The ratio between positive and negative affect and flourishing mental health across adulthood

Abstract

Using data from a 30-day diary study with 239 adults (81 young, 81 middle-aged, and 77 older adults), this study examined whether a specific ratio between positive and negative affect distinguished individuals with different mental health status and especially flourishing from non-flourishing individuals. In addition, the study addressed whether there were age differences in the positivity ratio when daily affect data were used, and whether the proposed critical positivity ratio of 2.9 discriminated equally well between individuals with different mental health status across the adult lifespan. Findings showed that the ratio of positive to negative affect differed across adulthood such that age was associated with an increasing preponderance of positive to negative affect. The positivity ratio was also associated with mental health status in the hypothesized direction; higher positivity ratios were associated with better mental health. Finally, although the data supported the notion of a positivity ratio of 2.9 as a ‘critical value’ in young adulthood, this value did not equally well discriminate the mental health status of middle-aged and older adults.

Keywords:

• adulthood
• positive and negative affect
• positivity ratio
• mental health

Acknowledgments

The research presented in this article was supported by grant R01 AG21147 from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.

Notes

Notes

1. Based on a reviewer's suggestion, we also computed participants’ positivity ratios on a daily basis and then summed the number of days each participant had positivity ratios in excess of 2.9. The pattern of findings was unchanged when we used this alternative method of capturing participants’ balance of positive to negative affect and examined whether there was evidence to support the existence of a critical value of 2.9.

2. Note that Keyes (2007) presents the distribution of adults in the three mental health categories broken down for adults who have had an episode of mental illness in the preceding year (33% of adults) and those who have not (77% of adults). Given our screening procedures, we compared our distribution with adults in the latter group and adjusted the percentages presented by Keyes for this latter group to sum to 100% (rather than 77%).

3. Given that there were 30 days of data collection, the maximum possible number of positive or negative affects participants could report experiencing was 300 (i.e., 30 days × 10 affect items per day). Consequently, the possible range of the positivity ratio is 0.003 to 300 (i.e., 1/300 to 300/1). The actual range was 3–300 for the positive affects, 1–264 for the negative affects, and 0.2–154 for the positivity ratio.