Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Functional and Dysfunctional Aspects of Happiness: Cognitive, Physiological, Behavioral, and Health Considerations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover The Function of Emotions

Abstract

Research on happiness and the positive effects it has on cognition, physiology, behavior, and health have been on the rise. This chapter seeks to refine these positions through a functionalist approach, arguing that happiness is largely beneficial. However, all is not sanguine as happiness facilitates distraction and mindlessness, seeking happiness can reduce happiness, and excessive happiness can push others away. This chapter reviews the evidence for when happiness is functional and dysfunctional, providing a theoretical framework for knowing when it is favorable to be happy and when it is not.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., & Norton, M. I. (2012). Happiness runs in a circular motion: Evidence for a positive feedback loop between prosocial spending and happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 347–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby, G., Isen, A., & Turken, A. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106, 529–550.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D. (1996). Exploring the central executive. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Experimental Psychology, 49A, 5–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandler, R., Keay, K. A., Floyd, N., & Price, J. (2000). Central circuits mediating patterned autonomic activity during active vs. passive emotional coping. Brain Research Bulletin, 53, 95–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bar, M. (2009). A cognitive neuroscience hypothesis of mood and depression. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 456–463.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J., Gollwitzer, P., Lee-Chai, A., Barndollar, K., & Trotschel, R. (2001). The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1014–1027.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R., Fortin, S., Frei, R., Hauver, L., & Shack, M. (1990). Reducing organizational conflict: The role of socially-induced positive affect. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 1, 133–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barsade, S. (2002). The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47, 644–675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartels, A., & Zeki, S. (2004). The neural correlates of maternal and romantic love. NeuroImage, 21, 1155–1166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beckes, L., & Coan, J. A. (2011). Social baseline theory: The role of social proximity in emotion and economy of action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 976–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, P. (1978). Affective state, attraction, and affiliation: Misery loves happy company too. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4, 616–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benet-Martínez, V., & Karakitapoglu-Aygün, Z. (2003). The interplay of cultural syndromes and personality in predicting life satisfaction: Comparing Asian Americans and European Americans. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 38–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentall, R. P. (1992). A proposal to classify happiness as a psychiatric disorder. Journal of Medical Ethics, 18, 94–98.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2013). Neuroscience of affect: Brain mechanisms of pleasure and displeasure. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23, 294–303.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2015). Pleasure systems in the brain. Neuron, 86, 646–664.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharyya, M., Whitehead, D., Rakhit, R., & Steptoe, A. (2008). Depressed mood, positive affect, and heart rate variability in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 1020–1027.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bless, H., Clore, G. L., Schwarz, N., Golisano, V., Rabe, C., & Wölk, M. (1996). Mood and the use of scripts: Does a happy mood really lead to mindlessness? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 665–679.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blood, A. J., & Zatorre, R. J. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98, 11818–11823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodenhause, G., Kramer, G., & Susser, K. (1994). Happiness and stereotypical thinking in social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 621–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolte, A., Goschke, T., & Kuhl, J. (2003). Emotion and intuition: Effects of positive and negative mood on implicit judgments of semantic coherence. Psychological Science, 14, 416–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36, 129–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, B. (2004). Laughter and literature: A play theory of humor. Philosophy and Literature, 28, 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J., Berntson, G., Klein, D., & Poehlmann, K. (1997). The psychophysiology of emotion across the lifespan. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 17, 27–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J., Hughes, M., Waite, L., Hawkley, L., & Thisted, R. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms. Psychology and Aging, 21, 140–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Berntson, G. G., Larsen, J. T., Poehlmann, K. M., & Ito, T. A. (2000). The psychophysiology of emotion. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 173–191). New York, NY: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L., Kalil, A., Hughes, M., Waite, L., & Thisted, R. (2008). Happiness and the invisible threads of social connection. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 195–219). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Klein, D. J., Bernston, G. G., & Hartfield, E. (1993). The psychophysiology of emotion. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions. New York, NY: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A. (2010). Oxytocin and human social behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 281–295.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caprara, G. V., Di Giunta, L., Eisenberg, N., Gerbino, M., Pastorelli, C., & Tramontano, C. (2008). Assessing regulatory emotional self-efficacy in three countries. Psychological Assessment, 20, 227–237.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cartensen, L., Pasupathi, M., Mayr, U., & Nesselroade, J. (2000). Emotional experiences of everyday life across the adult life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 644–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. (2003). Pleasure as a sign you can attend to something else: Placing positive feelings within a general model of affect. Cognition & Emotion, 17, 241–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case, R., Moss, A., Case, N., McDermott, M., & Eberly, S. (1992). Living alone after myocardial infraction: Impact on prognosis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267, 515–519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chemali, Z., Chahine, L., & Naassan, G. (2008). On happiness: A minimalist perspective on a complex neural circuitry and its psychosocial constructs. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(4), 489–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chida, Y., & Steptoe, A. (2008). Positive psychological well-being and mortality: A quantitative review of prospective observational studies. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 741–756.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiew, K., & Braver, T. (2014). Dissociable influences of reward motivation and positive emotion on cognitive control. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 14, 509–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie, I. C., & Friedman, B. H. (2004). Autonomic specificity of discrete emotion and dimensions of affective space: A multivariate approach. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 51, 143–153.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clore, G. L., & Huntsinger, J. (2007). Feelings as information for judgment and cognitive processing. Trends in Cognitive Science, 11, 393–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coan, J. A., Allen, J. J. B., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2001). Voluntary facial expression and hemispheric asymmetry over the frontal cortex. Psychophysiology, 38, 912–925.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coan, J. A., Schaefer, H. S., & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science, 17, 1032–1039.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S., & Aiken, L. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S. (1988). Psychosocial models of the role of social support in the etiology of physical disease. Health Psychology, 7, 269–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colon, E., Callies, A., Popkin, M., & McGlave, P. (1991). Depressed mood and other variables related to bone marrow transplantation survival in acute leukemia. Psychosomatics, 32, 420–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Compton, R., Wirtz, D., Pajoumand, G., Claus, E., & Heller, W. (2004). Association between positive affect and attentional shifting. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 28, 733–744.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. (1976). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 186–193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cyders, M. A., & Smith, G. T. (2008). Emotion-based dispositions to rash action: Positive and negative urgency. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 807–828.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Danner, D., Snowdon, D., & Friesen, W. (2001). Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 804–813.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. (2008). Understanding the relationship between mood and creativity: A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108, 25–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Neve, J., Diener, E., Tay, L., & Xuereb, C. (2013). The objective benefits of subjective well-being.. Centre for Economic Performance.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Neve, K. M., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 49, 182–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demaree, H., Schmeichel, B., Robinson, J., & Everhart, D. (2004). Behavioural, affective, and physiological effects of negative and positive emotional exaggeration. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 1079–1097.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dreisbach, G. (2006). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: The costs and benefits of reduced maintenance capability. Brain and Cognition, 60, 11–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dreisbach, G., & Goschke, T. (2004). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: Reduced perseveration at the cost of increased distractibility. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 343–353.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dreisbach, G., Haider, H., & Kluwe, R. H. (2002). Preparatory processes in the task-switching paradigm: Evidence from the use of probability cues. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 468–483.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drevets, W. C., Price, J. L., Simpson, J. R., Todd, R. D., Reich, T., Vannier, M., & Raichle, M. E. (1997). Subgenual prefrontal cortex abnormalities in mood disorders. Nature, 386, 824–827.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. R., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2005). Feeling and believing: The influence of emotion on trust. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 736–748.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberger, N., Master, S., Inagaki, T., Taylor, S., Shirinyan, D., Lieberman, M., & Naliboff, B. (2011). Attachment figures activate a safety signal-related neural region and reduce pain experience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 11721–11726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P., & Cordaro, D. (2011). What is meant by calling emotions basic. Emotion Review, 3, 364–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P., Levenson, R. W., & Friesen, W. (1983). Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions. Science, 221, 1208–1210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Folkow, B. (2000). Perspectives on the integrative functions of the ‘sympatho-adrenomedullary system’. Autonomic Neuroscience, 83, 101–115.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, B., Tamir, M., Brunye, T., Shirer, W., Mahoney, C., & Taylor, H. (2010). Keeping your eyes on the prize: Anger and visual attention to threats and rewards. Psychological Science, 21, 1098–1105.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forest, D., Clark, M. S., Mills, J., & Isen, A. M. (1979). Helping as a function of feeling state and nature of the helping behavior. Motivation and Emotion, 3, 161–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forgas, J. P. (1998). Mood and judgment: The affect infusion model (AIM). Psychological Bulletin, 117, 39–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forgas, J. P., & East, R. (2008). On being happy and gullible: Mood effects on skepticism and the detection of deception. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1362–1367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In P. Devine & A. Plant (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1–53). Burlington, MA: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B., & Levenson, R. W. (1998). Positive emotions speed recovery from the cardiovascular sequelae of negative emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 191–220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B., Tugade, M., Waugh, C., & Larkin, G. (2003). What good are positive emotions in crises? A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 365–376.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden- and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 313–332.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological Science, 13, 172–175.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60, 678–686.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, H., Tucker, J., Tomlinson-Keasey, C., Schwartz, J., Wingard, D., & Criqui, M. (1993). Does childhood personality predict longevity? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 176–185.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 127–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frober, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2012). How positive affect modulates proactive control: Reduced usage of informative cues under positive affect with low arousal. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 265.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gable, P. A., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2012). Reducing attentional capture of emotion by broadening attention: Increased global attention reduces early electrophysiological responses to negative stimuli. Biological Psychology, 90, 150–153.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galistu, A., & D’Aquila, P. S. (2012). Effect of the dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist SCH 23390 on the microstructure of ingestive behavior in water-deprived rats licking for water and NaCl solutions. Physiological Behavior, 105, 230–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasper, K., & Clore, G. L. (2000). Do you have to pay attention to your feelings to be influenced by them? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 698–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasper, K., & Clore, G. L. (2002). Attending to the big picture: Mood and global versus local processing of visual information. Psychological Science, 13, 34–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorn, G., Goldberg, M., & Basu, K. (1993). Mood, awareness and product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2, 237–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. (2001). Emotional modulation of cognitive control: Approach-withdrawal states double-dissociate spatial from verbal two-back task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 436–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. (2004). Integration of emotion and cognitive control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 46–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J., Braver, T., & Raichle, M. (2002). Integration of emotion and cognition in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99, 4115–4120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, J., Johnson, S., Oveis, C., & Keltner, D. (2008). Risk for mania and positive emotional responding: Too much of a good thing? Emotion, 8, 23–33.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, J., Mauss, I., & Tamir, M. (2011). A dark side of happiness? How, when, and why happiness is not always good. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 222–233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guiliani, N., McRae, K., & Gross, J. (2008). The up- and down-regulation of amusement: Experiential, behavioral, and autonomic consequences. Emotion, 8, 714–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierres, S., Kenrick, D., & Partch, J. (1999). Beauty, dominance, and the mating game: Contrast effects in self-assessment reflect gender differences in mate selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1126–1134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guven, C. (2012). Reversing the question: Does happiness affect consumption and savings behavior? Journal of Economic Psychology, 33, 701–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkley, L. C., Browne, M. W., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2005). How can I connect with thee? Let me count the ways. Psychological Science, 16, 798–804.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., & Veenhoven, R. (1989). Does happiness induce a rosy outlook? In R. Veenhoven (Ed.), How harmful is happiness? Consequences of enjoying life or not (pp. 106–127). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Universitaire Pers Rotterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hebb, D. O. (1949). The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological approach. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertenstein, M., Holmes, R., McCullough, M., & Keltner, D. (2009). The communication of emotion via touch. Emotion, 9, 566–573.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • House, J., Landis, K., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, 540–545.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ifcher, J., & Zarghamee, H. (2011). Happiness and time preference: The effect of positive affect in a random-assignment experiment. The American Economic Review, 101, 3109–3129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue, K., Burkett, J., & Young, L. (2013). Neuroanatomical distribution of u-opioid receptor mRNA and binding in monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and non-monogamous meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Neuroscience, 244, 122–133.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell, L. M., & Wyer, R. S., Jr. (1999). Correcting for mood-induced bias in the evaluation of political candidates: The roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 237–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isen, A. M., & Daubman, K. A. (1984). The influence of affect on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1206–1217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1122–1131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isen, A. M., Johnson, M. M., Mertz, E., & Robinson, G. F. (1985). The influence of positive affect on the unusualness of word associations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1413–1426.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jänig, W., & Häbler, H. J. (2000). Sympathetic nervous system: Contribution to chronic pain. Progress in Brain Research, 129, 451–468.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jänig, W., & McLachlan, E. M. (1992). Characteristics of function-specific pathways in the sympathetic nervous system. Trends in Neurosciences, 15, 475–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. J., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2005). “We all look the same to me” positive emotions eliminate the own-race bias in face recognition. Psychological Science, 16, 875–881.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. A., & Kalichman, S. C. (1998). Reinforcement value of unsafe sex as a predictor of condom use and continued HIV/AIDS risk behavior among gay and bisexual men. Health Psychology, 17, 328–335.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008). In pursuit of happiness: Empirical answers to philosophical questions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 117–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kragel, P. A., & LaBar, K. S. (2013). Multivariate pattern classification reveals autonomic and experiential representations of discrete emotions. Emotion, 13, 681–690.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kraut, R. (1979). Two conceptions of happiness. Philosophical Review, 87, 167–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreibig, S. (2010). Autonomic nervous system activity in emotion: A review. Biological Psychology, 84, 394–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kringelbach, M. L. (2005). The human orbitofrontal cortex: Linking reward to hedonic experience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 6, 691–702.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kringelbach, M. L., & Berridge, K. C. (2009). Towards a functional neuroanatomy of pleasure and happiness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 479–487.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kringelbach, M. L., & Berridge, K. C. (2015). Motivation and pleasure in the brain. In W. Hofmann & L. F. Nordgren (Eds.), The psychology of desire (pp. 129–145). New York, NY: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kringelbach, M. L., & Berridge, K. C. (2017). The affective core of emotion: Pleasure, subjective well-being, and optimal metastability in the brain. Emotion Review, 9, 191–199.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kruglanski, A., Shah, J., Fishbach, A., Friedman, R., Chun, W., & Sleeth-Keppler, D. (2002). A theory of goal systems. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 331–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Kazen, M. (1999). Volitional facilitation of difficult intentions: Joint activation of intention memory and positive affect removes Stroop interference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128, 382–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwan, V. S., Bond, M. H., & Singelis, T. M. (1997). Pancultural explanations for life satisfaction: Adding relationship harmony to self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1038–1051.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Labott, S., Ahleman, S., Wolever, M., & Martin, R. (1990). The physiological and psychological effects of the expression and inhibition of emotion. Behavioral Medicine, 16, 182–189.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, R. (1988). Emotion and the autonomic nervous system: A prospectus for research on autonomic specificity. In H. Wagner (Ed.), Social psychophysiology and emotion: Theory and applications (pp. 17–42). Chichester, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, R. W. (1992). Autonomic nervous system differences among emotions. Psychological Science, 3, 23–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 527–539.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, E., & Kerns, J. (2011). The influence of positive mood on different aspects of cognitive control. Cognition and Emotion, 25, 265–279.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H. (1967). A theory of metamotivation: The biological rooting of the value- life. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 7, 93–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mauss, I. B., Levenson, R. W., McCarter, L., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The tie that binds? Coherence among emotion experience, behavior, and physiology. Emotion, 5, 175–190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mauss, I. B., Savino, N. S., Anderson, C. L., Weisbuch, M., Tamir, M., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2012). The pursuit of happiness can be lonely. Emotion, 12, 908–912.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayberg, H. S. (1997). Limbic-cortical dysregulation: A proposed model of depression. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 9, 471–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 8–14.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M., Witzki, A., Howerter, A., & Wagner, T. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg, K., & Bradley, B. P. (1999). Selective attention and anxiety: A cognitive-motivational perspective. In T. Dalgleish & M. Power (Eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 145–170). Oxford, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (2001). Unraveling the paradoxes of narcissism: A dynamic self- regulatory processing model. Psychological Inquiry, 12, 177–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murry, J. P., Jr., & Dacin, P. A. (1996). Cognitive moderators of negative-emotion effects: Implications for understanding media context. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, 439–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neely, J. H. (1991). Semantic priming effects in visual word recognition: A selective review of current findings and theories. Basic Processes in Reading: Visual Word Recognition, 11, 264–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, D. (2009). Feeling good and open-minded: The impact of positive affect on cross cultural empathetic responding. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 53–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, R. (2004). Natural selection and the elusiveness of happiness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1333–1347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Ahrens, C. (2002). Age differences and similarities in the correlates of depressive symptoms. Psychology and Aging, 17, 116–124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norman, G. J., Berntson, G. G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2014). Emotion, somatovisceral afference, and autonomic regulation. Emotion Review, 6, 113–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norton, D. (1976). Personal destinies: A philosophy of ethical individualism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Doherty, J. P. (2004). Reward representations and reward-related learning in the human brain: Insights from neuroimaging. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 14, 769–776.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ong, A., Bergeman, C., Bisconti, T., & Wallace, K. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 730–749.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Panksepp, J. (2003). Feeling the pain of social loss. Science, 302, 237–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pecina, S., Berridge, K., & Parker, L. (1997). Pimozide does not shift palatability: Separation of anhedonia from sensorimotor suppression by taste reactivity. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 58, 801–811.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrini, A. D., & Smith, P. K. (2005). The nature of play: Great apes and humans. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perner, J., & Lang, B. (1999). Development of theory of mind and executive control. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3, 337–344.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pessoa, L. (2009). How do emotion and motivation direct executive control? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 160–166.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Phaf, R. H. (2015). Attention and positive affect: Temporal switching or spatial broadening? Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 77, 713–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pham, M. T. (2007). Emotion and rationality: A critical review and interpretation of empirical evidence. Review of General Psychology, 11, 155–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, L., Bull, R., Adams, E., & Fraser, L. (2002). Positive mood and executive function: Evidence from Stroop and fluency tasks. Emotion, 2, 12–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raghunathan, R., & Corfman, K. (2006). Is happiness shared doubled and sadness shared halved? Social influence on enjoyment of hedonic experiences. Journal of Marketing Research, 43, 386–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodewalt, F. (2001). The social mind of the narcissist: Cognitive and motivation aspects of interpersonal self-constructions. In J. P. Forgas, K. Williams, & L. Wheeler (Eds.), The social mind: Cognitive and motivational aspects of interpersonal behavior (pp. 177–198). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolls, E. T. (1999). The brain and emotion. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolls, E. T., Grabenhorst, F., & Parris, B. (2008). Warm pleasant feelings in the brain. NeuroImage, 41, 1504–1513.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, P. (2002). The happy and unhappy faces of narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 379–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, G., Hirsh, J., & Anderson, A. (2007). Positive affect increases the breadth of attentional selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 383–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C., & Singer, B. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 13–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C., Singer, B., & Love, G. (2004). Positive health: Connecting well-being with biology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1383–1394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salovey, P., & Birnbaum, D. (1989). Influence of mood on health-relevant cognitions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 539–551.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schachter, S. (1951). Deviation, rejection and communication. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 46, 190–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, T., De Rosa, E., & Anderson, A. (2009). Opposing influences of affective state valence on visual cortical encoding. The Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 7199–7207.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schooler, J., Ariely, D., & Loewenstein, G. (2003). The pursuit and assessment of happiness may be self-defeating. In J. Carrillo & I. Brocas (Eds.), The psychology of economic decisions (pp. 41–70). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, W., Dayan, P., & Montague, P. (1997). A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science, 275, 1593–1599.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G. D., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). The self in relationships: Whether, how, and when close others put the self “in its place”. European Review of Social Psychology, 12, 237–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides, C., Rudich, E. A., Gregg, A. P., Kumashiro, M., & Rusbult, C. (2004). Are normal narcissists psychologically healthy?: Self-esteem matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 400–416.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shiota, M., Campos, B., Oveis, C., Hertenstein, M., Simon-Thomas, E., & Keltner, D. (2017). Beyond happiness: Building a science of discrete positive emotions. American Psychologist, 72, 617–643.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shiota, M., Neufeld, S., Yeung, W., Moser, S., & Perea, E. (2011). Feeling good: Autonomic nervous system responding in five positive emotions. Emotion, 11, 1368–1378.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, W., Rapuano, K., Ingeholm, J., Avery, J., Kallman, S., Hall, K., & Martin, A. (2014). The ventral pallidum and orbitofrontal cortex support food pleasantness inferences. Brain Structure & Function, 219, 473–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. (1967). Motivational and emotional controls of cognition. Psychological Review, 74, 29–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spanier, G. B., & Furstenberg, F. F., Jr. (1982). Remarriage after divorce: A longitudinal analysis of well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 44, 709–720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, C. L., Christie, I. C., & Friedman, B. H. (2010). Autonomic specificity of basic emotions: Evidence from pattern classification and cluster analysis. Biological Psychology, 84, 463–473.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A., Cox, D., Valdimarsdottir, H., Jandorf, L., & Neale, J. (1987). Evidence that secretory IgA antibody is associated with daily mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 988–993.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A., Neale, J., Cox, D., Napoli, A., Valdimarsdottir, H., & Kennedy-Moore, E. (1994). Daily events are associated with secretory immune response to an oral antigen in men. Health Psychology, 13, 440–446.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J. & Clore, G.L. (2011). Affect influences false memories at encoding: Evidence from recognition data. Emotion, 11, 981–989.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J. (2012). Performance costs when emotion tunes inappropriate cognitive abilities: Implications for mental resources and behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 411–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., & Clore, G. L. (2005). With sadness come accuracy, with happiness, false memory: Mood and the false memory effect. Psychological Science, 16, 785–791.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., & Clore, G. L. (2008). The affective regulation of cognitive priming. Emotion, 8, 208–215.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., Davidson, N. A., Dahl, C., Blass, S., & Yung, E. (2015). Emotion, working memory task demands, and individual differences predict behavior, cognitive effort, and negative affect. Cognition and Emotion, 29, 95–117.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., & Maswood, R. (2016). Happiness increases verbal and spatial working memory capacity, sadness does not: Emotion, working memory, and executive control. Cognition and Emotion, 30, 925–938.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., & Stewart, J. L. (2017). Sadness and fear enhance facets of inhibition: Support for the emotion and goal compatibility theory. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storbeck, J., & Watson, P. (2014). Verbal makes it positive, spatial makes it negative: Working memory biases judgments, attention, and moods. Emotion, 14, 1072–1086.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Suardi, A., Sotgiu, I., Costa, T., Cauda, F., & Rusconi, M. (2016). The neural correlates of happiness: A review of PET and fMRI studies using autobiographical recall methods. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 16, 383–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamir, M., & Robinson, M. D. (2007). The happy spotlight: Positive mood and selective attention to rewarding information. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1124–1136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, J. F., Hansen, A. L., Saus-Rose, E., & Johnsen, B. H. (2009). Heart rate variability, prefrontal neural function, and cognitive performance: The neurovisceral integration perspective on self-regulation, adaptation, and health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37, 141–153.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, J. L., Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Freire-Bebeau, L., & Przymus, D. E. (2002). Emotional expression and physiology in European Americans and Hmong Americans. Emotion, 2, 380–397.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320–333.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Urry, H., Nitschke, J., Dolski, I., Jackson, D., Dalton, K., Mueller, C., et al. (2004). Making a life worth living: Neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science, 15, 367–372.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Wouwe, N. C., Band, G. P., & Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2011). Positive affect modulates flexibility and evaluative control. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 524–539.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1990). The utility of happiness. Social Indicators Research, 20, 333–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A., Schwartz, S., & Conti, R. (2006). The implications of two conceptions of happiness (hedonic enjoyment and eudaimonia) for the understanding of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 41–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waugh, C. E., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Nice to know you: Positive emotions, self–other overlap, and complex understanding in the formation of a new relationship. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 93–106.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wickelgren, I. (1997). Getting the brain’s attention. Science, 278, 35–37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wise, R. (2008). Dopamine and reward: The anhedonia hypothesis 30 years on. Neurotoxicity Research, 14, 169–183.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, R. (1996). Brehm’s theory of motivation as a model of effort and cardiovascular response. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 424–453). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyer, R. S., & Collins, J. E. (1992). A theory of humor elicitation. Psychological Review, 99, 663–688.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, H., Yang, S., & Isen, A. (2013). Positive affect improves working memory: Implications for controlled cognitive processing. Cognitive and Emotion, 27, 474–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zajonc, R. B., & McIntosh, D. N. (1992). Emotions research: Some promising questions and some questionable promises. Psychological Science, 3, 70–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY, USA

    Justin Storbeck

  2. The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Justin Storbeck & Jordan Wylie

Authors
  1. Justin Storbeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jordan Wylie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin Storbeck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Heather C. Lench

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Storbeck, J., Wylie, J. (2018). The Functional and Dysfunctional Aspects of Happiness: Cognitive, Physiological, Behavioral, and Health Considerations. In: Lench, H. (eds) The Function of Emotions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77619-4_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation