Perceived happiness level influences evocation of positive emotions

Morikura, Masahiro; Murakami, Hiroki; Yamakawa, Kohji; Isowa, Tokiko; Fukuyama, Seisuke; Shinoda, Jun; Yamada, Jitsuhiro; Ohira, Hideki

doi:10.4236/ns.2011.38095

Cited by 4 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(25 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To what extent does this characterization describe you?” 1 (not at all) to 7 (a great deal). The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent discriminant validity of the JSHS have previously been confirmed (Lyubomirsky and Lepper, 1999 ; Shimai et al, 2004 ; Matsunaga et al, 2011a , b ). Cronbach's alpha for the JSHS was 0.81 in the present study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…To assess subjective levels of happiness, participants completed the Japanese version of the Subjective Happiness Scale (JSHS; Shimai et al, 2004 ; Matsunaga et al, 2011a , b ), which is based on the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) originally developed by Lyubomirsky and Lepper ( 1999 ). The SHS exhibits excellent psychometric properties, such as high internal consistency, a unitary structure, and stability over time (Lyubomirsky and Lepper, 1999 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SHS exhibits excellent psychometric properties, such as high internal consistency, a unitary structure, and stability over time (Lyubomirsky and Lepper, 1999 ). Therefore, the SHS is a widely used psychometric tool for evaluating subjective happiness levels (Shimai et al, 2004 ; Matsunaga et al, 2011a , b ; Zhang et al, 2013 ). The JSHS subjectively assesses whether a person is happy or unhappy, as well as his or her positive personal traits.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Neural and Genetic Correlates of the Social Sharing of Happiness

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Happiness is regarded as one of the most fundamental human goals. Given recent reports that positive feelings are contagious (e.g., the presence of a happy person enhances others' happiness) because of the human ability to empathize (i.e., sharing emotions), empathic ability may be a key factor in increasing one's own subjective level of happiness. Based on previous studies indicating that a single nucleotide polymorphism in the serotonin 2A receptor gene [HTR2A rs6311 guanine (G) vs. adenine (A)] is associated with sensitivity to emotional stimuli and several mental disorders such as depression, we predicted that the polymorphism might be associated with the effect of sharing happiness. To elucidate the neural and genetic correlates of the effect of sharing happiness, we first performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a “happy feelings” evocation task (emotional event imagination task), during which we manipulated the valence of the imagined event (positive, neutral, or negative), as well as the presence of a friend experiencing a positive-valence event (presence or absence). We recruited young adult women for this fMRI study because empathic ability may be higher in women than in men. Participants felt happier (p < 0.01) and the mentalizing/theory-of-mind network, which spans the medial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, temporal poles, and precuneus, was significantly more active (p < 0.05) in the presence condition than in the absence condition regardless of event valence. Moreover, participants with the GG (p < 0.01) and AG (p < 0.05) genotypes of HTR2A experienced happier feelings as well as greater activation of a part of the mentalizing/theory-of-mind network (p < 0.05) during empathy for happiness (neutral/presence condition) than those with the AA genotype. In a follow-up study with a vignette-based questionnaire conducted in a relatively large sample, male and female participants were presented with the same imagined events wherein their valence and the presence of a friend were manipulated. Results showed genetic differences in happiness-related empathy regardless of sex (p < 0.05). Findings suggest that HTR2A polymorphisms are associated with the effect of sharing happiness by modulating the activity of the mentalizing/theory-of-mind network.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neural and Genetic Correlates of the Social Sharing of Happiness

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To do so, we conducted a positron emission tomography (PET) study with an independent group of 20 healthy participants using the task of looking at one's favorite persons. Our previous PET study using the same task indicated that the act of looking at one's favorite persons evoked positive emotions [10]. Activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was positively correlated with the participants' self-rating of current positive mood states [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Genetic Variations in the Human Cannabinoid Receptor Gene Are Associated with Happiness

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Happiness has been viewed as a temporary emotional state (e.g., pleasure) and a relatively stable state of being happy (subjective happiness level). As previous studies demonstrated that individuals with high subjective happiness level rated their current affective states more positively when they experience positive events, these two aspects of happiness are interrelated. According to a recent neuroimaging study, the cytosine to thymine single-nucleotide polymorphism of the human cannabinoid receptor 1 gene is associated with sensitivity to positive emotional stimuli. Thus, we hypothesized that our genetic traits, such as the human cannabinoid receptor 1 genotypes, are closely related to the two aspects of happiness. In Experiment 1, 198 healthy volunteers were used to compare the subjective happiness level between cytosine allele carriers and thymine-thymine carriers of the human cannabinoid receptor 1 gene. In Experiment 2, we used positron emission tomography with 20 healthy participants to compare the brain responses to positive emotional stimuli of cytosine allele carriers to that of thymine-thymine carriers. Compared to thymine-thymine carriers, cytosine allele carriers have a higher subjective happiness level. Regression analysis indicated that the cytosine allele is significantly associated with subjective happiness level. The positive mood after watching a positive film was significantly higher for the cytosine allele carriers compared to the thymine-thymine carriers. Positive emotion-related brain region such as the medial prefrontal cortex was significantly activated when the cytosine allele carriers watched the positive film compared to the thymine-thymine carriers. Thus, the human cannabinoid receptor 1 genotypes are closely related to two aspects of happiness. Compared to thymine-thymine carriers, the cytosine allele carriers of the human cannabinoid receptor 1 gene, who are sensitive to positive emotional stimuli, exhibited greater magnitude positive emotions when they experienced positive events and had a higher subjective happiness level.

show abstract

“…However, they required each participant to complete two tasks (talking about pleasurable experiences in front of a video camera and mental arithmetic), one of which may have induced positive moods. Matsunaga, Murakami, Yamakawa, Isowa, Fukuyama, Shinoda, et al (2011) reported that positive emotions were more strongly evoked in happier individuals than less happy individuals when a favorite person was presented as stimuli. Thus, the validity of these tasks as mental stress tests is questionable.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Increased Levels of Happiness with Reduced Levels of Tension and Anxiety after Mental Stress Testing in Japanese College Students

Horiuchi¹,

Tsuda²,

Toyoshima³

et al. 2013

PSYCH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies from western countries have reported that happy individuals report lower levels of negative mood during and/or following mental stress testing; this finding has not been examined in Japan. This study examined the relationship between happiness, measured using the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), and negative moods (i.e., tension and anxiety) during and after mental stress testing in Japanese college students. Based on the findings of previous literature and inverse correlations between positive and negative moods, we hypothesized that participants with higher levels of happiness (the higher happiness group, or HG) show significantly lower levels of negative moods and higher levels of positive moods following mental stress testing, compared to participants with lower levels of happiness (the lower happiness group, or LG). Of a total of 392 Japanese undergraduates who participated in a screening survey, those whose scores were one standard deviation higher or lower than the average score were invited to participate in the experiment. Eight HG and nine LG students agreed to participate. A five-minute computerized mental arithmetic task was used to induce stress. The session comprised a five minute pre-task period, a five minute task, and a five minute post-task period. The levels of positive and negative moods during each period were measured retrospectively following each period. Heart rate was measured during the session. Participant heart rate levels and negative moods increased significantly from the pre-task to the task periods, and subsequently decreased during the post-task period. Levels of positive mood decreased from the pre-task to the task period. Negative moods were significantly lower in HGs than in LGs during the post-task period. These results partially supported the hypothesis whereby subjective happiness buffered the impact of stressors on negative moods by influencing post-stress negative mood levels.

show abstract

Perceived happiness level influences evocation of positive emotions

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

Neural and Genetic Correlates of the Social Sharing of Happiness

Neural and Genetic Correlates of the Social Sharing of Happiness

Genetic Variations in the Human Cannabinoid Receptor Gene Are Associated with Happiness

Association of Increased Levels of Happiness with Reduced Levels of Tension and Anxiety after Mental Stress Testing in Japanese College Students

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About