Positive Affect, What Is It And How Does It Benefit Us?
Positive affect, the protagonist of this article, is nothing more than a general state of mind made up of a set of positive emotions. These emotions will bring multiple benefits to all of us. So much so, that it is proven that and contribute to making our relationships stronger and more pleasant.
That said, the question that follows is the one we are all thinking: How then can we foster positive affection in our lives? We are going to do it through the development of personal strengths, resilience and humor, since by reinforcing these aspects we will enjoy this emotionality to a greater extent and the consequences of its proper administration. Let’s see it in more depth in the next article.
What is positive affect?
Affection is the emotional state that we experience at a certain moment. So this can be both positive and negative. In general, we speak of negative affect when it is composed of negative valence emotions; positive affect when positive valence emotions predominate.
On the other hand, negative affect is the one that has received the most attention in psychology, since it is these negative emotions that are most related to clinical practice. A practice that mainly treats the sick or afflicted and focuses little on people who do not report ailments.
On the contrary, the so-called positive affect has begun to be studied relatively recently, and it has been done especially within the framework of positive psychology *. The main components of positive affect are joy, good humor, optimism, enthusiasm and love, among others.
* Positive psychology is the current that is responsible for highlighting the importance of this affect in psychological processes.
What benefits does positive affect bring us?
We will also promote trust and cooperation with others, as well as generosity (both with others and with oneself). This will make us communicate more effectively and we will be able to generate and feel more empathy. It is in this way that deeper and more stable ties and relationships are created.
How can we promote it?
It really sounds very attractive to have positive affection and be happy. Even if we hadn’t talked about the benefits it brings, who wouldn’t want to be happy? We have to be aware that there are certain situations in which we are going to feel bad, which is normal. However , what is not normal is that we settle in them and bury positive affection.
Thus, we can encourage this set of positive emotions to be more present in our lives. How? By developing our positive strengths, resilience, and humor.
Positive strengths are those pre-existing capacities to behave, think or feel in a certain way. They stimulate the subject and allow optimal functioning, development and performance. Thus, being aware of our positive traits, in addition to trying to develop those that we consider important, will increase our positive affect.
Another way to do this is through resilience. This is the ability to face the problems that are presented to us in a positive way, being able to continue with our life later. It involves overcoming difficult living conditions, so that the person comes out of these conditions being strengthened. That is, it favors a feeling of personal development.
Lastly, positive affect can be fostered through humor. With laughter, we will secrete more hormones that help regulate stress, such as adrenaline or cortisol. Our thinking will be more flexible, so that we will improve our capacity for emotional regulation.
A positive frame of mind can also help us reinterpret the situation. It will influence the establishment and consolidation of social support. Finally, we can say that it will give us a hand when it comes to coping with pain and will stimulate our immune system.
As we have seen, positive affect plays a very important role in our personal development, in our global health, and in the quality of our interpersonal relationships. In addition, it has a great advantage: they can be encouraged, therefore… Let’s do it!
