No abstract

Background: Positive psychology interventions have been shown to increase happiness and well-being, and researchers are beginning to speculate on the mechanisms through which these interventions may be effective. People are also naturally attuned to the things that will make them happier in their daily lives, and there is a case for considering how more naturalistic, everyday activities may also increase positive affect, happiness and well-being. Methods: Study 1 involved 89 participants who completed a gratefulness activity while eating an ice cream for two days, following baseline measurement for two days. Participants completed the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale) twice per day, in the afternoon and in the evening, with the activity between these two times on the activity days. Study 2 involved 280 participants who formed four groups (gratefulness activity; ice cream consumption; gratefulness activity and ice cream consumption; control group), which undertook the relevant activity for two days. Participants completed baseline and follow-up measures, including the PANAS and the GQ-6 (Gratitude Questionnaire-6) on the day before and day following the two activity days. On the activity days themselves, participants completed the PANAS before and after their activity. Results: In Study 1, we found that the combination of the gratefulness activity and eating ice cream led to increased positive affect. In Study 2, we explored this finding further, and found that any combination of the gratefulness activity and eating ice cream (together or alone) led to increased positive affect. The same pattern of results was observed for affect balance and the ratio of positive to negative emotions. The gratefulness activity only also led to increased gratitude as measured by the GQ-6. Results showed that even simple, naturalistic everyday activities can lead to increases in positive affect. This experience of positive affect may be one mediating pathway through which positive psychology interventions, and indeed everyday activities, are effective in enhancing happiness and well-being. Conclusions: Researchers should consider the role of everyday activities in enhancing happiness and well-being, in addition to investigating the operational mechanisms of more formal positive psychology interventions.

No abstract

Positive psychology interventions have tended to be intentional cognitive and / or behavioural activities, specifically designed by researchers to increase happiness and wellbeing. In everyday life, however, people naturally undertake activities to increase their happiness and wellbeing. In this study, we examine and compare gifting and eating as two types of everyday activity that influence Positive Affect and so also happiness and wellbeing. Two hundred participants were allocated to four groups to examine the impact of gifting and eating, both individually and combined, relative to a control group, on happiness and wellbeing. Results show that giving a desirable food (ice cream) to another person as a gift increases Positive Affect but not discrete positive emotions, whereas both eating and giving an ice cream as a gift increase both Positive Affect and discrete positive emotions. The discussion focuses on the role of everyday activities in enhancing Positive Affect with the accumulative potential to increase everyday happiness.

Background: Positive psychology interventions have been shown to increase happiness and well-being, and researchers are beginning to speculate on the mechanisms through which these interventions may be effective, such as positive emotion, behavior and thought. Short interventions matched to an individual’s current context may be a route to boosting positive emotion in everyday life contexts where people have limited time.Methods: In the first study 250 UK participants completed a control task or three short tips selected from a list of 10. Positive emotion was monitored before and 15 minutes after the task via PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and additional items in a new Positive Emotional Intensity Scale (PEIS). Study 2 was a series of user centered design sessions with 18 UK participants to identify the key design principles for a Smartphone App intervention to boost positive emotion in an everyday life context. Study 3 involved 280 UK participants who either used the Smartphone App for two days or were in a control group. PANAS and PEIS were monitored during the intervention period and two days before. Personality, Adult Playfulness and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were deployed as potential moderators. The fourth study followed a similar design to study 1 but with 406 Chinese participants completing the short tips translated into Chinese, with PANAS, PEIS and Flourishing monitored before and after.Results and Discussion: In Study 1, we found three short tips increased positive emotion, relative to the control, as monitored by PEIS (but not PANAS). Study 2 identified twelve design principles that were used to develop the Smartphone App, which delivers short tips tailored to an individual’s context. Study 3 found that the Smartphone App boosted positive emotion (PEIS) and reduced PANAS Negative Affect relative to a control. In study 4 the same tips used in study 1 also increased positive emotion for Chinese participants when monitored via PANAS (but not PEIS).Conclusions: Varied short tips to boost positive emotion, behaviors and thoughts, which are matched to an individual’s context, may be an effective approach to enhancing happiness and well-being.