Journal of Happiness Studies

, Volume 18, Issue 2, pp 353–371 | Cite as

Positivity: The Dispositional Basis of Happiness

  • Gian Vittorio Caprara
  • Nancy Eisenberg
  • Guido Alessandri
Research Paper
First Online:

Abstract

The present study examined in a stringent developmental model whether positivity, conceptualized as a pervasive mode of appraising, viewing, and perceiving life from a positive stance, predicts chronic positive affectivity across time or vice versa. Participants [263 participants (47 % males)], aged 15.5 at the beginning of the study and 23.5 at the end, reported on measures of positivity and dispositional positive affect four times. Longitudinal findings corroborated the posited paths of relations, with positivity significantly predicting positive affectivity across time rather than vice versa.

Keywords

Positivity Positive affect Longitudinal models Happiness Well-being 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to you and the reviewers for comments that helped us to clarify our thinking and writing.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Gian Vittorio Caprara
    • 1
  • Nancy Eisenberg
    • 2
  • Guido Alessandri
    • 1
  1. 1.Sapienza, University of RomeRomeItaly
  2. 2.Arizona State UniversityTempeUSA

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