Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T21:08:39.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Positive Technologies for Understanding and Promoting Positive Emotions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2017

Rosa María Baños*
Affiliation:
University of Valencia (Spain)
Alba Carrillo
Affiliation:
University of Valencia (Spain)
Ernestina Etchemendy
Affiliation:
University of Zaragoza (Spain)
Cristina Botella
Affiliation:
University Jaume I (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rosa María Baños. Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad de Valencia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly present in our lives, and their use has spread considerably. This paper presents a review of the way ICTs can help practitioners and researchers to study, promote, and train positive emotions. It is framed within the field of Positive Technologies: the applied scientific approach to the study of the use of technology to improve the quality of personal experience, with the goal of increasing wellbeing. First, the article presents an introduction to the topic of technologies and positive emotions. Then, it describes how ICTs can aid in monitoring, assessing, promoting, modifying, and training positive emotions. Finally, implications and future directions of the role of Positive Technologies in positive emotions are discussed. The authors conclude that, in the near future, Positive Technologies and the field of positive emotions will interact synergistically, producing an exponential growth in the understanding and promotion of positive emotions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This study was partially supported by Ciber Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (Madrid, Spain CB06/03, CIBERObn is an initiative of ISCIII, Spain) and PROMOSAM Excellence in Research Program (MINECO, Valencia, Spain, PSI2014–56303-REDT).

How to cite this article:

Baños, R. M., Carrillo, A., Etchemendy, E., & Botella, C. (2017). Positive technologies for understanding and promoting positive emotions. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. e50. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.42

References

Ahn, S. J., Le, A. M. T., & Bailenson, J. (2013). The effect of embodied experiences on self-other merging, attitude, and helping behavior. Media Psychology, 16(1), 738. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2012.755877 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Araya, C., & Moncada, L. (2016). Self-Compassion: origin, concept and preliminary evidence. Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, 25(1), 6778.Google Scholar
Aymerich-Franch, L., Kizilcec, R. F., & Bailenson, J. N. (2014). The relationship between virtual self similarity and social anxiety. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 944. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00944 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Banakou, D., Groten, R., & Slater, M. (2013). Illusory ownership of a virtual child body causes overestimation of object sizes and implicit attitude changes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 1284612851. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1306779110 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Guerrero, B., Liaño, V., Alcañiz, M., & Rey, B. (2005). The third pole of the sense of presence: Comparing virtual and imagery spaces. PsychNology Journal, 3(1), 90100.Google Scholar
Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Rubió, I., Quero, S., Garcia-Palacios, A., & Alcañiz, M. (2008). Presence and emotions in virtual environments: The influence of stereoscopy. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.9936 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baños, R. M., Espinoza, M., García-Palacios, A., Cervera, J. M., Esquerdo, G., Barrajón, E., & Botella, C. (2013). A positive psychological intervention using virtual reality for patients with advanced cancer in a hospital setting: A pilot study to assess feasibility. Support Care Cancer, 21, 263270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-012-1520-x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baños, R., Etchemendy, E., Carrillo-Vega, A., & Botella, C. (2016). Positive Psychological interventions and information and communication technologies. In Villani, D., Cipresso, P., Gaggioli, A., & Riva, G. (Eds.), Integrating technology in positive psychology practice (pp. 3858). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.Google Scholar
Baños, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Castilla, D., Garcia-Palacios, A., Quero, S., & Botella, C. (2012). Positive mood induction procedures for virtual environments designed for elderly people. Interacting with Computers, 24, 131138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intcom.2012.04.002 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baños, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Farfallini, L., Garcia-Palacios, A., Quero, S., & Botella, C. (2014). EARTH of well-being system: A pilot study of an information and communication technology-based positive psychology intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9, 482488. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.927906 Google Scholar
Baños, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Mira, A., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A., & Botella, C. (2017). Online positive interventions to promote well-being and resilience in the adolescent population: A narrative review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 8, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00010 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnsley, N., McAuley, J. H., Mohan, R., Dey, A., Thomas, P., & Moseley, G. L. (2011). The rubber hand illusion increases histamine reactivity in the real arm. Current Biology, 21, R945R946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.10.039 Google Scholar
Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC Public Health, 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-119 Google Scholar
Bolier, L., & Abello, K. M. (2014). Online positive psychological interventions: State of the Art and Future Directions. In Parks, A. C. & Schueller, S. M. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of positive psychological interventions (pp. 286309). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Botella, C., Baños, R. M., Etchemendy, E., García-Palacios, A., & Alcañiz, M. (2016). Psychological countermeasures in manned space missions: “EARTH” system for the Mars-500 project. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 898908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.010 Google Scholar
Botella, C., Garcia-Palacios, A., Baños, R. M., & Quero, S. (2009). Cybertherapy: Advantages, limitations, and ethical issues. PsychNology Journal, 7(1), 77100.Google Scholar
Botella, C., Quero, S., Baños, R. M., Perpiñá, C., García-Palacios, A., & Riva, G. (2004). Virtual reality and psychotherapy. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 99, 3754. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-60750-943-1-37 Google Scholar
Botella, C., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A., Wiederhold, B. K., Alcaniz, M., & Baños, R. M. (2012). The present and future of positive technologies. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15, 7884. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0140 Google Scholar
Calvo, R. A., & Peters, D. (2013). Promoting psychological wellbeing: Loftier goals for new technologies. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 32, 1921. https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2013.2286429 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collaçao de Oliveira, E., Bertrand, P., Roel Lesur, M. E., Palomo, P., Demarzo, M., Cebolla, A., … Romero, T. (2016, June). Virtual body swap: A new feasible tool to be explored in health and education. Proceedings of the XVIII Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality (SVR). Gramado, Brazil.Google Scholar
Damasio, A. R. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Etchemendy, E., Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Castilla, D., Alcañiz, M., Rasal, P., & Farfallini, L. (2011). An e-health platform for elderly population: The butler system. Computers & Education, 56(1), 275279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.022 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falconer, C. J., Rovira, A., King, J. A., Gilbert, P., Antley, A., Fearon, P., … Brewin, C. R. (2016). Embodying self-compassion within virtual reality and its effects on patients with depression. British Journal of Psychiatry Open, 2(1), 7480. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjpo.bp.115.002147 Google Scholar
Falconer, C. J., Slater, M., Rovira, A., King, J. A., Gilbert, P., Antley, A., & Brewin, C. R. (2014). Embodying compassion: A virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism. PLoS ONE, 9, e111933. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111933 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feldman Barrett, L., Lewis, M., & Haviland-Jones, J. M. (2016 ). Handbook of emotions. New York, NY: Guilford Press Google Scholar
Felnhofer, A., Kothgassner, O. D., Schmidt, M., Heinzle, A. K., Beutl, L., Hlavacs, H., & Kryspin-Exner, I. (2015). Is virtual reality emotionally arousing? Investigating five emotion inducing virtual park scenarios. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 82, 4856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2015.05.004 Google Scholar
Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions (studies in emotion and social interaction). New York, NY: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gaggioli, A., Chirico, A., Triberti, S., & Riva, G. (2016). Transformative Interactions: Designing positive technologies to Foster self-transcendence and meaning. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine, 14, 169173.Google Scholar
Gallagher, S., Reinerman-Jones, L., Janz, B., Bruhn, M., Templar, J., & Sollins, B. (2014). Using simulated environments in experimental studies of cognition: A study of spiritual experience during space travel. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 15, 376394.Google Scholar
García-Palacios, A., & Baños, R. (1999). Eficacia de dos procedimientos de inducción del estado de ánimo e influencia de variables moduladoras [Efficacy of two mood induction procedures and the influence of modulating variables]. Revista de Psicopatología y Psicología Clínica, 4(1), 1526.Google Scholar
Howells, A., Ivtzan, I., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2016). Putting the ‘app’ in Happiness: A randomised controlled trial of a smartphone-based mindfulness intervention to enhance wellbeing. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(1), 163185. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9589-1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, E. A., & Mathews, A. (2010). Mental imagery in emotion and emotional disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 349362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.001 Google Scholar
IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics (2015). Patient Adoption of mHealth: Use, Evidence and Remaining Barriers to Mainstream Acceptance. Retrieved from IMS Website http://www.imshealth.com/files/web/IMSH%20Institute/Reports/Patient%20Adoption%20of%20mHealth/IIHI_Patient_Adoption_of_mHealth.pdf Google Scholar
Ioannidou, F., & Konstantikaki, V. (2008). Empathy and emotional intelligence: What is it really about? International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1, 118123.Google Scholar
Kosinski, M., Wang, Y., Lakkaraju, H., & Leskovec, J. (2016). Mining big data to extract patterns and predict real-life outcomes. Psychological Methods, 21, 493506. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000105 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milk, C., & Arora, G. (2015). Clouds over Sidra [Documentary movie]. United States of America: VRSE. Works. Retrieved from http://dragons.org/creators/gabo-arora/work/the-united-nations-clouds-over-sidra/ Google Scholar
Miller, G. (2012). The smartphone psychology manifesto. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 221237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612441215 Google Scholar
MIT Media Lab (2016). MIT Media Lab Projects Fall 2016. Retrieved from MIT Media Lab Website http://www.media.mit.edu/files/projects.pdf Google Scholar
Osimo, S. A., Pizarro, R., Spanlang, B., & Slater, M. (2015). Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud – A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling. Scientific Reports, 5, 13899. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep13899 Google Scholar
Peck, T. C., Seinfeld, S., Aglioti, S. M., & Slater, M. (2013). Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Consciousness and Cognition, 22, 779787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, T. F., Peterson, C. K., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2012). The emotive neuroscience of embodiment. Motivation and Emotion, 36, 2737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9258-1 Google Scholar
Riva, G. (2008). From virtual body to real body: Virtual reality as embodied technology. Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 1(1), 722.Google Scholar
Riva, G., Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Mantovani, F., & Gaggioli, A. (2016). Transforming experience: The potential of augmented reality and virtual reality for enhancing personal and clinical change. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 7, 164. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00164 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riva, G., Baños, R. M., Botella, C., Wiederhold, B. K., & Gaggioli, A. (2012). Positive technology: Using interactive technologies to promote positive functioning. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15, 6977. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0139 Google Scholar
Saranummi, N., Spruijt-Metz, D., Intille, S. S., Korhone, I., Nilsen, W. J., & Pavel, M. (2013). Moving the science of behavior change into the 21st century: Novel solutions to prevent disease and promote health. IEEE Pulse, 4, 2224. https://doi.org/10.1109/MPUL.2013.2271680 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 514. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5 Google Scholar
Serrano, B., Botella, C., Baños, R. M., & Alcañiz, M. (2013). Using virtual reality and mood-induction procedures to test products with consumers of ceramic tiles. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 648653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.10.024 Google Scholar
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467487. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20593 Google Scholar
Schwartz, H. A., Sap, M., Kern, M. L., Eichstaedt, J. C., Kapelner, A., Agrawal, M., … Ungar, L. H. (2016). Predicting individual well-being through the language of social media. Proceedings of the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing, 21, 516527. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814749411_0047 Google Scholar
Tene, O., & Polonetsky, J. (2012). Privacy in the age of big data: A time for big decisions. Stanford Law Review Online, 64, 6369.Google Scholar
Vara, M. D., Baños, R. M., Rasal, P., Rodríguez, A., Rey, B., Wrzesien, M., & Alcañiz, M. (2016). A game for emotional regulation in adolescents: The (body) interface device matters. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 267273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.033 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vara, M. D., Miragall, M., Cebolla, A., & Baños, R. M. (2016, October). Pedaling toward motivation! Approach body movements influence approach motivation. Poster presented at the 50th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. New York, USA.Google Scholar
Wilson, C. J., & Soranzo, A. (2015). The use of virtual reality in psychology: A case study in visual perception. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, 2015, ID 151702. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/151702 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wrzesien, M., Rodríguez, A., Rey, B., Alcañiz, M., Baños, R. M., & Vara, M. D. (2015). How the physical similarity of avatars can influence the learning of emotion regulation strategies in teenagers. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 101111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.024 Google Scholar
Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007). The proteus effect: The effect of transformed self-representation on behavior. Human Communication Research, 33, 271290. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar