- Title
- When the pursuit of happiness backfires : the role of negative emotion valuation
- Creator
- Humphrey, Ashley; Szoka, Rebecca; Bastian, Brock
- Date
- 2022
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/187837
- Identifier
- vital:17148
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1897869
- Identifier
- ISSN:1743-9760 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- Recent research has uncovered a downside to the pursuit of happiness; placing a high value on happiness can ironically lead to lower well-being. Not all approaches have this effect, however, and individuals who seek positivity within their day-to-day routines may experience higher well-being. The current research investigated whether the difference between these two approaches (valuing happiness vs. prioritizing positivity) exists in how people orient towards their negative emotions. Across two studies (n = 496) we find that feeling pressured to avoid feeling anxious or depressed partially mediated the relationship between valuing happiness and decreased well-being, but this was not the case for prioritizing positivity. The findings suggest the negative well-being effects of placing a high value on happiness may be partially explained by a related tendency to devalue negative emotions, providing evidence for a mechanism through which the pursuit of happiness can become detrimental. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Relation
- Journal of Positive Psychology Vol. 17, no. 5 (2022), p. 611-619
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited
- Rights
- Open Access
- Subject
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology; 5203 Clinical and health psychology; 5205 Social and personality psychology; Emotions; Happiness; Prioritizing Positivity; Well-being
- Full Text
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