The costs of curiosity and creativity: Minimizing the downsides while maximizing the upsides.

The unbridled positivity toward curiosity and creativity may be excessive. Both aid species survival through exploration and advancement. These beneficial effects are well documented.

Purpose in life: A resolution on the definition, conceptual model, and optimal measurement.

Theoretically, purpose serves as a basic dimension of healthy psychological functioning and an important protective factor from psychopathology. Theory alone, however, is insufficient to answer critical questions about human behavior and functioning; we require empirical evidence that explores the parameters of purpose with respect to measurement, prediction, and modification. Here, we provide empirically supported insights about how purpose can operate as a beneficial outcome (e.

A unified approach to managing emotions and pursuing purpose in life.

Much of the scientific work on emotion regulation has examined strategies in isolation. Now that we have a better understanding of emotion regulatory strategy use and frequency, there is an opportunity to explore new psychological territory. As a starting point, we illustrate how a highly touted strategy, cognitive reappraisal, supercharges a critical component of well-being: purpose in life.

Stress generation in social anxiety and depression: A two-study community assessment.

Background: Stress generation theory suggests that people engage in certain behaviors that causally generate "dependent" stressful life events. Stress generation has primarily been studied in the context of depression with limited consideration of anxiety. People with social anxiety exhibit maladaptive social and regulatory behaviors that may uniquely generate stress.

Motives and Consequences of Alcohol Use in People With Social Anxiety Disorder: A Daily Diary Study.

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems. Most research exploring social anxiety and alcohol use has examined negative drinking consequences, with less consideration of positive consequences-namely positive social experiences-that may reinforce alcohol use. In this daily diary study, we examined how adults diagnosed with SAD (N = 26) and a psychologically healthy control group (N = 28) experienced positive drinking consequences in naturally occurring drinking episodes during the study period.

Daily television exposure, parent conversation during shared television viewing and socioeconomic status: Associations with curiosity at kindergarten.

Objective: To examine the main and interactive effects of the amount of daily television exposure and frequency of parent conversation during shared television viewing on parent ratings of curiosity at kindergarten, and to test for moderation by socioeconomic status (SES).

Study Design: Sample included 5100 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. Hours of daily television exposure and frequency of parent screen-time conversation were assessed from a parent interview at preschool, and the outcome of early childhood curiosity was derived from a child behavior questionnaire at kindergarten.

Are people with social anxiety disorder happier alone?

Quality contact with other people serves as a reliable mood enhancement strategy. We wondered if the emotional benefits of socializing are present even for those with a psychological disorder defined by social distress and avoidance: social anxiety disorder (SAD). We conducted two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies and analyzed 7243 total surveys.

Social comparisons and social anxiety in daily life: An experience-sampling approach.

Judgments about the self compared to internalized standards are central to theoretical frameworks of social anxiety. Yet, empirical research on social comparisons-how people view themselves relative to others-and social anxiety is sparse. This research program examines the nature of everyday social comparisons in the context of social anxiety across 2 experience-sampling studies containing 8,396 unique entries from 273 adults.

The most important life goals of people with and without social anxiety disorder: Focusing on emotional interference and uncovering meaning in life.

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) display maladaptive attitudes towards emotions. In this experience-sampling study, we explored the extent to which people with SAD viewed anxiety and pain as an impediment to pursuing personal strivings and deriving meaning in life. Participants were adults diagnosed with SAD and a control comparison group who completed baseline questionnaires and daily surveys for 14 consecutive days.

Optimal well-being in the aftermath of anxiety disorders: A 10-year longitudinal investigation.

Background: Although preliminary research has explored the possibility of optimal well-being after depression, it is unclear how rates compare to anxiety. Using Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Panic Disorder (PD) as exemplars of anxiety, we tested the rates of optimal well-being one decade after being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Based on reward deficits in depression, we pre-registered our primary hypothesis that optimal well-being would be more prevalent after anxiety than depression as well as tested two exploratory hypotheses.

Does negative emotion differentiation influence how people choose to regulate their distress after stressful events? A four-year daily diary study.

Much is known about the types of strategies people use to regulate emotions. Less is known about individual differences that influence emotion regulation strategy selection. In this study, we tested the moderating role of negative emotion differentiation (NED; i.

Positive and Negative Emotion Regulation in College Athletes: A Preliminary Exploration of Daily Savoring, Acceptance, and Cognitive Reappraisal.

Background: Despite increasing interest in positive psychological states, we know little about how regulatory responses to positive (savoring) compared to negative events (e.g. acceptance, cognitive reappraisal) influence emotional functioning.

Do people with elevated social anxiety respond differently to digital and face-to-face communications? Two daily diary studies with null effects.

Background: Retrospective studies have found that people with elevated social anxiety (SA) show a preference for digital/online communication, which may be due to perceptions of enhanced emotional safety. Whether these individuals prefer digital compared to face-to-face communication and experience emotional benefits naturalistically remains unclear.

Methods: We recruited college students (N = 125) and community adults (N = 303) with varying levels of SA and sampled their emotions during digital and face-to-face communication using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) (Study 1) and a day reconstruction method (DRM) (Study 2).

Understanding psychological flexibility: A multimethod exploration of pursuing valued goals despite the presence of distress.

Psychological flexibility (PF), defined as the ability to pursue valued life aims despite the presence of distress, is a fundamental contributor to health (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Existing measures of PF have failed to consider the valued goals that give context for why people are willing to manage distress. Using 4 independent samples and 3 follow-up samples, we examined the role of PF in well-being, emotional experience and regulation, resilience, goal pursuit, and daily functioning.

Valuing emotional control in social anxiety disorder: A multimethod study of emotion beliefs and emotion regulation.

This study examines relationships between emotion beliefs and emotion regulation strategy use among people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and a psychologically healthy control group. Using experience-sampling methodology, we tested group differences in 2 types of emotion beliefs (emotion control values and emotion malleability beliefs) and whether emotion beliefs predicted trait and daily use of cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression. People with SAD endorsed higher emotion control values and lower emotion malleability beliefs than did healthy controls.

The momentary benefits of positive events for individuals with elevated social anxiety.

Understanding how individuals with varying levels of social anxiety respond to daily positive events is important. Psychological processes that increase positive emotions are being widely used as strategies to not only enhance well-being but also reduce the symptoms and impairment tied to negative emotional dispositions and conditions, including excessive social anxiety. At present, it is unclear whether and how levels of social anxiety impact the psychological benefits derived from momentary positive events.

Optimal Well-Being after Major Depression.

Can people achieve optimal well-being and thrive after major depression? Contemporary epidemiology dismisses this possibility, viewing depression as a recurrent, burdensome condition with a bleak prognosis. To estimate the prevalence of thriving after depression in United States adults, we used data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study. To count as thriving after depression, a person had to exhibit no evidence of major depression, and had to exceed cut offs across nine facets of psychological well-being that characterize the top 25% of US nondepressed adults.

Gratitude across the life span: Age differences and links to subjective well-being.

Gratitude has been described as an adaptive evolutionary mechanism that is relevant to healthy psychological and interpersonal outcomes. Questions remain as to whether the presence and benefits of gratitude are consistent from young adulthood to old age; prior research has yielded mixed evidence. We examined the magnitude and direction of age differences in gratitude in three samples (combined = 31,206).

The Curious Neglect of High Functioning After Psychopathology: The Case of Depression.

We address a key issue at the intersection of emotion, psychopathology, and public health-the startling lack of attention to people who experience benign outcomes, and even flourish, after recovering from depression. A rereading of the epidemiological literature suggests that the orthodox view of depression as chronic, recurrent, and lifelong is overstated. A significant subset of people recover and thrive after depression, yet research on such individuals has been rare.

Predicting treatment course and outcome using a promotion and prevention framework in a community sample of arthritis sufferers.

Objective: The present study examined the proposition that patients need to focus on something beyond simply "getting better". In a sample of arthritis sufferers, we distinguished individuals by the goals that motivated them - moving toward aspirational goals and maximizing gains (promotion focus) rather than obligations and minimizing losses (prevention focus) - and how these motivational styles influenced treatment.

Methods: Patients (N=254) participated in a randomized controlled trial of resistance training and self-management, providing 6 time points of data over 2 years.

Social Anxiety and the Quality of Everyday Social Interactions: The Moderating Influence of Alcohol Consumption.

Most research on the link between social anxiety and alcohol consumption has examined problematic outcomes without consideration of potential adaptive functions. Alcohol is an anxiolytic that has the short-term benefit of reducing anxiety; consumption may act as a social lubricant that facilitates higher quality social interactions. Using experience-sampling methodology, we examined how consuming alcohol attenuates the adverse effects of social anxiety in naturally occurring social interactions.

Is grit relevant to well-being and strengths? Evidence across the globe for separating perseverance of effort and consistency of interests.

Objective: Researchers conceptualize grit as the combination of two facets: perseverance of effort and consistency of interests toward long-term goals. We tested the reliability of grit facet scores across the globe and examined how differently each grit facet related to well-being and personality strengths.

Method: An international sample of 7,617 participants from six of the seven continents (excluding Antarctica) completed an online survey.