Two simple, brief, naturalistic activities and their impact on positive affect: feeling grateful and eating ice cream

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.

Everyday happiness: Gifting and eating as everyday activities that influence general positive affect and discrete positive emotions

“…Second, eating an ice cream was found to increase positive emotional intensity and Positive Affect. These findings lend support for hypothesis 2 that eating ice cream alone is effective in increasing general Positive Affect and discrete positive emotions and are in line with previous research findings (e.g., Isen & Levin, 1972;Linley et al, 2013). It is notable that there was a difference in Positive Affect scores of 3.5 points (equivalent to a Positive Affect score greater by 11.9%) between people who consumed an ice cream and people who neither consumed an ice cream nor gifted an ice cream to someone else.…”

“…Ice cream is frequently used by popular media as an example of a mood food, but only a few studies have investigated scientifically the effects of ice cream on mood. For example, Linley et al (2013) demonstrated that eating ice cream while thinking of things for which one was grateful led to increases in Positive Affect (Study 1), and subsequently that thinking of things for which one was grateful and eating ice cream, whether doing both together or separately, led to increases in Positive Affect (Study 2). Walla, Richter, Farber, Leodolter and Bauer (2010) compared the effects of eating ice cream with those of eating yoghurt and of eating chocolate.…”

“…We chose to focus on the impact of eating a desirable food and/or gifting a desirable food to another person, as two prototypical activities that may be legitimately considered to increase Positive Affect (Linley et al, 2013). We do not consider that these activities will necessarily be significantly more effective at increasing Positive Affect than other categories of activity, but nonetheless, they may be considered as prototypical exemplars of everyday behaviour more than typical positive psychology interventions, as we explore next the specific rationales for our selection and inclusion of each of these activities.…”

Short Tips Delivered “in the Moment” Can Boost Positive Emotion

“…In one of the few studies to take a naturalistic approach to enhancing happiness, Parks, Della Porta, Pierce, Zilca and Lyubomirsky (2012) found that, on average, people performed their chosen happiness increasing strategies several times a week for at least an hour each time. Linley, Dovey, de Bruin, Transler, Wilkinson, Maltby and Hurling (2013) also found everyday activities already performed in people's life, such as pleasurable eating, can also, at least temporarily, increase levels of positive affect. Perhaps we can further boost the impact of our interventions by matching them to a person's context and reducing barriers to their implementation by making them extremely easy for people to enact?…”

Regulación del estrés y emociones con actividades gráficas y narrativa expresiva

“…A fin de hacer frente al estrés cotidiano actualmente existe un amplio repertorio de actividades recomendadas para manejarle como el hacer deporte o caminar, escuchar música, leer, ver la televisión, utilizar videojuegos, es decir, utilizar algún tipo de pasatiempo. La razón que se da para su uso es que estos permiten tanto una mejora general de la salud como efectos sobre las emociones (APA, 2010;Linley et al, 2012). Como un medio capaz de fomentar la expresión y con ello, el manejo de conflictos, de los anteriores pasatiempos las actividades como el dibujo o la pintura son utilizadas también en ambientes clínicos con fines terapéuticos (American Art Therapy Association, AATA, 2013).…”