Barbara Fredrickson, a pioneer in the field of positive emotional psychology, is a Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a. PEP Lab) at the University of North Carolina.
In her new book (published in January), Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive, Fredrickson shares how experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio to negative emotions leads people “to a tipping point beyond which they naturally become more resilient to adversity and effortlessly achieve what they once could only imagine.”
Publishers Weekly: “Positivity introduces readers to the power of harnessing happiness to transform their lives, backed up by impressive lab research. The author lays out the core truths and 10 forms of positivity – joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love – in a book that promises to change the way people look at feeling good… The book includes compelling case studies, concrete tips, a Positivity Self Test and a tool kit for decreasing negativity and raising the positivity ratio.”
Fredrickson offers a two minute online quiz designed to provide a snapshot of how your emotions of the past day combine to create your positivity ratio. The result is that it might help you learn the sources of your positive emotions and the triggers for your negative ones.
The Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory “studies people’s emotions, particularly their positive emotions. We are interested in how positive emotions affect people’s thinking patterns, social behavior, and physiological reactions. Our ultimate goal is to understand how positive emotions might accumulate and compound to transform people’s lives for the better.”
The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) was founded in 2007 to promote the science and practice of positive psychology and to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers and practitioners around the world who are interested in positive psychology. The First World Congress on Positive Psychology was held last week (June 18-21) in Philadelphia.
See Barbara Fredrickson’s website: PositivityRatio.com
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