their life unfolded as favorably as possible in various domains, such as work, school, social life, or health. They are asked to think about the best possible life that could actually unfold in some setting, such as university& receiving excellent grades may be an example. Individuals are usually instructed to write for 10 minutes or so with any style they like. Next, they dedicate 5 minutes, writing about a specific goal or activity that could facilitate this best possible self.
Relative to participants who merely wrote about the activities they completed over the last 24 hours, participants who completed the best possible selves exercise experienced elevated levels of positive affect. They also experienced more flow. Indeed, many studies have confirmed this exercise enhances facets of wellbeing (King 2001;; Lyubomirsky et al. 2011;; Peters et al. 2010). These benefits were especially pronounced if participants had first read positive testimonials about this approach from other students-?but did not depend on whether or not the exercise was completed online.
Presumably, this exercise increases the degree to which inspiring consequences are vivid& vivid images tend to be perceived as more feasible. Consequently, individuals may feel more confident about achieving their goals in the future, promoting positive emotions. Testimonials from other people may increase the effort that people devote to this task, generating more vivid and compelling depictions of the future.
Savoring refers to strategies that people use to maintain, or even to augment, their positive experiences (Bryant, 1989, 2003). Quoidbach, Berry, Hansenne, and Mikolajczak (2010) examined the utility of four spontaneous, rather than induced, savoring techniques. The first technique is called behavioral display in which individuals exhibit their positive affect through mannerisms and gestures, like smiling or pumping the air with their fist. The second technique is called being present and refers to deliberately maintaining attention on their immediate experience (for evidence of utility, see Bryant, 2003). The third technique is called capitalizing, in which individuals celebrate positive events with other people. The final technique is called positive mental time travel in which individuals remember past positive events or anticipate future positive events.
Furthermore, Quoidbach, Berry, Hansenne, and Mikolajczak (2010) also explored the impact of four dampening strategies--behaviors that, usually inadvertently, curtail positive experiences. The first strategy was suppression in which individuals attempt to repress or conceal positive feelings, perhaps because of modesty, shyness, or superstition. The second strategy is distraction in which individuals contemplate, or often worry about, issues that are unrelated to the positive experience. The third strategy is fault finding in which individuals direct attention to the shortfalls or limitations of some positive experience. The final strategy is negative mental time travel in which individuals attribute positive events to causes they could not control or imagine negative implications.
In particular, Quoidbach, Berry, Hansenne, and Mikolajczak (2010) investigated whether or not these strategies are associated with positive affect and life satisfaction. Being present and positive mental time travel were positively associated with positive affect, whereas capitalizing was positively associated with life satisfaction. Distraction was inversely associated with positive affect, and fault finding as well as negative mental time travel was negatively related to life satisfaction. Finally, individuals who utilized several savoring strategies, instead of only one of these techniques, were especially likely to experience this positive affect or life satisfaction. This application of many techniques might ensure sufficient variety and flexibility in the strategies that people adopt.
Despite the benefits of savoring, various circumstances and experiences can diminish the likelihood that individuals will apply this approach. Specifically, according to Quoidbach, Dunn, Hansenne, and Bustin (2015), when people feel that some experience is readily accessible or abundant, their tendency to savor diminishes. In contrast, if some experience is perceived as scarce, savoring is more likely.
To illustrate, as these researchers showed, if individuals have visited many rather than few nations before, they are not as likely to savor pleasant but ordinary trips in the future. They do not reflect upon these trips afterwards or mindfully savor these trips during the experience. Even if participants are prompted to believe they have travelled extensively, they become less inclined to savor. For example, if asked which of several common, rather than uncommon destinations they have visited--and thus tick many options-people feel they have travelled extensively& this procedure also diminishes the likelihood they will savor in the future.
According to Snyder, Harris, Anderson, Holleran, Irving, and Sigmon et al. (1991), hope comprises two facets, called pathways and agency (see also Snyder, 2002). The concept of pathways represents the capacity of individuals to formulate plans to pursue their goals, uncovering alternative avenues and opportunities if obstacles arise. Agency represents the excitement, energy, determination, and commitment that is needed to maintain these pathways.
Hope is often measured with a scale that comprises 12 items, called the Dispositional Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991). This scale measures both pathways and agency. This measure of hope has been shown to be positively associated with task performance on various tasks (e.g., Peterson, Gerhardt, & Rode, 2006) as well as the motivation to develop skills and expertise (e.g., Peterson, Gerhardt, & Rode, 2006), called a learning orientation.
As Bernardo (2010) highlighted, this questionnaire relates to the extent to which individuals feel they uncover their own pathways or feel committed to these plans. Nevertheless, hope can emanate from other sources, such as family, peers, or spiritual beings. Thus, Bernardo (2010) adapted the original scale to represent these other sources of hope. Typical questions included "My parents have lots of ways of helping me attain my goals", "I have been able to meet my goals because of my friends' help", and "God has many different ways of letting me attain my goals".
Personal hope was positively associated with facets that correspond to individualism, such as the degree to which individuals like to feel unique, competent, and responsible (Bernardo, 2010). Hope that emanates from the support of family or peers was associated with seeking advice, a facet of collectivism. Finally, hope that emanates from spirituality or divinity was related to the perceived importance of harmony, another facet of collectivism.
Dispositional hope might also curb the detrimental impact of rumination. In one study, for example, conducted by Geiger and Kwon (2010), participants completed a measure of rumination, in which they were asked to specify the extent to which they brood and reflect upon their experiences and feelings when upset. Next, they completed a measure of hope. Finally, to assess depression, the Becks Depression Inventory was administered. In general, brooding and reflection increased the likelihood of depression. However, when hope was elevated, this positive association diminished: Brooding and reflection were not as likely to culminate in depression.
Thus, regardless of whether individuals brood emotionally or reflect calmly, hope seems to be beneficial. Brooding and reflecting might both uncover plausible opportunities to improve the lives of individuals who also experience hope (Geiger & Kwon, 2010). That is, the pathways and agency that characterize hope might ensure that alternatives and possibilities that brooding and reflecting might unearth are perceived as feasible, curbing depression.
Cheavens, Feldman, Gum, Scott, and Snyder (2006) implemented an intervention that was designed to elicit a sense of hope. Some participants completed eight group sessions, each lasting two hours. During these sessions, participants discussed exercises such as setting meaningful and plausible goals, uncovering opportunities to fulfill these goals, unearthing sources of motivation to maintain this pursuit and prevent obstacles, evaluating progress, and modifying these goals and plans when necessary. Relative to a wait list control, these sessions were shown to improve agency, self esteem, and purpose as well as contain anxiety.
Feldman and Dreher (2011) examined whether a session that lasts only 90 minutes is sufficient to foster hope. In this session, participants were first instructed to identify a goal they would like to achieve over the next 6 months, such as lose weight or learn a skill. Over the next 20 minutes, they learn about hope, such as the importance of tangible goals, the need to identify pathways to achieve these goals, and techniques to instill a sense of agency. Third, on a piece of paper, participants transcribed their goals, recorded three steps they could achieve to fulfill this goal, and some obstacles that could impede each step, together with alternative pathways around these obstacles. In addition, they considered how they could maintain their motivation and capacity to complete these steps. Finally, they completed a visualization task in which they imagined how they would circumvent these obstacles, using all five senses to construct a vivid image. In the control condition, participants either completed a relaxation exercise or no exercise at all.
Participants completed a questionnaire before this intervention, after this intervention, and one month later. The questionnaire gauged a sense of hope and purpose in life. Progress on the goal was also assessed a month after the intervention. Relative to relaxation only, the hope intervention did enhance hope and purpose in life initially, but this improvement was not sustained a month later. However, the hope intervention, relative to the control groups, did enhance progress on the goal a month later.
Shapira and Mongrain (2010) implemented and assessed a procedure that fosters optimism. Specifically, each day, over a week, participants were asked to envisage a positive future, perhaps 1 to 10 years from now, in various facets of their life: family, relationships, and work for example. They were then asked to write about these positive possibilities as well as existing issues they had solved in the future. They attempted to write about their activities at this time as vividly as possible. In addition, they were instructed to convey to themselves sage advice and important insights from the perspective of this future person.
In the control condition, each day, over the week, participants were asked to write about an early memory of their life. They described the activities they were undertaking, the feelings they were experiencing, and the people with whom they were interacting, if they could remember.
One week, one month, three months, and six months after this intervention, participants completed a series of measures that assessed their wellbeing. These measured included scales that gauge depression and happiness. Furthermore, they completed a questionnaire of self criticism, neediness, and connectedness.
Relative to the control condition, this optimism condition increased happiness over the next six months. This intervention diminished depression over the next three months.
Peters, Flink, and Boersma, and Linton (2010) developed another protocol to elicit optimism. Specifically, in this study, to elicit optimism, some participants wrote about their best possible self for 15 min . That is, they were asked to imagine their life if everything unfolded as they wanted. They were instructed to envisage that perhaps they have worked diligently and achieved their most important dreams. Once this image had been evoked, they wrote about this future for 15 minutes. Afterwards, they formed a vivid image of this account for 5 minutes. In the control condition, participants wrote about a typical day, but otherwise received similar instructions.
After they completed these exercises, they completed a measure of positive and negative affect. In addition, they answered questions that gauge the likelihood they feel that various positive and negative events will unfold, regardless of mood. For example, they were asked to indicate the likelihood they will become unwell or attract admiration. Relative to the control condition, contemplation about the best possible self increased positive emotions and also augmented the perceived likelihood of positive events, representing optimism. Presumably, when individuals form vivid images of positive events, related consequences seem more probable. That is, events that can be imagined clearly seem more likely (for underlying mechanisms, see also fluency and the hedonic marking hypothesis).
Individuals who have recovered from illness also show many other positive traits--relative to individuals who have not experienced severe illness. In particular, these individuals exhibit appreciation of beauty, bravery, curiosity, fairness, forgiveness, gratitude, humor, kindness, love of learning, and spirituality (Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2006).
To examine these issues, participants completed the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. This questionnaire comprises 240 items, in which respondents report the degree to which they feel they exhibit various traits. The questionnaire measures 24 different strengths, each relating to 10 items
These 24 strengths can be divided into six broad divisions. The first set of strengths relates to the acquisition and use of knowledge and wisdom. These strengths include:
The second set of strengths relates to the emotional courage to accomplish difficult goals. These strengths include:
The third set of strengths relates to humanity. Specifically, these strengths entail:
The fourth set of strengths revolves around participation in community life and pursuit of justice. These strengths include:
The fifth set of strengths concerns temperance rather than excess. These strengths comprise:
The final set of strengths relates to transcendence--connecting with an enduring sense of meaning and the broader universe. These strengths include:
Conceivably, strengths interventions might cultivate physiological toughness. For example, in one study, conducted by Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005), participants were instructed to identify their signature strengths. In addition, they were instructed to apply these strengths everyday, creatively and industriously. A rise in happiness and a diminution in depressive symptoms lasted for at least six months.
This intervention could, arguably, enhance physiological toughness. That is, individuals might learn to associate the usual stress of daily tasks with their strengths--representations that coincide with a sense of control and agency. Over time, stress might become connected with these feelings of agency, which is assumed to be a key determinant of physiological toughness.
As Wood, Linley, Maltby, Kashdan, and Hurling (2010) showed, in a longitudinal study, the use or application of strengths seems to curb stress and increase self esteem and vitality. In this study, participants completed a measure that gauges the extent to which they utilize their strengths. Typical questions include "I achieve what I want by using my strengths", "I am able to use my strengths in lots of different ways", and "My work gives me lots of opportunities to use my strengths". In addition, participants completed measures of perceived stress over the last month, self esteem, and vitality. The measure of vitality included questions like "I feel alive and vital". These measures, apart from the questions on the degree to which they utilize their strengths, were administered on three occasions, over the six months.
Application of strengths at one time was associated with reduced stress as well as increased self esteem and vitality three and six months later. These findings confirm the benefits that apply when individuals are granted opportunities to apply their strengths.
Similarly, Littman-Ovadia and Steger (2010) showed that individuals are more likely to experience wellbeing and job satisfaction if they are granted opportunities to utilize their strengths. In this project, participants were asked to specify the degree to which they are granted an opportunity to utilize the various strengths, stipulated in the inventory of strengths, during work. These opportunities were positively associated with measures of psychological wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Proctor, Tsukayama, Wood, Maltby, Eades, and Linley (2011) showed that strength based interventions can be applied to students in Years 7, 8, and 9 in high school--that is, when students are around 12 to 15 in age. Over six months, students were encouraged to identify their key strengths and become more sensitive to these strengths. For example, they were encouraged to write about or draw about occasions in which they, or someone they knew, exhibited and utilized a specific strength. In addition, throughout the day, they were encouraged to identify or utilize these strengths. This program significantly improved life satisfaction. According to the researchers, when individuals apply their strengths, they experience a sense of fulfillment, choice, and authenticity, improving their wellbeing.
Even the recognition of personal strengths is positively associated with some outcomes. As Littman-Ovadia and Steger (2010) demonstrated, when individuals endorse many character strengths, they are more likely to experience a sense of meaning (see meaning in life). In particular, participants completed the questionnaire that establishes the extent to which they feel they exhibit various character strengths. In addition, they completed a measure of meaning, epitomized by items like "My life has a clear purpose". Endorsement of these strengths was positively associated with meaning?-an association that was replicated in paid and voluntary workers as well as adolescents and adults. Presumably, when individuals endorse these strengths, they feel they have developed the qualities to pursue a personal niche, integral to meaning.
Louis (2011) distinguishes two variants of strength interventions: talent identification and strength development. When talent identification is implemented, participants often complete surveys that uncover sets of talents or competencies that could evolve into strengths. That is, the practitioner focusses their attention on the identification, rather than development, of talents. In contrast, when strength development is implemented, participants also reflect upon how they can cultivate their strengths. They identify opportunities to develop these talents.
According to Louis (2011), talent identification, in contrast to strength development, can provoke a complication. Talent identification may imply that such capabilities are inherent. Consequently, individuals do not feel they can as readily cultivate their strengths, called an entity or fixed theory (see implicit theories of malleability). Once they adopt this perspective, their resilience diminishes. They do not feel they can change as readily and, therefore, become more sensitive to criticism and other complications.
Louis (2011) undertook a study to confirm this possibility. All participants, apart from individuals assigned to a control group, completed the Clifton Strength Finder, intended to uncover their talents. Participants who were assigned to the talent identification group then undertook exercises that confirm these strengths. These exercises lasted about 200 minutes, dispersed over four weeks. For example, participants reflected upon how these talents may have facilitated previous successes or achievements.
Participants who were assigned to the strength development group undertook exercises that highlight the possibility of development. During these exercises, people were informed that talents can be underutilized or overutilized. They were informed that talents need to be refined and developed, with exposure to knowledge and practice, to translate into strengths. Participants were then encouraged to uncover novel techniques, and to identify opportunities, that could be utilized to develop their strengths. They also reflected on actions they have undertaken in the past to develop their strengths.
Finally, before and after these interventions, participants completed a measure that assesses the degree to which they adopt an entity or fixed theory. After talent identification, but not skill development, participants were more inclined to assume that capabilities and character are fixed rather than malleable. Hence, talent identification, without skill development, can provoke some problems.
Individuals who report many strengths, besides modesty and religiousness, are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, such as eating healthy food, and thus experience physical health (Proyer, Gander, Wellenzohn, & Ruch, 2013). In one study, for example, conducted by Proyer, Gander, Wellenzohn, and Ruch (2013), participants completed the value in action inventory of strengths. This scale assesses the extent to which individuals exhibit 24 strengths, such as persistence, epitomized by the item "I never quit a task before it is done". In addition, these individuals rated the frequency with which they engage in healthy or safe behaviors, such as live an active life, comply with prescriptions, avoid alcohol and drugs, eat healthy food, and maintain personal hygiene Finally, participants completed questions that engage whether they are physically fit, healthy, and satisfied with life.
All the strengths, besides modesty and religiousness, were significantly associated with healthy behaviors in general. Specifically, most but not all these strengths were associated with living an active life. The emotional strengths in particular were also associated with physical fitness and life satisfaction. Arguably, the strengths might evoke a sense of efficacy, diminishing the detrimental effects of adverse events on motivation and health.
As some research shows, a subset of strengths may be more likely to enhance life satisfaction than are other strengths (Park et al., 2004;; Proyer, Ruch, & Buschor, 2013). Curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest are more strongly associated with life satisfaction than are appreciation of beauty and excellence, creativity, kindness, love of learning, and perspective.
To illustrate, in one study, conducted by Proyer, Ruch, and Buschor (2013), some participants received training on the strengths that correlate highly with life satisfaction: curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest. For example, to promote curiosity, participants engaged in four new, absorbing activities and described these experiences in a report. To promote gratitude, they wrote a letter in which they expressed gratitude to someone. To promote hope, they reflected upon how a major loss in their lives tends to generate a vital opportunity, called one door closes, one door opens. To promote humor, they completed a humor training program, in which they learnt to be more playful, focused on verbal skills, uncovered humor in everyday life, as well as learnt to laugh at themselves. And to promote zest, participants learnt to integrate challenging and social tasks to their daily schedule.
In one control condition, participants received training on the strengths that do not correlate highly with life satisfaction: appreciation of beauty and excellence, creativity, kindness, love of learning, and perspective. They completed various measures of creativity, wrote about the emotions they felt when they learn something new, and so forth. In another control condition, participants did not receive training at all.
The training interventions tended to enhance life satisfaction, but especially if participants received training in curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest?-the strengths that correlate highly with life satisfaction. Training on strengths the person had not acquired previously was especially beneficial.
The HAPPI is an inventory, comprising 15 items, that measures the extent to which individuals engage in behaviors that have been shown to foster subjective wellbeing. The 15 items generate four distinct factors (Henricksen & Stephens, 2013):
In a sample of 3000 participants over 55 years of age, Henricksen and Stephens (2013) showed that all the subscales correlate with measures of happiness, quality of life, meaning, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction. Each of the four factors was positively associated with a measure of happiness, even after controlling the other factors.
Algoe, S. B. (2012). Find, remind, and bind: The functions of gratitude in everyday relationships. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 455-469.
Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106, 529-550.
Basso, M. R., Schefft, B. K., Ris, M. D., & Dember, W. N. (1996). Mood and global-local visual processing. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2, 249-255.
Bernardo, A. B. J. (2010). Extending hope theory: Internal and external locus of trait hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 944-949.
Bryant, F. B. (1989). A four-factor model of perceived control: Avoiding, coping, obtaining, and savoring. Journal of Personality, 57, 773-797.
Bryant, F. B. (2003). Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI): A scale for measuring beliefs about savouring. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 175-196.
Bryant, F. B., Smart, C. M., & King, S. P. (2005). Using the past to enhance the present: Boosting happiness through positive reminiscence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 227-260.
Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Burns, A. B., Brown, J. S., Sachs-Ericsson, N., Plant, E. A., Curtis, J. T., Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. E. (2008). Upward spirals of positive emotion and coping: Replication, extension, and initial exploration of neurochemical substrates. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 360-370.
Cheavens, J. S., Feldman, D. B., Gum, A., Scott, T. M., & Snyder, C. R. (2006). Hope therapy in a community sample: A pilot investigation. Social Indicators Research, 77, 61-86.
Cohn, M. A., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Beyond the moment, beyond the self: shared ground between selective investment theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Psychological Inquiry, 17, 39-44.
Derryberry, D., & Tucker, D. M. (1994). Motivating the focus of attention. In P. M. Neidenthal & S. Kitayama (Eds.), The heart's eye: Emotional influences in perception and attention (pp. 167-196). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Ellsworth, P. C., & Smith, C. A. (1988). Shades of joy: Patterns of appraisal differentiating pleasant emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 2, 301-331.
Estrada, C. A., Isen, A. M., & Young, M. J. (1997). Positive affect facilitates integration of information and decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72, 117-135.
Feldman, D. B., & Dreher, D. E. (2011). Can hope be changed in 90 minutes? Testing the efficacy of a single-session goal-pursuit intervention for college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 745-759. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9292-4
Fordyce, M. W. (1983). A program to increase happiness: Further studies. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 4, 483-498.
Geiger, K. A., & Kwon, P. (2010). Rumination and depressive symptoms: Evidence for the moderating role of hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 391-395.
Henricksen, A., & Stephens, C. (2013). The happiness-enhancing activities and positive practices inventory (HAPPI): Development and validation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 81-98. doi: 10.1007/s10902-011-9317-z
Izard, C. E. (1977). Human emotions. New York: Plenum.
Jia, L. Lee, L. N., & Tong, E. M. W. (2015). Gratitude facilitates behavioral mimicry. Emotion, 15(2), 134-138. doi: 0.1037/emo0000022
Johnson, K. J., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2005). "We all look the same to me". Positive emotions eliminate the own-race bias in face recognition. Psychological Science, 16, 875-881.
Kahn, B. E., & Isen, A. M. (1993). The influence of positive affect on variety seeking among safe, enjoyable products. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 257-270.
King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 798-807.
Layous, K., Nelson, S. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). What is the optimal way to deliver a positive activity intervention? The case of writing about one?s best possible selves. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 635-654. doi: 10.1007/s10902-012-9346-2
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Levenson, R. W. (1994). Human emotions: A functional view. In P. Ekman & R. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions (pp. 123-126). New York: Oxford University Press.
Littman-Ovadia, H., & Steger, M. (2010). Character strengths and well-being among volunteers and employees: Toward an integrative model . Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 419 -430.
Louis, M. C. (2011). Strengths interventions in higher education: The effect of identification versus development approaches on implicit self-theory. Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 204-215. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2011.570366
Lyubomirsky, S., Dickerhoof, R., Boehm, J. K., & Sheldon, K. M. (2011). Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being. Emotion, 11, 391-402.
Mathews, M. A., & Shook, N. J. (2013). Promoting or preventing thanks: Regulatory focus and its effect on gratitude and indebtedness. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 191-195. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2013.01.001
Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 603-619. doi:10.1521/jscp.23.5.603.50748.
Peters, M. L., Flink, I. K., Boersma, K., & Linton, S. J. (2010). Manipulating optimism: Can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 204-211.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Peterson, S. J., Gerhardt, M. W., & Rode, J. C. (2006). Hope, learning goals, and task performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1099-1109.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. (2006). Greater strengths of character and recovery from illness. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 17-26.
Price, T. F., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2010). The effect of embodied emotive states on cognitive categorization. Emotion, 10, 934-938.
Proctor, C., Tsukayama, E., Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Eades, J. F., & Linley, P. A. (2011). Strengths Gym: The impact of a character strengths based intervention on the life satisfaction and wellbeing of adolescents. Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 377-388. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2011.594079
Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Wellenzohn, S., & Ruch, W. (2013). What good are character strengths beyond subjective well-being? The contribution of the good character on self-reported health-oriented behaviour, physical fitness, and the subjective health status. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 222-232.
Proyer, R. T., Ruch, W., & Buschor, C. (2013). Testing strengths-based interventions: A preliminary study on the effectiveness of a program targeting curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest for enhancing life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 275-292. doi 10.1007/s10902-012-9331-9
Quoidbach, J., Berry, E. V., Hansenne, M., & Mikolajczak, M. (2010). Positive emotion regulation and well-being: Comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 368-373.
Quoidbach, J., Dunn, E. W., Hansenne, M., & Bustin, G. (2015). The price of abundance: how a wealth of experiences impoverishes savouring. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(3), 393-404. doi: 10.1177/0146167214566189
Raghunathan, R., & Trope, Y. (2002). Walking the tightrope between feeling good and being accurate: Mood as a resource in processing persuasive messages. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 510-525.
Reisberg, D., & Heuer, F. (2004). Memory for emotional events. In D. Reisberg & P. Hertel (Eds.), Memory and emotion (pp. 3-41). New York: Oxford University Press.
Rubin, D. C. (2006). The basic-systems model of episodic memory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 277-311.
Ruini, C., & Vescovelli, F. (2013). The role of gratitude in breast cancer: its relationships with post-traumatic growth, psychological well-being and distress. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 263-274. doi: 10.1007/s10902-012-9330-x
Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N. P., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421.
Sergeant, S., & Mongrain, M. (2011). Are positive psychology exercises helpful for people with depressive personality styles? Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 260-272. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2011.570366
Shapira, L. B., & Mongrain, M. (2010). The benefits of self-compassion and optimism exercises for individuals vulnerable to depression. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 377-389.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467-487.
Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 249-275.
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T. et al. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570-585.
Talarico, J. M., Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2009). Positive emotions enhance recall of peripheral details. Cognition and Emotion, 23, 380-398.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (1990). The past explains the present: Emotional adaptations and the structure of ancestral environments. Ethology and Sociobiology, 11, 375-424.
Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2007). Regulation of positive emotions: Emotion regulation strategies that promote resilience. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 311-333.
Wadlinger, H. A., & Isaacowitz, D. M. (2006). Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 89-101.
Waugh, C. E., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Nice to know you: Positive emotions, self-other overlap, and complex understanding in the formation of a new relationship. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 93-106.
Waugh, C. E., Fredrickson, B. L., & Taylor, S. F. (2008). Adapting to life's slings and arrows: Individual differences in resilience when recovering from an anticipated threat. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1031-1046.
Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Kashdan, T. B., & Hurling, R. (2010). Using personal and psychological strengths leads to increases in well-being over time: A longitudinal study and the development of the strengths use questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 15-19.
Last Update: 7/17/2016