Components of Positive Emotions and Health Resources

Components of Positive Emotions:

1. Altruism: gaining pleasure from helping others

2. Amusement: a state or experience of finding something funny, humour provides
opportunity for building supportive relations
3. Gratitude: being grateful
4. Hope: anticipatory happiness.
5. Inspiration: being mentally stimulated to do or feel something
6. Interest: a feeling of wanting to learn or achieve goals
7. Joy: a spectrum of happiness
8. Love: an intense feeling of deep affection
9. Optimism: hopefulness & confidence about the success of a future event or something
10. Serenity: calm of being content; an epicurean pleasure
Health Resources:
1. Physical Resources:
a. There are four interaction systems: brain, nervous system, endocrine system
and immune system.
b. Interaction between theses systems influences and affects the body and the
mind in following ways:
i. Emotions: Negative emotions suppress the production of T cells; whereas
positive emotions increases production of T cells
ii. Stress: Stress affects the immune system and its functioning; e.g. during
exams students fall ill due to stress
iii. Negative Moods: negative moods lead to depression and lower the
production of antibodies and vice versa.
iv. Laughter & Humour: aids productions of antibodies and T Cells.
2. Psychological Resources:
a. Coping behaviour: listed below are some of mechanisms of coping:
i. Problem focused: aims at altering, reducing or eliminating the sources of
stress by taking helps of others or taking action to change a stressful
situation, etc.
ii. Emotion Focused: attempts to change or reduce one’s own response to
stressful experience
iii. Proactive coping: Involves effort to prevent stress from happening, at
the initiation stage
b. Positive Reappraisal: a cognitive strategy that aims at reframing the problem
in a more positive sight
c. Positive Traits and Health: help to produce positive emotions during stressful
situations
 d. Self-esteem: People with high self esteem are able to cope with stressful
situations better.
3. Social Resources: People with strong social networking, have good relationship
support and are high on positive emotions; this helps in coping with stressful situations.