Study: Can awe -promoting inflammation alleviate?

Stellar JE, John-Henderson N, Anderson Cl, Gordon on, McNeil GD, Keltner D. Positive affects and inflammatory markers: Discrete positive emotions predict a lower content of inflammatory cytokines. emotion. 2015; 15 (2): 129-133.

In this paper, the researchers present 2 studies. The first study comprised 94 new students from an American western coasting university who filled out a questionnaire and provided a sample of oral mucosal transdate (OMT). The second study had a multi-session longitudinal design and included 119 new students from the same university. In the second study, the participants filled out a questionnaire on their home computers using a secure website and then went to the laboratory for a follow -up session, where Omt was collected and another questionnaire was filled out.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured using OMT. In the first study, the positive and negative affect schedule (Panas) was used to determine the emotional status. Researchers controlled the body mass index (BMI) due to the connection between obesity and increased inflammation. In the second study, in addition to Panas and the control of the BMI, the dispositionally positive emotion scale (DPES) and the Big Five Personality Inventory were added as results measurements.

In the first study, lower IL-6 was correlated with positive emotions. In the second study, the additional measurement of positive emotions also correlated with a lower IL-6. In order to deeper into the way of positive emotions that had the greatest influence on the IL 6 mirror, the researchers examined the 7 subscales of the DPE (ample, amusement, compassion, satisfaction, joy, love and pride) and found this awe compared to all other emotions the strongest correlation with lower IL-6 mirrors. In fact, only the degree of awe was able to significantly predict the IL-6 level. When the OMT was carried out in the second study, the participants, who reported that they felt the most ample, amazement and amazement that day, had the lowest IL-6 levels ( p <0.001). Joy, satisfaction, pride and awe, all correlated heavily with lower IL-6 mirrors, but their ability to predict low IL-6 values ​​was not statistically significant.

This study offers a subtle refinement of our understanding of the effects of positive emotions on physical health. Most practitioners of integrative medicine are very aware of the connection between positive emotions and various body functions, especially immune function. What this study delivers is a valuable new knowledge: not all positive emotions are the same. It also emphasizes an emotion that we rarely talk about. Like Keltner and Haidt, "the psychology has surprisingly little to say about reverence". ^{1 A large part of emotion research has primarily focused on very characteristic general negative expressions such as sadness, shame, fear and anger or often has thrown all positive emotions into the general category optimism or a positive mood.}