UC Santa Barbara

Although positive emotions have been relatively understudied (in comparison to negative emotions), the existing research suggests that positive emotions can have a beneficial effect on health outcomes and health-relevant biomarkers. It is likely that positive emotions benefit health through buffering individuals from the effects of stress; however, more research is needed to uncover the psychosocial processes through which positive emotions exert this stress-buffering effect. Two studies tested the hypothesis that positive emotions can impact coping, rumination, and perceptions of resources, three processes with important implications for health and well-being. In Study 1, participants were assigned to watch film clips designed to induce the emotions of love or amusement (or to watch a neutral film clip), after which they completed measures of coping and rumination (including an implicit measure of coping). In Study 2, participants were assigned to write about experiences of gratitude (or neutral topics), after which they completed measures of coping, social resources, and personal resources. The present studies failed to find support for the hypothesis that positive emotions impact coping, rumination, and perceived resources. The findings and directions for future research are discussed.