Daily variation in prioritizing positivity and well-being

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Positive Psychology
• Well-being Research

Background:

• Prioritizing positivity involves using pleasant states to guide daily life.
• Previous research established a link between this trait and general happiness (between-person effect).
• The within-person effect—whether prioritizing positivity on a given day enhances well-being—remained less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the within-person effect of prioritizing positivity on daily well-being.
• To examine if trait and daily state measures of prioritizing positivity predict actual lived well-being.
• To explore how individual differences in prioritizing positivity influence daily well-being.

Main Methods:

• A 2-week diary study with 301 college students, yielding 3,894 daily reports.
• Assessment of hedonic and eudaimonic indicators of well-being.
• Measurement of prioritizing positivity as a trait and a mean daily state.

Main Results:

• Daily prioritization of positivity significantly predicted higher daily well-being, including more positive emotions, satisfaction, and meaning, and fewer negative emotions.
• Within-person effects were more pronounced in individuals with higher average daily prioritizing positivity.
• Between-person differences in prioritizing positivity predicted most aspects of daily well-being, independent of other traits like extraversion.

Conclusions:

• Daily variations in prioritizing positivity directly enhance lived well-being.
• The benefits of prioritizing positivity extend beyond global self-reports to encompass daily experiences.
• Findings offer practical insights into effectively pursuing happiness and improving daily well-being.