The Broaden-and Build Theory of Positive Emotions
Traditional approaches to the study of emotions have tended to ignore positive emotions and squeeze them into purportedly emotion-general models, confuse them with closely related affective states, and describe their function in terms of generic tendencies to approach or continue. Sensing that these approaches did not do justice to positive emotions, I developed an alternative model that better captures their unique effects. I call this the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions because positive emotions appear to broaden people’s momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources (Fredrickson, 1998).