The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Positive affect and markers of inflammation: Discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines.
Abstract
Negative emotions are reliably associated with poorer health (e.g., Kiecolt-Glaser, McGuire, Robles, & Glaser, 2002), but only recently has research begun to acknowledge the important role of positive emotions for our physical health (Fredrickson, 2003). We examine the link between dispositional positive affect and one potential biological pathway between positive emotions and health-proinflammatory cytokines, specifically levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6). We hypothesized that greater trait positive affect would be associated with lower levels of IL-6 in a healthy sample. We found support for this hypothesis across two studies. We also explored the relationship between discrete positive emotions and IL-6 levels, finding that awe, measured in two different ways, was the strongest predictor of lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines. These effects held when controlling for relevant personality and health variables. This work suggests a potential biological pathway between positive emotions and health through proinflammatory cytokines.
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“our selection of inflammatory markers included cytokines known to be sensitive in humans to negative and positive affect ( Anisman & Merali, 2003; Stellar et al., 2015)”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as Stellar et al., 2015
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Metadata
- Authors
- Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2015
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-133
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W2125381870
- Cited by
- 307
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 37.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation (95524 and 88210)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- positive affect, positive emotions, interleukin-6, inflammatory cytokines, inflammation, awe, emotions and health, trait positive affect
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Affect, Emotions, Female, Health Status, Humans, Inflammation, Male, Personality, Predictive Value of Tests, Biomarkers, Interleukin-6, Cytokines, Young Adult
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