The positivity resonance theory of coexperienced positive affect (Fredrickson, 2016) identifies the emotion of love as a collective state. This state, termed positive resonance, is defined by the presence of three key features: shared positive affect, caring nonverbal synchrony, and biological synchrony. The current study examined whether a modest behavioral intervention focused on increasing social connectedness could increase study participants' perceptions of day-to-day positivity resonance with corollary impacts on their tendencies for prosociality and self-centeredness. Adults (N = 416, M age = 33.8) were randomized to one of four study conditions: either of two variants of the social connectedness intervention or either of two control groups. Positivity resonance, prosociality, and self-centeredness were measured nightly for 35 consecutive days. Dynamic multilevel factor models of nightly reports showed significant growth in positivity resonance, relative to a passive control group, for the two intervention groups and higher mean levels of prosociality for one of them. In addition, significant dose-response relations were evident (both between persons and within persons), linking positivity resonance to both prosociality and self-centeredness. The within-persons effect for prosociality (but not self-centeredness) was significantly stronger for those randomized to the intervention groups, relative to both passive and active control groups. Taken together, findings suggest that the affective quality of people's day-to-day social encounters may have implications for community flourishing. Discussion centers on theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.

Although behaviors such as handwashing, mask wearing, and social distancing are known to limit viral spread, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals in the United States did not adopt them. The positivity resonance theory of coexperienced positive affect (Fredrickson, 2016) holds that shared pleasant states that include the key features of mutual care and a sense of oneness through behavioral synchrony function to build prosocial tendencies (e.g., self-transcendent and otheroriented dispositions of felt unity, empathy, altruism, and general positivity toward humanity). We tested the theory-driven hypothesis that prosocial tendencies are associated with high-quality social connections characterized by the affective state of positivity resonance and, in turn, account for behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. We measured perceived positivity resonance at the level of social episodes either during the COVID-19 pandemic (study 1, N = 1059, April-May 2020) or before it (study 2, N = 227, March-November 2019). In both studies, cross-sectionally and prospectively, results suggest that perceived positivity resonance had a positive indirect effect on self-reported hygienic behaviors (e.g., handwashing and mask wearing), which was mediated by a latent measure of prosocial tendencies. Sensitivity analyses confirmed these mediation effects to be independent of competing predictors of prosocial tendencies (e.g., overall positive and negative affect, frequency of social interaction) and competing predictors of health behaviors (e.g., political orientation, high-risk status, illness symptoms). Effects for social distancing were mixed. Overall, findings are consistent with the view that positivity resonance builds selftranscendent prosocial tendencies that motivate behaviors to protect community health. Keywords Positive psychology . Broaden-and-build theory . Health behavior . EmotionIn step with the rise of large-scale civilizations, humans have endured pandemics, a reality made salient in early 2020 as COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, reached multiple continents. Absent vaccines, societies rely on people's behaviors to curb the spread of disease. To the extent that government-mandated actions are lacking or inconsistent, people's intrinsic motivation to comply with behavioral recommendations from public health officials becomes a vital determinant of disease spread. The United States (US), however, faced both cultural and socio-political barriers to gaining immediate and widespread changes in people's daily healthprotective behaviors. Research that investigates factors that shape people's intrinsic motivation to adopt behaviors to protect community health thus becomes essential. We hypothesize that high-quality social connections marked by coexperienced positive affect bear a unique association with prosocial tendencies that are tied to behaviors that reduce viral spread, such as handwashing, mask wearing, and social distancing.

Wong, P. T. (1998). Implicit theories of meaningful life and the development of the personal meaning profile. In P. T. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 111-140). Lawrence Erlbaum.

Shared positive emotions involving caring and synchrony—termed “positivity resonance”—are associated with mental health (Major et al., 2018). We hypothesized that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, individual differences in trait resilience would be linked with better overall mental health in part because those higher in trait resilience experience more positivity resonance. We surveyed respondents nationally in April and May of 2020 (total N = 1,059), during pervasive stay-at-home orders. Participants completed self-reports of trait resilience and mental health and used the Day Reconstruction Method to describe their social and emotional experiences. Structural equation models showed positivity resonance to mediate the links between trait resilience and mental health outcomes. Subsequent analyses showed these mediating effects to be independent of overall positive emotion and social interaction quantity (amongst nationwide adults). These results indicate that high-quality social connection played a uniquely important role in maintaining mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although simple behaviors such as handwashing, mask wearing and social distancing are known to limit viral spread, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals in the United States did not adopt them. The Positivity Resonance Theory of collective positive affect holds that shared pleasant states that include the key features of mutual care and a sense of oneness through behavioral synchrony, function to build self-transcendent prosocial tendencies (Fredrickson, 2016). We tested the theory-driven hypothesis that prosocial tendencies (e.g., positive, other-oriented dispositions of felt unity, empathy, altruism and general positivity toward humanity) are associated with high-quality day-to-day social connections characterized by the affective state of positivity resonance, and in turn account for simple behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. We measured positivity resonance at the level of social episodes either during (Study 1, N = 1059, April-May 2020) or before the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 2, N = 227, March-November 2019). Across both studies, results suggest that positivity resonance had a positive indirect effect on self-reported COVID-19-related hygienic (e.g., handwashing & mask-wearing) and charitable behaviors, which was mediated by a latent index of prosocial tendencies. Sensitivity analyses confirmed these mediation effects to be independent of overall positive and negative affect, the frequency of social interaction, political orientation, and concern for one’s own health. Effects for social distancing were mixed. Overall, findings are consistent with the view that positivity resonance, a subtype of collective positive affect, builds self-transcendent prosocial tendencies that motivate simple behaviors to protect community health.