A response to commentaries on positivity

Abstract

In our response, we aim to further contribute to the ongoing discussion of the construct of positivity and of the related research. We believe that each of the three commentaries has something unique to offer to the literature. By this response we take the opportunity to discuss the ideas that they present, and to illustrate some additional thoughts about positivity and its relationships with germane psychological constructs.We are grateful to the Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Journal of Social Psychology for having invited prestigious colleagues to comment on our article and for offering us the opportunity to further clarify our thought about positivity. Likewise, we are pleased to express our gratitude to all colleagues who have offered their constructive criticism and important suggestions to further appreciate the role of positivity in personality development and well-functioning.In responding to their commentaries, we will address three main issues:

The Trap of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Italian Adolescents Fare Well at First, Maybe Thanks to Protective Trait Expression

“…This result is particularly interesting when examined in light of existing literature highlighting the markedly stable nature of these two cognitive components [ 27 , 44 ]. However, it aligns with those studies showing that both Positivity and IU trait expressions are influenced by situational demands [ 41 , 42 , 76 ]. The literature on Positivity posits that this disposition might represent an influential genetic endowment that can also be subject to modification under the influence of different environmental factors, which account for our position within our personal range of variation at any particular time [ 39 ].…”

“…Positivity is described as a “pervasive mode of appraising, viewing, and perceiving life from a positive stance” [ 40 ] (p. 353), a process closely associated with the management and consequences of positive affect. Positivity predisposes people to “recruit, amplify and benefit from it through the promotion of experiences that carry positive feelings and by enhancing and prolonging their savoring” [ 41 ] (p. 4).…”

“…Extant literature underscores the heritable mechanism behind individual positive orientation [ 39 ], while also revealing a meaningful susceptibility of this disposition to environmental influence [ 42 ]. A significant component linked to experience speaks to its moderate malleability: life experiences play a role in the different forms that self-esteem, life satisfaction and optimism may take and in their combinations [ 41 ]. For example, a daily study on an adolescent sample has expounded on the genetic evidence, showing a significant variation of Positivity from one day to the next [ 43 ], while evidence from a longitudinal study showed a high degree of consistency of positive orientation over adolescents’ developmental trajectory [ 44 ].…”

“… We chose to test the same model twice, including the same variables but at different time points, because we had the unique opportunity of comparing the moderating effect of a trait-like disposition before and during the lockdown to observe the lockdown’s effect on trait-like dispositions’ interactions; this enabled us to scrutinize whether and how a simple cognitive and psychopathological system reacts to a major stressor, capitalizing on cognitive resources to produce resilience. This condition offered a unique standpoint that enabled us to investigate the effect of the environment on two cognitive factors that, albeit dispositional, can take different forms and express differently under certain circumstances [ 28 , 39 , 41 ]. No previous research has focused on this issue, so we did not formulate any specific hypothesis.…”