Savoring

Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Fear of Happiness Scale

“…Based on this cultural belief, when people talk about positive and happy events, they may be anxious or even try to reduce the tension experienced by special ritual words such as "May the devil's ear be deaf" (31). In fact, cultural beliefs about the attitude of individuals towards positive experiences determine whether they should be reduced or avoided (16).…”

“…Joshanloo studied 220 students, and observed significantly negative relationships between fear of happiness and satisfaction with life (10). Although the emphasis placed on controlling feelings of happiness and on the efforts to live happily appears to be global, it is mostly observed in western individualistic cultures (1), and evidence suggests that happiness is of a lower value in eastern cultures (12)(13)(14)(15); for instance, Lindberg showed that East Asian people report a limited capacity for gaining and enhancing pleasure in positive expe-riences; in fact, these people were more willing to modify or shorten their enjoyable periods compared to Americans (16). A study on the perception of Taiwanese and American students of happiness found that, unlike the Taiwanese participants, the Americans described happiness as their ultimate and most precious goal in life (17,18).…”

Making Time Matter: A Review of Research on Time and Meaning

“…For instance, mindfulness can promote meaning by evoking "a metacognitive state that transforms how one attends to experience, thereby promoting positive reappraisals that facilitate positive affect and adaptive behavior" (Garland et al, 2015, p. 295). Both savoring the present moment and being consciously grateful for small moments in life (e.g., counting one's blessings), on the other hand, enhance meaning via prolonging and heightening positive emotional experiences (Bryant, 1989;Bryant & Veroff, 2017;Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011;Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006). Together, these findings suggest that learning to construe time such that one can be fully engaged in and intensify or sustain the positive benefits of each moment is a valuable contributor to one's sense of meaning.…”

“…First, over the years, researchers have explored various ways that people can better embrace and receive utility from the current moment, including flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), mindfulness (Langer, 1989), and savoring (Bryant, 1989). Although much of this research has focused on how these processes that alter momentarylevel construal can impact happiness-such as Killingsworth and Gilbert's (2010) large-scale smartphone app study that showed that what people were thinking, that is, whether they were present and engaging with the task on hand (vs. mind-wandering), was a better predictor of happiness than the specific activity that they were doing-these same processes have also been posited to impact meaning (Bryant & Veroff, 2017;Garland, Farb, Goldin, & Fredrickson, 2015;Haidt, 2010).…”

Exploring Third-Age Foreign Language Learning from the Well-being Perspective: Work in Progress

“…I am especially intrigued by the concept of savouring. Bryant and Veroff (2012) posited that "people have capacities to attend to, appreciate, and enhance the positive experiences in their lives" (p. 2).…”