Creating Joy and Positivity

Barbara Fredrickson is an important positive psychology researcher. She developed the Broaden and Build theory, which maintains that positive emotions have a host of happiness benefits. She finds that individuals can increase their happiness by actively seeking positive emotions. Her idea is that experiencing positive emotions increases an individual’s motivations for discovery and creativity, thus constructing new and improved psychological and social resources. These resources can be called upon at a later time when faced with a challenge. This allows individuals to flourish and adapt to changing situations (Fredrickson, 2001).

This introductory webpage explains more about who Fredrickson is and what her research interests are.