Barbara L.

Fredrickson: Positive Emotions & Psychophysiology

(Broaden and build theory of positive emotions)

 Who is Barbara Fredrickson?

Barbara Fredrickson is most known for her “broaden-and-build theory of
positive emotions,” foundational within Positive Psychology for providing a blueprint for
how pleasant emotional states, as fleeting as they are, contribute to resilience,
wellbeing, and health. She is Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology
Laboratory (PEP Lab) at UNC-Chapel Hill, Founding Co-Chair of the Association of
Positive Emotion Laboratories (APEL), and current President of the International Positive
Psychology Association (IPPA).

1. Why are Positive Emotions Understudies

Its focus ultimately influenced the way psychologist studied the experience of
emotions; for years, investigations typically targeted emotions like anxiety, anger,
and depression.

When people experience positive emotions, their minds broaden and they open
up to new possibilities and ideas. At the same time, positive emotions help people build
their personal well-being resources, ranging from physical resources, to intellectual
resources, and social resources (Fredrickson 2009).
Everyone wants to feel positive emotions like happiness, excitement, and love.
Despite this, research on how to cultivate such emotions has only recently begun to
flourish with the rise of movements like positive psychology.

 Problems demand attention

Negative emotions create problems for individuals and society, pointing to yet
another reason for scholars’ focus on them (Fredrickson, 1998). For instance, those who
cannot contain their anger may be prone to acts of violence.
Chronic experiences of negative emotions can lead to physical ailments, such as
heart disease, which places a burden on healthcare systems (Barefoot, Dahlstrom, &
Williams, 1983). Further, the chronic experience of sadness (i.e., depression) may lead to
suicide.

 Theorists link emotions to action tendencies

Positive emotions don’t demand specific action tendencies in the same way that
negative emotions do, and this does not align with most models of emotion forwarded
by theorists.
In psychology, the phrase action tendency refers to the urge to act in a particular way.
Most prototypical models of emotions are characterized by a focus on negative
emotions, and these models tend to link emotions to specific action tendencies. For
instance, anger urges us to attack or flee, and guilt encourages us to make amends.

 What action tendency should follow from the emotion of joy?

Therefore, positive emotions appear to be linked with a state of “free activation”
that invites experimentation, aimlessness, and willingness to pursue whatever
opportunities present themselves (Frijda, 1986).

 Two Assumptions for a Theory of Positive Emotions

 First, she argues that, unlike negative emotions, positive emotions need not yield
specific action tendencies. Instead, they leave us free to engage in a diverse range of
possible behaviors.
Second, she suggests that any action tendencies positive emotions elicit need
not necessarily be physical but may also be cognitive. These changes in cognition may
then flow on to affect behavior.

2. The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions

This theory states that certain discrete positive emotions-including joy, interest,
contentment, pride and love– although phenomenologically distinct, all share the ability
to broaden people’s momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring
personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and
psychological resources.
Through this lens, positive emotions leave us free to be creative, playful, curious, and
experimental, and from these behaviors flow opportunities to gain new physical, social,
and intellectual resources.
According to the Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, we are most
likely to acquire these resources while experiencing positive emotions. To draw again on
the above examples, we will probably be more motivated to get out of bed and do a
muscle-strengthening workout when feeling positively energized.

Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repertoires, thereby helping us to build

resources that may serve us later down the line.

3.

Empirical Support for Broaden-and-Build

Theory

Broadening thought and attention

Findings show that people tend to think more unusually, flexibly, and creatively,
while also being more open-minded. Positive emotions facilitate an expanded locus of
attention Likewise, those experiencing positive emotions appear to be better able to
focus on a big picture as opposed to small details compared to those primed to
experience negative or neutral emotions (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005).

 Guarding physical health

There is evidence that positive emotions may not only facilitate desirable
psychological states but also protect our physical health through their broadening-and-
building effects.

4. Broaden-and-Build Theory in the Workplace

Fredrickson offered several pieces of advice for helping managers conduct business in such a
way that cultivates and leverages the benefits of positive emotions (Robinson,2003):

 Look for ways to enable employees to connect with others on a human level at work.
 Remember that small moments of recognition, such as telling a team member that
you appreciate their hard work, produce positive emotions that may compound and
lead to something greater.
 Be aware that emotions experienced across different life domains travel.
 Keep in mind that we remember emotions more than we remember judgments.
 Broaden-and-Build Resources

“The psychological broadening sparked by one positive emotion can increase an

individual’s receptiveness to subsequent pleasant or meaningful events, increasing the
odds that the individual will find positive meaning in these subsequent events and
experience additional positive emotions. This can in turn trigger an ‘upward spiral.’”

 Why are positive emotions useful in classroom?

 Broadened ideas or activities

 Improved performances-related outcomes
 Improved general wellbeing
 Decreased feelings of stress
 Reduced negative emotions

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