Positive Time: Balanced Time Perspective and Positive Orientation

The aim of the research presented in this article is to investigate the relationship between positive orientation and time perspective as outlined by Zimbardo and Boyd (J Pers Soc Psychol 77:1271–1288, 1999) and extended by an additional form of concentration on the present. The Polish version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory was used. A third type of present time perspective, namely active concentration on the present, was measured by the Carpe Diem Scale. One hundred and eighty five Polish people (non-students) participated in a survey to which a canonical-correlation analysis and a cluster analysis were applied. Positive orientation was correlated with a balanced temporal profile comprising a strong positive past orientation, moderate concentration on the future, poor fatalistic time perspective, poor concentration on the negative past and moderate active concentration on the present. Whereas a positive orientation is based on a general positive attitude towards life and self, a balanced time perspective reflects a general positive attitude towards time, in which an active concentration on the present plays an important role.     

A Positive Perspective on Attentional Bias: Positive Affectivity and Attentional Bias to Positive Information

In recent years there has been growing interest in determining the attentional basis of positive affectivity. Investigators have sought to evaluate the hypothesis that elevated positive affectivity is characterized by an attentional bias that favours the processing of positive information over neutral information. Unfortunately, in the studies carried out to date, the assessment procedures used by researchers to assess such attentional selectivity have either been methodologically limited or methodologically flawed. Hence, the validity of the hypothesis has remained indeterminate. To overcome the problems associated with attentional assessment procedures used in previous studies, and so shed light on the attentional basis of positive affectivity, we employed an appropriate variant of the attentional probe task. Our findings show that participants high in positive affectivity displayed greater relative attention to positive information compared to neutral information, than was the case for their low positive affectivity counterparts. Thus, the present results support the hypothesis that an attentional bias to positive information, relative to neutral information, is characteristic of elevated positive affectivity.     

Positive Affect and Health

ABSTRACT— Negative affective styles such as anxiety, depression, and hostility have long been accepted as predictors of increased risk for illness and mortality. In contrast, positive affective styles have been relatively ignored in the health literature. Here we highlight consistent patterns of research associating trait positive affect (PA) and physical health. The evidence we review suggests an association of trait PA and lower morbidity and decreased symptoms and pain. PA is also associated with increased longevity among community-dwelling elderly. The association of PA and survival among those with serious illness is less clear and suggests the possibility that PA may be harmful in some situations. We conclude by raising conceptual and methodological reservations about this literature and suggesting directions for future research.     

Bayesian statistics and biased procedures

A comparison of Neyman's theory of interval estimation with the corresponding subjective Bayesian theory of credible intervals shows that the Bayesian approach to the estimation of statistical parameters allows experimental procedures which, from the orthodox objective viewpoint, are clearly biased and clearly inadmissible. This demonstrated methodological difference focuses attention on the key difference in the two general theories, namely, that the orthodox theory is supposed to provide a known average frequency of successful estimates, whereas the Bayesian account provides only a coherent ordering of degrees of belief and a subsequent maximization of subjective expected utilities. To rebut the charge of allowing biased procedures, the Bayesian must attack the foundations of orthodox, objectivist methods. Two apparently popular avenues of attack are briefly considered and found wanting. The first is that orthodox methods fail to apply to the single case. The second is that orthodox methods are subject to a typical Humean regress. The conclusion is that orthodox objectivist methods remain viable in the face of the subjective Bayesian alternative — at least with respect to the problem of statistical estimation.     

Prior experience and complex procedures

The role of prior knowledge in learning complex procedures was investigated in a transfer task in which subjects learned two related procedures in sequence. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the conceptual and structural similarity between the two procedures; in Experiment 2, we manipulated whether the order of the steps within subprocedures was the same or different during training and transfer, or whether the order of the subprocedures was the same or different. The results lead us to hypothesize that transfer in complex procedures is mediated primarily by a memory for specific steps rather than by conceptual understanding or problem solving. In particular, we were able to model the results precisely on the assumption that subjects use superficial similarity to retrieve the sequences of steps needed to perform segments of the procedure.     

Aristotelian syllogisms and generalized quantifiers

The paper elaborates two points: i) There is no principal opposition between predicate logic and adherence to subject-predicate form, ii) Aristotle's treatment of quantifiers fits well into a modern study of generalized quantifiers.To the memory of Jerzy Supecki     

Positive Automatic Cognitions Mediate the Relationship Between Personality and Trait Positive Affect

Positive affect (PA) has emerged as a key well-being facet and a powerful predictor of physical and psychological well-being. One of the strongest predictors of PA is personality, particularly neuroticism and extraversion. However, the mechanisms via which personality affects PA are not well-understood. Consistent with theories that accord cognitive factors a role in mediating the relationship between personality and outcomes, we tested whether positive automatic thoughts (PATs) mediated the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion, and PA among 199 college students (137 women, 70% White, 66% first and second year students, mean age = 24.13, SD = 8.86). Consistent with hypotheses, structural equation modeling indicated that PATs fully mediated the relationship between both neuroticism and extraversion and PA. The structural model fit the data well, χ²/df = 2.33, CFI = .96, SRMR = .07, RMSEA = .08 (90% CI: .06, .10), AIC = 172.45, and accounted for 58% of the variance in PA. An alternative model in which personality predicted PA, which in turn predicted PATs, did not provide as good a fit to the data, χ²/df = 3.03, CFI = .94, SRMR = .09, RMSEA = .10 (90% CI: .08, .12), AIC = 207.40. Models in which negative automatic thoughts (NATs) were construed as fully [χ²/df = 4.46, CFI = .95, SRMR = .08, RMSEA = .13 (90% CI: .11, .16)] or partially [χ²/df = 4.04, CFI = .96, SRMR = .06, RMSEA = .12 (90% CI: .10, .15)] mediating the relationship between neuroticism and negative affect did not provide a good fit to the data. A final model in which negative affect was tested a mediator of the relationship between neuroticism and NATs also did not fit the data well, χ²/df = 4.03, CFI = .96, SRMR = .07, RMSEA = .12 (90% CI: .10, .15).     

Positive psychotherapy

Positive psychotherapy (PPT) contrasts with standard interventions for depression by increasing positive emotion, engagement, and meaning rather than directly targeting depressive symptoms. The authors have tested the effects of these interventions in a variety of settings. In informal student and clinical settings, people not uncommonly reported them to be "life-changing." Delivered on the Web, positive psychology exercises relieved depressive symptoms for at least 6 months compared with placebo interventions, the effects of which lasted less than a week. In severe depression, the effects of these Web exercises were particularly striking. This address reports two preliminary studies: In the first, PPT delivered to groups significantly decreased levels of mild-to-moderate depression through 1-year follow-up. In the second, PPT delivered to individuals produced higher remission rates than did treatment as usual and treatment as usual plus medication among outpatients with major depressive disorder. Together, these studies suggest that treatments for depression may usefully be supplemented by exercises that explicitly increase positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).     

Positive and negative compatibility effects

This paper reports a series of four experiments that established a negative compatibility effect (NCE) by which compatible distractors led to slower and less accurate target performance than did incompatible ones (Experiment 1). This effect is interpreted as an early perceptual effect that delays the attribution of visual attention over the target location in the compatible condition. This view predicted that the NCE should be observed only when attention has to be selectively attributed to the target location. In Experiments 2 and 3, this prediction was tested by manipulating the perceptual load in the display. High perceptual load displays are known to require selective attention (Lavie, 1995). Accordingly, reliable NCEs were observed when high-load displays were used. In contrast, reduced NCEs were found in displays that did not require selective attention. Experiment 4 established that the manifestation of the NCE was influenced by low-level visual cues, such as brightness and contrast. Overall, these experiments indicated that the NCE can be understood as an early perceptual effect, which arises from a conflict between the cues that guide the distribution of attention when the task requires selective attention.     

Positive Health

I propose a new field: positive health. Positive health describes a state beyond the mere absence of disease and is definable and measurable. Positive health can be operationalised by a combination of excellent status on biological, subjective, and functional measures. By mining existing longitudinal studies, we can test the hypothesis that positive health predicts increased longevity (correcting for quality of life), decreased health costs, better mental health in aging, and better prognosis when illness strikes. Those aspects of positive health which specifically predict these outcomes then become targets for new interventions and refinements of protocol. I propose that the field of positive health has direct parallels to the field of positive psychology, parallels that suggest that a focus on health rather than illness will be cost saving and life saving. Finally, I suggest a different mode of science, the Copenhagen‐Medici model, used to found positive psychology, as an appropriate way of beginning the flagship explorations for positive health. Je propose de créer un nouveau domaine d’investigations: la santé positive. La santé positive désigne une condition définissable et mesurable qui se situe au‐delà de la simple absence de maladie. Elle peut être opérationnalisée par une combinaison de scores excellents sur les dimensions biologiques, subjectives et fonctionnelles. On peut, sur la base des études longitudinales existantes, mettre à l’épreuve l’hypothèse que la santé positive annonce une longévité accrue (ce qui renvoie à la qualité de vie), une réduction des coûts liés à la santé, une meilleure santé mentale lors du vieillissement et un pronostic plus favorable en cas de maladie. Ces facettes de la santé positive qui prédisent spécifiquement de telles conséquences deviennent des objectifs pour de nouvelles interventions et une amélioration du protocole. Je pense que le domaine de la santé positive est en liaison directe avec celui de la psychologie positive, liens qui suggèrent que le fait de se focaliser sur la santé plutôt que sur la maladie réduira les coûts tout en allongeant la vie. J’introduis en dernière analyse un nouveau type de connaissance, le modèle Copenhague‐Médicis, utilisé pour fonder la psychologie positive, comme outil pertinent pour initier des travaux majeurs pour la promotion de la santé positive.     

Positive Mood and Future-Oriented Self-Evaluation

When individuals think about their future, feedback on their strengths and weaknesses may often serve as a useful source of information. Three studies investigated the influence of positive and neutral moods on feedback seeking. In Studies 1 and 2, positive mood increased interest in feedback about weaknesses when this information was useful for self-assessment and self-improvement. But when the feedback was not useful for these superordinate, long-term goals then positive mood directed participants’ interest to strength-focused feedback, thereby serving short-term, affective concerns (e.g., feeling good about oneself). Study 3 directly manipulated self-evaluative goals. When a learning goal was activated, positive mood increased interest in weaknesses-focused feedback, but when an affective goal was activated, positive mood increased interest in strength-focused feedback. These results support our hypothesis that positive mood attunes individuals to the relationships of goals and means, thus promoting actions that serve primary goals.

Positive schizotypy and emotion processing

This study examined whether emotion processing traits and task performance are associated with positive schizotypy. Positive schizotypy individuals (n=34, assessed with the Magical Ideation and Perceptual Aberration Scales) reported greater attention to emotions but less emotional clarity than controls (n=56). Moreover, a significantly larger percentage of the schizotypy group was classified as emotionally overwhelmed. Positive schizotypy individuals also exhibited absent affective priming and increased incongruent errors at a short stimulus onset asynchrony and an absence of an effect of emotion on recognition memory, but an increased memory response bias for negative words. Results could not be accounted for by level of neuroticism or current mood. These results suggest that positive schizotypy is associated with the processing of emotional information.     

Positive Affect and College Success

This study investigated the relation between positive affect and a variety of variables related to college success for undergraduate students matriculating at 21 academically selective 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. Positive affect??cheerfulness??is generally positively related to students?? self-rated academic abilities, self-predicted likelihoods of various college outcomes, self-stated major and academic-degree intentions, and self-reported subjective college outcomes, but negatively related to most objective college-success variables (e.g., cumulative college grade-point average) recorded by the institution of matriculation, and not related to objective college outcomes reported by the student. Positive affect is thus associated with ??positive illusions?? about college-success variables.