The Nun's Story

The Nun’s Story

In a longitudinal study of nuns, researchers studied their auto-biographical sketches written in the 1930s. They discovered that 90% of those who expressed the most positive emotions , who wrote about feelings of happiness and “eager joy” were alive and well at age 85, compared to only 34% of the least cheerful quarter.

Barbara Frederickson, winner of the Templeton Positive Psychology Prize in 2000 conducted a series of experiments, in which she caused participants to experience positive emotions , and then discovered that they were better, speedier, and more creative in solving problems than those who did not experience the positive emotions. She concluded  that positive emotions have a purpose in evolution in that they broaden our intellectual, physical and social resources, building up reserves which we draw upon when a threat or opportunity presents itself. 

Other researchers discovered that doctors who experienced positive emotions made more accurate diagnoses. So make sure your doctor is not a grouch!

Jonathan Haidt studied the positive emotion of what he terms elevation : our emotional reaction to experiencing the better side of humanity, to seeing someone else doing something extraordinarily positive, or carrying out such acts ourselves.  Indeed , the effects of carrying out acts of kindness have been shown to last longer and be more powerful than merely pleasureable activities. 

In her recent book “Positivity”  Barbara Fredrickson corroborates this finding: her successful project in creating a more positive environment in a corporate setting  included the practice of loving kindness meditation. She recommends to set up our day so we have a ratio of 3 positive to 1 negative experience!

The same type of strong positive effect has been observed with the practice of gratitude and appreciation, both of which are themes in the best selling book and dvd "The Secret."

According to Sonya Lyubomisrsky, happiness researcher, “ the ability to savour the  positive experiences in our lives is one of the most important ingredients in happiness”.  Or, as Thornton Wilder once put it, "my advice to you is not to enquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate." But which we seem to lose as we “mature”. Being in the moment is of course the aim of meditation and life practice at the heart of the yoga and zen traditions. ( see page on flow, meditation)

Overall, the conclusion from the research is that inducing positive emotions causes negative emotons to dissipate rapidly. Which us good news for the average person, and gives us total permission not to endlessly ruminate on our problems and setbacks.