Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:06:07.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The value of “negative” appraisals for resilience. Is positive (re)appraisal always good and negative always bad?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Alexandra M. Freund
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and University Research Priority Program Dynamics of Healthy Aging, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, [email protected]://www.psychologie.uzh.ch/fachrichtungen/lifespan/team/freund_en.html
Ursula M. Staudinger
Affiliation:
Columbia Aging Center, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032. [email protected]://www.mailman.columbia.edu/our-faculty/profile?uni=ums2103

Abstract

In contrast to the PASTOR model by Kalisch et al. we point to the potential negative long-term effects of positive (re)appraisals of events for resilience. This perspective posits that emotional reactions to events provide important guidelines as to which events, environments, or social relations should be sought out and which ones should be avoided in the future.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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.)

References

Alloy, L. B. & Abramson, L. Y. (1987) Judgement of contingency in depressed and non-depressed students: Sadder but wiser? Journal of Experimental Psychology 108:441–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. (1989) The optimal margin of illusion. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 8:176–89. doi: 10.1521/jscp.1989.8.2.176.Google Scholar
Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (1998) On the self-regulation of behavior. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clore, G. L. & Storbeck, J. (2006) Affect as information about liking, efficacy, and importance. In: Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior, ed. Forgas, J., pp. 123–42. New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Colvin, C. R. & Block, J. (1994) Do positive illusions foster mental health? An examination of the Taylor and Brown formulation. Psychological Bulletin 116:320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freund, A. M. (2008) Successful aging as management of resources: The role of selection, optimization, and compensation. Research in Human Development 5:94106.Google Scholar
Greve, W. & Staudinger, U. M. (2006) Resilience in later adulthood and old age: Resources and potentials for successful aging. In: Developmental psychopathology, second edition, ed. Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, A., pp. 796840. Wiley.Google Scholar
McEwen, B. S. & Wingfield, J. C. (2007) Allostasis and allostatic load. In: Encyclopedia of stress, second edition, ed. Fink, G., pp. 135–41. Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-012373947-6.00025-8.Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. M. & Kessler, E.-M. (2009) Adjustment and growth – Two trajectories of positive personality development across adulthood. In: Handbook of research on adult learning and development, ed. Smith, M. C. & DeFrates-Densch, N., pp. 241–68. Routledge.Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., Marsiske, M. & Baltes, P. B. (1995) Resilience and reserve capacity in later adulthood: Potentials and limits of development across the life span. In: Developmental psychopathology. Vol. 2: Risk, disorder, and adaptation, ed. Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D., pp. 801–47. Wiley.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. E. & Brown, J. D. (1988) Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin 103:193210.Google Scholar