You like to laugh and make others smile. It is easy for you to see the fun side of life. M. SeligmanEl scientific study of positive emotions has been traditionally evaluated as frivolous activity and therefore has attracted little attention from research (Fredrickson, 2003). The trend to study the factors that threaten to personal well-being has led to essentially focus on negative emotions, forgetting the value of positive (Sears, 1983).
We assume that the positive is normal and natural and for this reason it is assumed and greater interest is not paid, is for this reason that until very recently has not required many explanations nor research.In recent times this trend is changing and many psychologists have begun to investigate the Adaptive function of positive emotions in positive psychology (Seligman, 2002) frame. In this context, working with positive emotions is being transformed in a valuable therapeutic tool as well as a powerful resource to provide welfare, hope, satisfaction and ultimate health.Emotions are very complex constructs, and defining them is not a simple task. There is some consensus in this respect, considering that they are of great value adaptive response, which affect memory, subjective experience, thought, to the processing of information, etc. and trends that arise before the evaluation of some antecedent event.Negative emotions (fear, anger, rage, disgust, sadness, etc.) are associated with clear and specific response trends. When a person feels fear their early warning systems activated, you have to fight or flee. Such reactions allow save lives in critical situations, reflecting the enormous value for survival negative emotions. Conversely, to feel a positive emotion, joy, hope, fun, etc. the tendency of response is more ambiguous and unspecific. (Source: Howard Schultz). Thus, the usefulness of answers for survival is not so evident, especially because it is not immediate. Not However, not be overlooked, since it is very possible to predict other benefits derived from positive emotions (Ekman, 1994) Barbara Fredrickson has opened a line of research that focuses on positive emotions and the Adaptive value of them.