Editorial: Can Too Much Positive Emotion Be Bad for You?

There has been increasing focus on the assessment and treatment of irritability over the past decade in recognition of the impairment produced by abnormally persistent or excessive displays of negative emotions. However, emotional dysregulation may not be valence specific, and the impact of excessive or abnormally persistent displays of positive affect has received little attention. In their review in this issue of the Journal, Vogel et al.¹ argue that it should receive more attention. They do an admirable job synthesizing the developmental and clinical literature to support the potential value of assessing the capacity to regulate positive affect in an attempt to determine if too much of good thing can in fact be bad for you.