The Future of Emotions Research within Positive Psychology

This chapter argues that emotions research and positive psychology are poised to have deep and lasting mutual influence as these two intertwined specialty areas move forward in the coming decade. Indeed, tests of basic theory within emotions research-especially the long-range consequence of frequent experiences of certain emotions-can kick up promising positive psychology interventions. However, as researchers collectively embark on exploring these and other new frontiers, they must be willing to leave the pack, think outside the box, all the while attending to the subtle yet recurrent patterns whispered by their data. They must also be open to capitalize on the rapid advances in measurement tools and mathematical and statistical models.