Flash Talk International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

Daily variation in prioritizing positivity and well-being (#4)

Lahnna I Catalino 1 , William Tov 2
  1. Scripps College , Claremont, California, United States
  2. Singapore Management University, Singapore

The tendency to use positive emotions as a key criterion to structure daily life is prioritizing positivity (e.g., “What I decide to do outside of work is influenced by the positive emotions I may feel”).  Research shows that people who tend to prioritize positivity experience more well-being.  However, a separate question remains: on days people prioritize positivity, relative to their own baseline, do they experience more well-being?  This question is important, because it tests whether the well-being benefits associated with prioritizing positivity extend to the act of prioritizing positivity (within-person effect).  We evaluated this hypothesis in a sample of Southeast Asian college students (n = 301), who completed a daily diary study resulting in 3,894 reports.  Results showed that daily variation in prioritizing positivity predicted more daily well-being, and exploratory analyses revealed that these within-person effects were stronger for people who scored higher on mean daily prioritizing positivity.