Happiness increases when we experience more positive emotions throughout the day. Fredrickson, a leader in the field of psychology, identifies 10 positive emotions, including joy, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, love and so on. How often we experience these positive emotions compared to negative emotions in a day affects not only our mood, but also our physical health. She has discovered that those who have a 3∶1 ratio of positive to negative emotions on a daily basis are happier and healthier.
Sadly, most people, even those who consider themselves positive people, are far below that ratio. The good news is that you can learn to increase your ratio of being positive, which leads to greater happiness, health and success.
Research shows that by increasing positive emotions, we become more creative, perform better at tasks, and have better relationships. The most exciting finding is that we now have proof that selfgenerated positive emotions can improve our physical health.
Nevertheless, we don't want to get rid of all negative feelings. Negative emotions are proper and helpful sometimes. It's appropriate to feel sad about the loss of a loved one. Anger often pushes us into action to improve a situation or correct a mistake. However, if you find yourself waiting impatiently when the driver in front of you doesn't instantly notice the light turns green, or if you find yourself scolding your kids for laughing too loud while you are on the phone, you are having negative feelings in your daily life too often. Then you should step back and analyze those feelings, and turn them around.
【小题1】What is the most exciting finding about increasing positive emotions?| A．It improves relationships. | B．It contributes to good health. |
| C．It helps develop creativity. | D．It leads to greater success. |
| A．People should turn every negative feeling around. |
| B．Negative feelings can sometimes have positive effects. |
| C．Negative feelings often cause people to make mistakes. |
| D．People should never show negative feelings in public places. |
| A．People should learn to manage their emotions. |
| B．People should be patient with their negative feelings. |
| C．People should learn to analyze the causes of unhappiness. |
| D．People should identify as many positive feelings as possible. |
