A Regulatory Flexibility Perspective on Positive Emotion

Abstract

Functional accounts of emotion assume that the display of positive emotion confers general adaptive benefits, including resilience to psychopathology. A volume of empirical research supporting the adaptive function of positive emotion has been steadily accruing; however, there is an emerging body of literature suggesting that the relationship between positive emotion and psychopathology is less straightforward. Data from studies are used to stress that the expression of positive emotion may also lead to negative consequences, including poor social adjustment and dysfunction. A regulatory flexibility model is used as a framework for better understanding the processes and mechanisms by which positive emotion is linked with negative outcomes at three different levels: sensitivity to context, responsiveness to feedback, and emotion regulation repertoire. Implications are discussed with an eye to future directions for research.