Examining the broaden and build model of positive emotions

The current dissertation is comprised of two independent studies designed to examine and expand Fredrickson's (2002) Broaden and Build Model of Positive Emotions. The first study examined Fredrickson's concept of "building," that increases in positive emotion lead to increased broad-minded coping skills, and independently, increases in broad-minded coping lead to increased positive emotions. This study represented an attempt to expand the model, hypothesizing positive cognition as a precursor to positive emotion. Participants completed the Hope Scale and the Brief COPE two times, five weeks apart, and data were analyzed using a test of mediation. Results of this study did not support the predicted hypotheses that positive cognition and broad-minded coping would serially affect each other in a manner similar to the relationship that appears to exist between positive emotion and broad-minded coping.;The second study was a replication of a previous experiment conducted by Fredrickson and Branigan (manuscript in preparation) designed to test the "twin hypotheses" that individuals who experience negative emotion will exhibit significantly narrowed thought-action repertoires, whereas individuals who experience positive emotion will exhibit significantly broadened thought-action repertoires. This study expanded previous research by adding a measure of creativity and a measure of perceived social support. Participants viewed one of five film clips designed to induce positive emotion, negative emotion, or an emotionally neutral state. Participants then completed the Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule, the Thought-Action Repertoire Blank, the Remote Associates Test, and an item measuring perceived social support. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance. Individuals in the positive emotion group did not demonstrate significantly broadened thought-action repertoires compared to neutral emotion controls or individuals in the negative emotion group. However, the results do not necessarily counter the model, as the film clip manipulation did not appear to produce significantly different levels of positive emotion between the different emotion conditions (positive, negative, and neutral). In addition, no significant differences in perceived social support were detected between positive, negative, and neutral emotion groups. Further research is necessary to examine this model and understand the complexity of positive emotion.