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Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness.

TLDR
It is argued that valuing happiness may not always be the case, and that the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed, which may lead people to be less happy just when happiness is within reach.
Abstract
Happiness is a key ingredient of well-being. It is thus reasonable to expect that valuing happiness will have beneficial outcomes. We argue that this may not always be the case. Instead, valuing happiness could be self-defeating, because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed. This should apply particularly in positive situations, in which people have every reason to be happy. Two studies support this hypothesis. In Study 1, female participants who valued happiness more (vs. less) reported lower happiness when under conditions of low, but not high, life stress. In Study 2, compared to a control group, female participants who were experimentally induced to value happiness reacted less positively to a happy, but not a sad, emotion induction. This effect was mediated by participants’ disappointment at their own feelings. Paradoxically, therefore, valuing happiness may lead people to be less happy just when happiness is within reach.

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Emotion regulation self-efficacy mediates the relation between happiness emotion goals and depressive symptoms: A cross-lagged panel design.

TL;DR: Results of a cross-lagged path analysis indicated that emotion regulation self-efficacy at T2 mediated the relation between happiness emotion goals at T1 and depressive symptoms at T3, thus confirming the primary study hypothesis.
Journal ArticleDOI

Look into the crystal ball: Can vivid images of the future enhance physical health?

TL;DR: Future clarity was positively associated with the inclination of participants to consume healthy food, abstain from cigarettes, participate in physical activity, and experience positive emotions and interventions designed to help individuals clarify and pursue their aspirations could stem lifestyle diseases.
Journal ArticleDOI

Irrational Happiness Beliefs Scale: Development and Initial Validation

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a new scale of irrational happiness beliefs (IHB) and test its reliability and validity across two British samples, where participants were subjected to a series of happiness, rationality, irrationality, and subjective and psychological well-being measures.
Journal ArticleDOI

Are Positive Interventions Always Beneficial

TL;DR: It is postulate that understanding the underlying processes discovered in the science of persuasion is the key for specifying why, when, and for whom these practical initiatives are more likely to work or to backfire.

The Structure of Adolescent and Adult Savoring andIts Relationship to Feeling Good and Functioning Well

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted concurrent and longitudinal studies with adolescents and adults to investigate the relationship between everyday positive events and wellbeing, and found that savoring is similar and similarly important for wellbeing over the age range, although potential developmental differences are important to consider.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.

TL;DR: This article seeks to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ, and delineates the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena.
Journal ArticleDOI

Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.

TL;DR: Two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) are developed and are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period.
Book

Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of predictor scaling on the coefficients of regression equations are investigated. But, they focus mainly on the effect of predictors scaling on coefficients of regressions.
Posted Content

The Satisfaction with Life Scale

TL;DR: The Satisfaction With Life Scale is narrowly focused to assess global life satisfaction and does not tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness, but is shown to have favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal reliability.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Satisfaction With Life Scale.

TL;DR: The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) as mentioned in this paper is a scale to measure global life satisfaction, which does not tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness, and has favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal reliability.
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