Upward spirals of positive emotion and coping: Replication, extension, and initial exploration of neurochemical substrates

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Abstract

The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, Fredrickson, 2001) predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, thereby facilitating the building of personal resources and initiating upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. This study attempts to replicate and extend previous empirical support for this model. Using a sample of 185 undergraduates, we assessed whether positive affect and broad-minded coping, interpersonal trust, and social support reciprocally and prospectively predict one another over a two-month period, and whether this upward spiral might be partially based in changes in dopaminergic functioning. As hypothesized, PA and positive coping did mutually build on one another, as did PA and interpersonal trust. Contrary to expectation, PA did not demonstrate an upward spiral relation with social support. Results suggest further study of the relationship between PA and changes in dopamine metabolite levels over time is warranted.

Introduction

Positive emotional experiences not only feel good, they also help people stay healthy (Cohen, Doyle, Turner, Alper, & Skoner, 2003) and live longer (Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001), even accounting for age, gender, prior health status, social class, and other possible confounds (Levy et al., 2002, Moskowitz, 2003, Ostir et al., 2000). But how do pleasant feelings promote health and well-being?

Fredrickson, 1998, Fredrickson, 2001 broaden-and-build theory suggests possible pathways. The theory holds that positive emotions broaden people’s thought-action repertoires, encouraging them to discover novel lines of thinking and behavior. A key, incidental outcome of these broadened mindsets is an increase in personal resources: As individuals discover new ideas and actions, they build physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources. Aspects of the broaden-and-build perspective have received empirical support in past work, which has shown positive emotions to broaden the scope of people’s visual attention, widen their thought-action repertoires, and enhance intuitive and creative thinking and coping skills (Bolte et al., 2003, Fredrickson and Branigan, 2005, Isen et al., 1987).

Only one study, however, has examined the reciprocal nature of the relation between positive emotions and personal resources. Fredrickson and Joiner (2002) empirically demonstrated that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, and by consequence initiate upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. These authors studied undergraduates’ self-reported affect and coping at two assessment periods, five weeks apart. As hypothesized, results indicated that positive affect (PA) predicted improved broad-minded coping, and broad-minded coping predicted increased PA. Further analyses showed that PA and broad-minded coping serially enhanced one another: the broadened attention and cognition triggered by earlier experiences of positive emotion facilitated coping, which in turn predicted future experiences of positive emotion. All findings were specific to PA; similar patterns with negative affect (NA) were not evident. This study provided prospective evidence to support the prediction that positive emotions initiate upward spirals toward enhanced emotional well-being via enhanced coping.

Our purpose in the present study is to replicate the findings of Fredrickson and Joiner (2002), and to extend them in several ways. First, whereas Fredrickson and Joiner (2002) rationally selected a specific coping subscale as an index of broad-minded coping, we utilize a broader, factor-analytically derived coping composite. Second, we seek to demonstrate that upward spirals involve interpersonal as well as cognitive resources and benefits. The broaden-and-build theory posits that positive emotions facilitate approach behaviors that motivate people to explore and interact with their environment in a variety of ways, which in turn should foster the development of an array of physical, cognitive, and social resources (Fredrickson, 2001). Accordingly, in addition to assessing coping (a cognitive resource) we assess the social resources of interpersonal trust and social support. Finally, there is intriguing preliminary evidence that the effect of positive emotions on “enlarging” the cognitive context is linked to increases in brain dopamine. Ashby, Isen, and Turken (1999) reviewed the literature on PA and cognition and proposed a theory postulating that increased CNS dopaminergic activity mediates the association between PA and improvements in various cognitive skills including creative problem solving and selection of cognitive perspective. An exploratory aim of our study is to empirically assess whether the upward spiral of positive emotions and broad-minded coping is related to changes in dopaminergic functioning.

Utilizing an undergraduate sample, we assessed PA, NA, positive and negative coping, trust, social support, and neurotransmitter metabolites at two sessions separated by approximately two months. Our first hypothesis is that PA predicts improvements in positive coping (PC), trust, and social support over time. Our second hypothesis is that PC, trust, and social support predict increases in PA over time. Additionally, we test whether similar relations hold for NA, and predict specificity to PA. Our third and fourth hypotheses test upward spiral relations directly. We predict that initial PA predicts subsequent PA, in part through changes in PC, trust, and social support. Similarly, we predict that initial PC predicts subsequent PC, in part through changes in PA. Support for these hypotheses would suggest that PA and PC serially influence one another, consistent with the broaden-and-build theory and the findings of Fredrickson and Joiner (2002).

Finally, we explore the role of homovanillic acid (HVA), the main dopaminergic metabolite, in these associations, and we compare it to the role of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), the main serotonergic metabolite. While this is an exploratory aspect of our study, based on the literature reviewed by Ashby et al. (1999) we expect a positive relation between PA and dopaminergic functioning, and we expect whatever role is demonstrable for dopamine to exceed that for serotonergic functioning.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

Undergraduate participants received credit in introductory psychology for participating in two sessions, conducted in groups. Two hundred and twenty students participated at Time 1 (T1), and 185 (144 female; ages 16–46, M = 18.8 years; 65% Caucasian, 15% African–American, 11% Hispanic, 2% Asian–American, 7% other) returned for the second session approximately eight weeks later (T2). The 35 participants who dropped out did not differ from those who completed on any variable of interest. At T1

Results2

Descriptive statistics for all variables of interest are presented in Table 1.

Discussion

Our aim in this study was to replicate and extend tests of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Following the empirical strategy used by Fredrickson and Joiner (2002), we examined the reciprocal relations between PA and increments over time in personal resources. While observed effect sizes were small, our findings replicated those reported by Fredrickson and Joiner (2002). As predicted, PA was positively associated with PC over time and vice versa; furthermore, evidence of

Acknowledgements

Portions of this research were supported by grants from Florida State University, the University of Michigan, the National Institute of Mental Health (MH53971 and MH59615), and awards from the John Templeton Foundation, the American Psychological Association (2000 Templeton Positive Psychology Prize), and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

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