Do Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoire?
|
Abstract The broaden-and-build theory describes the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment and love. A key proposition is that these positive emotions broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire: joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savour and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of these urges within safe, close relationships. The broadened mindsets arising from these positive emotions are contrasted to the narrowed mindsets sparked by many negative emotions (i.e. specific action tendencies, such as attack or flee). A second key proposition concerns the consequences of these broadened mindsets: by broadening an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire-whether through play, exploration or similar activities-positive emotions promote discovery of novel and creative actions, ideas and social bonds, which in turn build that individual's personal resources; ranging from physical and intellectual resources, to social and psychological resources. Importantly, these resources function as reserves that can be drawn on later to improve the odds of successful coping and survival. This chapter reviews the latest empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory and draws out implications the theory holds for optimizing health and well-being. Show Journal Information From the beginning of its history the Royal Society has devoted much attention to the publication of communications by its Fellows and others. Within three years from the granting of the first Charter, Henry Oldenburg, the first Secretary, began publishing Philosophical Transactions in March 1665 and it has continued ever since. From 1887 onward, beginning with volume 178, the Transactions have been divided into two series: Series A, (Mathematics and Physical sciences) and Series B, (Biology). Transactions are published monthly and now include papers presented at Discussion Meetings as well as specific themes and reviews. Publisher Information The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world's most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering and medicine, and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. The Society has played a part in some of the most fundamental, significant, and life-changing discoveries in scientific history and Royal Society scientists continue to make outstanding contributions to science in many research areas. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. @article{Fredrickson2005PositiveEB,
title={Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoires},
author={Barbara L. Fredrickson and Christine Branigan},
journal={Cognition and Emotion},
year={2005},
volume={19},
pages={313 - 332}
}The broaden‐and‐build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) hypothesises that positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoires. Two experiments with 104 college students tested these hypotheses. In each, participants viewed a film that elicited (a) amusement, (b) contentment, (c) neutrality, (d) anger, or (e) anxiety. Scope of attention was assessed using a global‐local visual processing task (Experiment 1) and thought‐action repertoires were assessed using a Twenty… 1,343 CitationsReferencesSHOWING 1-10 OF 65 REFERENCES Mood Swings and Creativity
ABSTRACT: This article evaluates recent evidence for an association between creativity and bipolar mood disorders. Eminent creativity and everyday creativity are distinguished, with high rates of… Abstract The broaden‐and‐build theory (, ) hypothesises that positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoires. Two experiments with 104 college students tested these hypotheses. In each, participants viewed a film that elicited (a) amusement, (b) contentment, (c) neutrality, (d) anger, or (e) anxiety. Scope of
attention was assessed using a global‐local visual processing task (Experiment 1) and thought‐action repertoires were assessed using a Twenty Statements Test (Experiment 2). Compared to a neutral state, positive emotions broadened the scope of attention in Experiment 1 and thought‐action repertoires in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, negative emotions, relative to a neutral state, narrowed thought‐action repertoires. Implications for promoting emotional well‐being and physical health are
discussed. Read more What is the broaden effect of positive emotions?The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources.
What is the thought action repertoire?Thought–action repertoires are different from the action tendency related to the occurrence of a specific emotion (e.g., running away from the specific situation when feeling fear), and the term refers to various thoughts that are weakly linked to a specific emotion (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005).
What are the benefits of positive emotions?When positive emotions open us up to new possibilities, we are more able to learn and build on our skills. That leads to doing better on tasks and tests. People who have plenty of positive emotions in their everyday lives tend to be happier, healthier, learn better, and get along well with others.
Why positive emotions matter in organizations Lessons from the broadenPositive Emotions Broaden Thinking and Build Resources
1 Unlike negative emotions, which narrow people's ideas about action (e.g., fight or flight), the broaden-and-build theory posits that positive emotions broaden people's mindsets, encouraging them to discover novel lines of thought or action.
|
