Always look on the bright side of life: The attentional basis of positive affectivity

JOURNAL:  European Journal of Personality
AUTHORS: 

Ben Grafton,

Christian Ang and

Colin MacLeod

SUMMARY: There is now reliable evidence that heightened positive affectivity is associated with a distinctive pattern of attentional selectivity, favouring emotionally positive information. While this has invited speculation that differential attentional responding to positive information may directly contribute to the determination of this emotional temperament, the causal basis of their association as yet remains unknown.


CULTURAL REFERENCE:  "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Eric Idle that was originally featured in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.

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