These
days it may feel more difficult than ever to take time out of our busy schedules
to explore our world, whether that means hiking in nature, appreciating art in
a museum, or traveling. In a series of studies our lab demonstrates these kinds
of activities may be more important for physical health than past researchers
realized. We find that people who report experiencing more awe, a positive
emotion associated with feeling wonder and amazement, in their daily lives had
lower levels of a key harmful health marker, pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Inflammation is one way the immune system responds to injury, disease, or
infection. In our studies we focus on a marker of inflammation, called
pro-inflammatory cytokines, which act like messengers in the immune system
coordinating immune responses and promoting inflammation. Although
pro-inflammatory cytokines are important for fighting infection or disease,
when they are chronically high they can lead to a variety of negative health
outcomes such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our data suggests that individuals
who feel more awe have lower chronic levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Whether
it is seeing the beauty in a blade of grass, watching an athlete achieve the
unthinkable, or looking at vastness of the night’s sky, taking time to
appreciate the awe-inspiring nature of our world has important implications not
only for our mental health, but for our physical health.
Jennifer Stellar, Ph.D
University of Toronto
Full article available for download on:
CITATION:
Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D.(2015, January 19). Positive Affect and Markers of Inflammation: Discrete Positive Emotions Predict Lower Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines. Emotion. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000033
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