Why do we have positive emotions? What purpose other than making us “feel good” do they serve – especially as they relate to survival of the species? The survival value of negative emotions seems fairly obvious: Fear helps us avoid attackers, and disgust alerts us to poisons, and so forth. But what possible survival or evolutionary good are joy, contentment, gratitude, and curiosity?
University of North Carolina psychologist Barbara Fredrickson studies the behavior of young patas monkeys, who love to play tag on the savannahs of West Africa, as both an example and metaphor for her “broaden and build” theory of positive emotions. When they are being chased, young patas monkeys will fling themselves on to saplings, which bend and catapult them in unexpected directions.
The young monkeys are engaging in what appears to be pointless fun – just for the sheer joy of it. In fact, their joy and play are creating a reserve of body memories that later could keep them alive. In adulthood, when fleeing a predator, they will fling themselves on to saplings, which bend and catapult them to escape.
Fredrickson’s theory is positive emotions are life savers. Fredrickson believes these emotions increase cognitive flexibility, conquer harmful negativity, and create a reservoir of resilience that helps us cope with life’s challenges. She has published her studies in a new book, Positivity (Crown Publishers).
According to a study of healthy women by Dr. Philippe R. Goldin and associates of the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, published in Biological Psychiatry, emotional suppression strategies actually increased the activity of the emotional areas of the amygdala and insula. In contrast, re-evaluation strategies in which one reconsiders the meaning of an event or situation, tended to significantly lower the activity of these brain regions.
