Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive psychology

Abstract

Positive Psychology is contributing to a more precise definition of the outline of human well-being and is fully incorporating studies on positive elements (strengths and positive emotions) that are without doubt amplifying the framework of research and conduct of psychology, in particular that of Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology. Over the last few years, academic debate has, from a scientific perspective, gone back to two ancient philosophical orientations, namely hedonism and eudaimonia. The hedonic approach conceives well-being as the presence of positive affect and lack of negative affect, whilst the eudaimonic perspective regards well-being as the consequence of a full psychological actualization from which people develop their whole potential. Whether assessed from a hedonic or eudaimonic perspective, well-being seems to play a role in the prevention of and in the recovery of physical conditions and diseases and so possibly contributes to an increase in life expectancy. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed both from an academic perspective and, more generally speaking, from a social and political point of view.

Full text

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology, 5 (2009) 15-27
Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive
psychology
Carmelo Vázquez
1
, Gonzalo Hervás
2
, Juan José Rahona
3
, Diego Gómez
3
1University Professor. Department of Clinical Psychology, 2Interim Professor, 3Doctoral candidates
School of Psychology
Complutense University. Madrid, Spain
ABSTRACT
Positive Psychology is contributing to a more precise definition of the outline of human well-being and is fully incorporating studies
on positive elements (strengths and positive emotions) that are without doubt amplifying the framework of research and conduct of
psychology, in particular that of Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology. Over the last few years, academic debate has, from a
scientific perspective, gone back to two ancient philosophical orientations, namely hedonism and eudaimonia. The hedonic
approach conceives well-being as the presence of positive affect and lack of negative affect, whilst the eudaimonic perspective
regards well-being as the consequence of a full psychological actualization from which people develop their whole potential.
Whether assessed from a hedonic or eudaimonic perspective, well-being seems to play a role in the prevention of and in the
recovery of physical conditions and diseases and so possibly contributes to an increase in life expectancy. Finally, the implications
of these findings are discussed both from an academic perspective and, more generally speaking, from a social and political point of
view.
Key words: health, well-being, hedonism, eudaimonia, positive affect
Received: 16 November 2009
Accepted: 20 December 2009
INTRODUCTION
Positive health and negative health. The
perspective of positive psychology
Este This article, published by a journal
which has long dealt with clinical and health
psychology, makes it possible to explain the
contribution of positive psychology to the fields of
positive health and negative health, which we believe
to be enormous. Firstly, this vision of psychology
allows for a more accurate definition of the outlines
of human well-being. Furthermore, it is fully
incorporating the study of positive elements such as
strengths and positive emotions which, without any
doubt, are widening the research and action
frameworks of psychology in general (Vázquez &
Hervás, 2008) and in particular as we attempt to
concisely show in this paper, that of Clinical
Psychology and Health Psychology.
The effort to understand well-being and its
causes is not new but it is an issue that throughout
history has always raised interest (McMahon, 2006).
In some sense, all medical and
psychological interventions, as well as political,
social and economic ones, aim at increasing people’s
quality of life as one of their main objectives
(Vázquez, 2009b).
Corresponding autor: Carmelo Vázquez. Facultad de
Psicología. Universidad Complutense. Campus de
Somosaguas, 28223-Madrid. Telephone number:(34)
913943090. E-mail: cvazquez@psi.ucm.es
As a matter of fact, we make many of our everyday
decisions by weighing up the degree of happiness to
be reached by us ourselves or by our loved ones
(Gilbert, 2006).
However, due to reasons related to the
sociology of science and with the professional
development of scientific disciplines, the focus of
intervention for health related areas has historically
more often been on the reduction of pain, suffering
and deficiencies rather than on the development of
individual and collective abilities (Vázquez, 2009a).
In the field of psychology, the emphasis on positive
psychological states taken as factors protective of
physical and mental health, and especially the
relation that exists between these positive
psychological states and its repercussions on the
development of illnesses has only started to be
studied over the last two decades (Taylor, Kemeny,
Reed, Bower & Gruenewald, 2000). Except for some
rare attempts such as the one by Jahoda (1958),
positive theories and models are generally recent
(Deci & Ryan, 2000; Keyes & Waterman, 2003;
Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Seligman, 2002),
especially if we compare them with the long
historical development of the models explaining
mental disorders.
As recently stated by Salanova (2008), a
brief review of the scientific literature published over
the last one hundred years (from 1907 to 2007) shows

Vázquez, C.; Hervás, G.; Rahona, J. J. & Gómez, D.: Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive
psychology
16
the publication of 77,614 articles on stress, 44,667 on
depression, and 24,814 on anxiety, but only 6,434 on
well-being. In this large and full production, the
number of studies on happiness (1,159 papers) and on
enjoyment (304 papers) is almost symbolic.
Figure 1. Summary of the number of scientific studies (until
14 May 2009) associated with negative and positive mood
published by PubMed.
(Terms used: depression, stress, anxiety, satisfaction,
happiness, well-being)
Something similar happens in the field of
medicine. In spite of the fact that medicine is
supposed to deal both with health and illness, a
review of the published medical articles on
depression, stress or anxiety shows a 6:1 ratio as
compared to those on satisfaction, happiness or well-
being (See Figure 1). And if we focus on specific
studies analyzing the relationship between mood and
physiological symptoms, the studies on negative
mood such as depression or anger, among others, are
twenty times more frequent than the studies dealing
with positive emotional states (Pressman & Cohen,
2005).
In spite of this panorama, the traditional
attention towards symptoms and diseases is gradually
changing into an increasingly wider concept of health
that includes aspects of personal optimal performance
and not only the absence of diseases. As detailed
elsewhere (Hervás, Sánchez, & Vázquez, 2008), this
more positive conception of health was made explicit
in the initial set-up of the World Health Organization,
which, at the end of the Second World War stated in
the Preamble of its First Articles of Association.
“Health is a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.” (WHO, 1948)
A few years later, following a proposal
from the WHO, the World Federation for Mental
Health defined ‘health’ in 1962 as “The best possible
state within the existing conditions.” Similarly, the
final declaration of the first WHO International
Conference on Health promotion, held in Ottawa in
1986, stated that:
“In order to reach a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being, an individual
or group must be able to identify and to realize
aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope
with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a
resource for everyday life, not the objective of living.
Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and
personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”
(Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. WHO,
Geneva, 1986)
More recently, in a praiseworthy effort by
the Scottish government to incorporate elements of
positive psychology into their prevention and
intervention health plans, mental health was defined
as (Myers, McCollam, & Woodhouse, 2005):
“The emotional and spiritual resilience
which allows us to enjoy life and to survive pain,
disappointment and sadness. It is a positive sense of
well-being and an underlying belief in our own and
others' dignity and worth.”
The 1948 definition by the WHO was
visionary but maybe utopian as well (Vázquez, 1990),
since at that time adequate measuring instruments
were not available to professionals or citizens aware
of and committed to this refreshing approach towards
the concepts of health and illness.
In this regard, one of our most urgent
challenges is to put the concept of positive health into
operation at various levels (individual-community,
physical-mental, etc). The incorporation of indicators
of positive health into the design of prevention and
intervention programs is most important and is
bringing about a decisive change of outlook. In order
to analyze mental health, in addition to morbidity
criteria (such as the prevalence of people with mental
disorders, suicidal cases, hospital beds available,
etc.), indicators of positive health can also be used. In
this sense, it is important to appreciate, for example,
the attempt to include positive indicators (such as the
vitality item taken from the SF-30 performance scale)
in the mental health plan of the Spanish Ministry of
Health (Estrategia en Salud Mental del Sistema
Nacional de Salud, 2007).
In the research field about indicators of
positive health, the WHO itself has made a
considerable effort to make the concept of life quality
operative and develop instruments that facilitate
accurate measurement (WHOQOL Group, 1994).
Coming from the field of psychology, and especially,
but not only, from the movement of positive
psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000),
there is a growing number of instruments oriented
towards measuring aspects related to well-being, such
as satisfaction with life, emotional well-being,
psychological strengths or positive emotions (Deaton,
2008; Diener, 2009; Ong & Van Dulmen, 2007).
In addition to providing a wider definition
of health and incorporating the study of positive
factors associated to health and well-being, the last
two decades have started to reveal that positive
psychological states are not only an integral part of
health, but also that they can actually influence the
onset of illnesses and physical problems as well as
the recovery processes. The self-perception of healthy
people, characterized by having positive feelings
about themselves, a feeling of self control and an
optimistic vision of the future, provides reserves of
and a driving force for resources not only to cope
with everyday difficulties but also with those which
are especially stressful and even threatening for one’s
existence (Taylor et al., 2000). Having a good
physical or mental state should not only consist in not
having an illness or disorder, but also in enjoying a
series of resources or abilities that allow for coping
with adversities (Almedom & Glandon, 2007). And,

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 5 (2009) 15-27
17
what is even more important from the perspective of
positive health, that very state of well-being is going
to make it possible to achieve a greater psychological,
social and community development (Fredrickson,
2009).
Positive psychological factors may have
such a strong relationship with health as negative
ones. As for the latter, a great amount of data has
accumulated over the years. For example, negative
expectations are associated not only with a quicker
progression towards death in patients diagnosed with
AIDS, but also to a faster onset of symptoms in those
patients who had previously been asymptomatic
(Taylor et al., 2000). But at the same time new
studies have shown that the ability to keep being
optimistic, however unrealistic it may be (Reed,
Kemeny, Taylor & Visscher, 1999; Reed, Kemeny,
Taylor, Wang & Visscher, 1994; Taylor et al., 1992)
and the ability to find meaning in face of adversity
(Bower, Kemeny, Taylor & Fahey, 1998) seem to be
physical health protective factors.
Observers of the human condition have
long held that positive states of mind may lead not
only to a more profound sense of life but also to a
healthier existence. The development of rigorous
methodological procedures, including longitudinal
studies, adequate measuring instruments and the
necessary mechanisms to control biological and
psychosocial influences, make it possible nowadays
to empirically demonstrate the validity of these ideas
(Taylor et al., 2000).
Components of well-being: Hedonism and
eudaimonia
The popular definition of health from the
WHO makes the idea of positive health turn around
the concept of well-being. In spite of this, it might be
interesting to consider what scientific psychology can
contribute to the definition of well-being. Over the
last few years there has been an emergence of interest
and studies on well-being (Vázquez & Hervás, 2009)
and important concepts and measures have been
developed to delineate the concept of positive health.
Although from a subjective perspective it is
relatively easy to identify one’s own degree of well-
being or happiness, reaching more general findings
from a more rigorous approach has proved to be a
more complex task (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Over the
last few years, academic debate, from scientific
perspectives, has returned to two old philosophical
orientations. The first of these perspectives has
generally been called hedonism (Kahneman et al.,
1999) which defines well-being as the presence of
positive affect and the absence of negative affect. The
second perspective, both as ancient and modern as the
hedonic perspective, suggests that well-being does
not consist in maximizing positive experiences and
minimizing negative ones (Ryan & Deci, 2001) but
refers to living fully or to allow for the richest human
potential possible(Ryan, Huta & Deci, 2008). This
second perspective is widely known as eudaimonia.
Hedonism has its roots in Greek
philosophers and Epicurus is probably its principal
exponent (McMahon, 2006). The basic idea is that
the objective of life is to experience the greatest
possible amount of pleasure (although oriented
towards enjoyment and noble activities). Happiness
would be, in some sense, the sum of pleasurable
moments. Hedonic philosophy has had its
continuation in philosophers such as Hobbes and
Sade or in the utilitarian philosophers, whose ideas
provided the foundations for the new economy of the
18th century. In the field of modern psychology, the
predominant concept stemming from hedonic
psychologists is subjective well-being. Subjective
well-being usually includes two elements, namely
affective balance, which is obtained by subtracting
the frequency of negative emotions from the
frequency of positive emotions, and, secondly,
perceived life satisfaction, which is more stable and
has a greater cognitive component (Lucas, Diener &
Suh, 1996). Even though affective balance and life
satisfaction imply different time frameworks for
subjective well-being, as life satisfaction is a global
judgement on life itself, whereas affective balance
makes reference to the relative frequency of pleasant
or unpleasant affects in one’s immediate experience
(Keyes, Shmotkin & Ryff, 2002), they can be
understood as concepts linked to an hedonic
perspective (Vázquez, 2009a).
Hedonic well-
being
Eudaimonic
well-being
Representative
authors
Epicurus, Hobbes,
Sade, Bentham,
Bradburn, Tennen,
D. Watson,
Kahneman
Aristotle,
Frankl, Ryff,
Deci, Seligman
Basic concepts Pleasure
Positive/negative
affect
Affective balance
Positive emotions
Net affect
Life satisfaction
Virtues
Self- fulfillment
Psychological
growth
Aims and needs
Psychological
strengths
Characteristic
measurements
(Examples)
SWLS
PANAS
Sampling of
emotional moments
PWBS
VIA
Table 1. Authors, concepts and basic measurements of the
hedonic and eudaimonic approaches to psychological well-
being.
SWLS : Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al, 1985)
PANAS: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson et
al., 1988)
PWBS: Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff, 1989)
VIA: Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (Peterson &
Seligman, 2003)
In spite of the dissemination and wide use
of this conception of well-being, other researchers
have emphasized a different perspective, usually
called eudaimonic well-being. (See some
differentiating characteristics of both perspectives in
Table 1). In his Ethics to Nicomachus, Aristotle urges
men to live according to their daimon, that is, the
ideal or perfection criteria that one hopes for and
gives sense to one’s life. All the efforts to live in
accordance with that daimon and to fulfil and reach
one’s full potential are thought to give rise to an
optimal state, namely eudaimonia (Avia & Vázquez,
1998). The eudaimonic conception establishes that
well-being lies in the performance of actions coherent
with deep values that imply a full commitment with
which people feel alive and real (Waterman, 1993).

Vázquez, C.; Hervás, G.; Rahona, J. J. & Gómez, D.: Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive
psychology
18
However, it might be appropriate to
consider whether the eudaimonic perspective of
human well-being can be assessed or it is a rather
rhetorical element to measure. Carol Ryff, one of the
most important authors within the eudaimonic
approach, has argued that measurements for well-
being have historically suffered from a lack of a
theoretical basis and have forgotten important issues
of positive functioning. By proposing the term
psychological well-being to distinguish the concept
from that of subjective well-being, which is more
typical of the hedonistic conception, Carol Ryff has
tried to overcome such limits and defines well-being
as the development of a person’s real potential (Ryff,
1989, 1995). In this way, happiness or psychological
well-being is not the main motivation of a person but
rather the result of a well-lived life (Ryff & Keyes,
1995; Ryff & Singer, 1998).
Ryff’s proposal consists in a
multidimensional model of psychological well-being
linked to a questionnaire for measuring it (Ryff,
1995) which represents six different aspects of
optimal well-being at a psychological level. Each
dimension of psychological well-being posits a
different challenge that people find in their efforts to
function positively (Keyes, Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002;
Ryff & Keyes, 1995). In this way, those people who
manifest eudaimonic well-being are characterized as
follows:
a) They have a positive self-regard that includes
awareness of personal limitations (Self-acceptance).
b) They have developed and kept warm ties with
others (Positive relations with others).
c) They create a surrounding context so as to satisfy
their needs and desires (Environmental mastery).
d) They have developed a strong sense of
individuality and personal freedom (Autonomy).
e) They have a sense of direction in life that unifies
their efforts and challenges (Purpose in life).
f) They have a dynamic of life-long learning and of
continuous development of their abilities (Personal
growth).
Similarly, the Self-Determination Theory
(Ryan & Deci, 2000) also links the ideas of
eudaimonia and self-realization as central aspects in
the definition of well-being. This theory is based on
one of the basic premises of humanism, which holds
that well-being is mainly a consequence of optimal
psychological functioning. The self-determination
theory states that healthy psychological functioning
implies adequate satisfaction of all three basic
psychological needs, namely autonomy, competence
and relatedness, as well as a system of congruent and
coherent goals (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The first
element, satisfaction of basic needs, consists in
keeping a life balance that guarantees an adequate
level of satisfaction in each one of the areas
independently. As for the second component, the
model argues that in order to develop eudaimonic
well-being, each person needs to establish their
personal goals, if possible, following some criteria.
For example, the goals should be intrinsic rather than
extrinsic, coherent to one another and, finally,
coherent with their own values and interests, as well
as with their basic psychological needs (Vázquez &
Hervás, 2008).
As we can see, the basic psychological
needs proposed by this theory almost coincide with
three of the dimensions in Ryff’s model, namely
autonomy, environmental mastery and sense of being
connected to others, in spite of there being conceptual
differences between the two models (Lent, 2003).
In addition to this, according to the self-
determination theory, satisfying basic psychological
needs enhances both subjective well-being and
eudaimonic well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
According to these authors, this fact closes the debate
on an alleged antithesis between both types of well-
being, namely hedonic versus eudaimonic (Ryan,
Huta & Deci, 2008). In this sense, both can be
regarded as different ‘paths to happiness’ (Seligman,
2003); the eudaimonic conception focuses on the
content of one’s life and on the processes implied in
living well, whereas the hedonic conception focuses
on a specific result, to be precise, on achieving the
presence of positive affects and the absence of
negative affects, as well as a holistic feeling of
satisfaction with one’s life.
Nevertheless, the definition and
measurement of well-being, either hedonic or
eudaimonic, is still at its outset. In spite of the
increasing progress in eudaimonic research and the
important theoretical and practical contributions that
the study of well-being implies, there are authors who
doubt whether it is possible to transfer into
psychology those concepts linked to the eudaimonic
philosophical approach (Biswas-Diener, Kashdan, &
King, 2009).
However, in spite of its complexity, we
believe that the path that has been opened is really
fertile and is demonstrating an increasingly
convergent validity. For example, psychological well-
being is also linked to research related to the brain
and the so-called affective neuroscience (Davidson,
2003, 2004). High levels of hedonic or eudaimonic
psychological well-being seem to be associated to an
asymmetric activity of the prefrontal cortex—for
example, higher activation on the left prefrontal side
than on the right one—(Urry et al., 2004). It is worth
noting that, in this study, eudaimonic well-being
revealed a link with asymmetry in the
electroencephalogram which was maintained after
statistically controlling for the role of hedonic well-
being. This was not the case in the opposite direction,
as hedonic well-being was no longer significantly
associated with the asymmetric brain pattern after the
influence of eudaimonic well-being had been
adjusted. In another study using functional magnetic
resonance, van Reekum and her collaborators (2007)
showed that, in face of adverse stimuli, people with
greater eudaimonic well-being had slower responses
and a lower activation of the amygdala, as well as
higher activation of the ventral anterior cingulate
cortex. The latter finding suggests that some parts of
the brain can be activated in order to minimize the
impact of negative stimuli and, in this sense, it also
suggests the existence of a possible mechanism by
which eudaimonic well-being might be preserving
and promoting hedonic well-being.
Health and hedonic well-being
The last decade has witnessed an explosion
of scientific studies which have found specific

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 5 (2009) 15-27
19
associations between the level of positive emotions
and multiple physiological systems and health levels,
both in perceived health and objectively measured
health parameters.
An interesting prior question is whether
positive affect and negative affect are two poles of
the same continuum or on the contrary are two
different dimensions independent from each other. If
both were a part of the same continuum, the presence
of positive affect would indicate the absence of
negative affect. Furthermore, if this were the case, it
would not make any sense to study the beneficial
effects of positive emotions on health as it would be
enough to turn to published studies that
systematically relate the high presence of negative
emotions with the propensity to develop certain
illnesses (Booth-Kewley & Friedman, 1987; Herbert
& Cohen, 1993). But if, on the contrary, positive
affect and negative affect were two relatively
independent dimensions (Bradburn, 1969), as has
been demonstrated on numerous occasions (Vázquez,
2000a), then it would be appropriate and interesting
to study the specific benefits that the presence of
positive affect may contribute to health.
The relationship between negative affect
and health has been widely studied from the field of
psychoneuroimmunology. Some of these studies have
found that distressed or depressed people show a
worse immune response to vaccines. For example, in
a recent study which included the human
papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) (Fang et al., 2008), it
was found that out of the women who had been
vaccinated, those who manifested higher stress levels
showed a weaker immune response to HPV. People
with higher negative emotionality are also more
vulnerable to infection and more prone to latent virus
reactivation in their systems (Glaser & Kiecolt-
Glaser, 2005). Furthermore, it has been found that
negative emotional states increase the production of
pro-inflammatory cytokines (Kiecolt-Glaser et al.,
2003; Lutgendorf et al., 1999), such as interleukin 6
(IL-6), which has been related to various age-related
diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2
diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzeimer’s disease,
periodontal diseases and some types of cancer
(Kiecolt-Glaser, McGuire, Robles, & Glaser, 2002).
All these findings seem to indicate that
negative emotions may weaken the response of the
immune system. Now the question is whether this
system can be boosted by positive emotions. One of
the most powerful studies that have attempted to
answer this question was led by Cohen, Alper, Doyle,
Treanor and Turner (2006). Specifically, these
authors measured the participants’ positive and
negative affective styles together with other social
and demographic variables. Next, participants in the
study were inoculated with the Rhynovirus or with
the Influenza virus and observed during a quarantine
period of 5 or 6 days, depending on the type of virus.
Positive affect was associated with lower rates of
illness. Specifically, the participants who reported
higher positive emotionality had three times less
probability to develop an upper respiratory tract
disease after the effects of other variables such as
type of virus, body mass, age, educational level, the
season or negative emotionality had been controlled.
Still more relevant, in absolute terms, is that the
degree of association between positive affect and
illness rates was greater than that shown between
negative affect and illness rates. Furthermore, when
both variables were simultaneously used as
predictors, negative affect lost its ability to predict
illness. Even though this study is worth drawing
attention to, due to its experimental design and
accurate controls, it is not at all unique. Various
studies have shown that positive affect might be
related to better health and longevity. For example, in
a two year long prospective study conducted with
over two thousand 65-99 year old participants, Ostir,
Markides, Black and Goodwin (2000) showed that
the presence of positive affect or emotional well-
being has an impact different from that of absence of
depression or negative affect, and that, it is precisely
positive affect that seems to protect individuals from
physical deterioration due to age, and to positively
affect their emotional independence and life
expectancy. These same researchers have also
demonstrated the relationship between positive affect
and the lower risk of myocardial infarction (after a 3-
year follow-up) and stroke (after six years) (Ostir,
Markides, Peek, & Goodwin, 2001).
The well-known Nun Study by Danner,
Snowdon, and Friesen (2001), carried out with nuns,
found evidence that when positive affect was evident
at around the age of 20, it could predict higher life
expectancy 60 years later. This study showed a strong
association between the positive emotional content in
short autobiographical stories, written when entering
the religious congregation, and the longevity assessed
six decades later, when the participants were between
75 and 95 years old. To be precise, the nuns who had
expressed more positive content in these texts lived
an average of 6.9 years longer than those who had
expressed less positive emotionality.
The studies by the group lead by Andrew
Steptoe are relevant in this regard. These researchers
have found that positive affect, measured by the total
of well-being moments over the working day of the
participants (middle-aged women), was associated to
lower cortisol in the saliva, lower heart rate, lower
systolic pressure and lower stress-related
fibrinogenous response (Steptoe, Wardle, & Marmot,
2005). Overall, these indicators of good physical
health were independent of the age, the
socioeconomic status and the negative emotional
state of these women. Furthermore, it was found that
in a group of healthy middle-aged men, those who
manifested a more positive affective state, measured
by aggregating their mood assessments obtained at 4
different times over 2 working days, had a lower
inflammatory response (assessed by fibrinogenous
concentrations in plasma1) and lower blood pressure
when they were exposed to mentally stressful tasks
under laboratory conditions (Steptoe, Gibson, Hamer,
& Wardle, 2007).
For its part, although life satisfaction is a
more general indicator with more cognitive
components than positive affect, it has also been
linked to longer life expectancy. Koivumaa-
Honkanen and her collaborators (2000) conducted a
1 Fibrinogen is a protein responsible for the formation of
fibrin due to degradation. It has been associated with higher
heart attack risk.

Vázquez, C.; Hervás, G.; Rahona, J. J. & Gómez, D.: Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive
psychology
20
twenty-year longitudinal study with more than 22,000
healthy people. This study showed that life
satisfaction could predict the mortality rate in this
sample, even after controlling variables such as age,
marital status, social status, smoking, alcohol intake
and physical activity.
In summary, it seems to be increasingly
evident that positive affect plays an important role in
health. However, it is still premature to establish
definitive causal relations. Positive affect, though, not
only contributes to reduce the risk of illness but it
also seems to facilitate recovery. Thus, people with
more positive affect have almost three times as many
possibilities to recover, in one year, after health
problems such as heart attack, stroke or hip fracture
(Ostir et al., 2002).
Positive emotions and health. Proposed models
Pressman and Cohen (2005) propose that
the influence of positive affect on health can be
accounted for by two models. One of them highlights
the direct effect of positive affect on the
physiological system, as represented by Figure 2.
Figure 2. Direct influence of positive affect on health model
(ANS: autonomous nervous system; HPA: hypothalamic-
pituitary-adrenal axis).
(Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner,
Pressman & Cohen, 2005).
According to this model, positive affect
encourages healthy practices, such as improving
quality sleep, doing more physical exercise or having
a more balanced diet, which are at the same time
related to lower morbility and mortality rates.
Positive affect also works on the autonomic nervous
system (ANS), generally by reducing heart rate,
blood pressure and the epinephrine and
norepinephrine levels in the blood. It affects the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, as the presence
of positive affect has been related to lower levels of
cortisol in the blood (a hormone related to self-
immune and inflammatory diseases) and, to a lesser
extent, to higher levels of oxytocin and the growth
hormone. Furthermore, positive affect favours the
presence of endogenous opioids (endorphins), both
indirectly, via physical activity, and in a more direct
way through general emotional activation (Gerra et
al., 1996, 1998). These endorphins reduce the activity
in the ANS and in the endocrine system (Drolet et al.,
2001) and modify the immune function (McCarthy,
Wetzel, Sliker, Eisenstein, & Rogers, 2001). Apart
from this, even though it is widely known that
isolation and the presence of few or rather inefficient
social nets is related to higher risk of morbidity and
mortality (Cohen, 2004; Elliot & Humberson, 2004),
there starts to be evidence that positive affect
facilitates creating and keeping social links, which
protect good health. More specifically, social
reciprocity, that is, perceiving that one offers oneself
to the social net but is also rewarded by it, is linked to
a better health state (Siegrist, 2005).
It is probable that positive emotions are
likely to have a direct effect on the body system
(Barak, 2006). In fact, laboratory findings suggest
that this can be so. Some studies have shown that
various types of pleasant stimuli can have different
psycho-biological impacts (Watanuki & Kim, 2005).
For example, left frontal cortex activity increases in
the presence of pleasant smells, whilst positive verbal
stimuli increase the secretion of immunoglobulin A, a
typical parameter of immune system activity, and
decrease cortisol in the saliva, a parameter of activity
in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system,
which is involved in discriminating affective stimuli
and emotional expression. Some studies have also
shown that positive affect is associated to some
electrical cortical activation patterns (Urry et al.,
2004), and good everyday mood is related to high
levels of the serotoninergic central function (Flory,
Manuck, Matthews, & Muldoon, 2004), which may
also be important due to its relationship to higher
insulin resistance and blood pressure levels. It has
been known for years that inducing positive mood, by
watching a comedy film, for example, may improve
the immediate responses of the immune system,
assessed by measuring immunoglobulin A in the
saliva (Dillon, Minchoff, & Baker, 1985).
The second approach to account for the
relationship between positive affect and health
highlights the influence of stress on the physiological
system. In this case, positive affect works as a buffer
of stress by reducing the pernicious stress effects on
the system, as represented by Figure 3.
Figure 3. Indirect influence of positive affect on health
model. (ANS: autonomous nervous system; HPA:
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis). Reproduced with
permission of the copyright owner. (Pressman & Cohen,
2005). According to the second approach, positive
affect influences responses to stress at different
levels. Firstly, people enjoying more positive affect
do not have so many social conflicts, so they have a
fewer number of stress factors to manage. Secondly,
when having to deal with potentially stressful
situations, people with more positive affect have

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 5 (2009) 15-27
21
better social networks on which they can rely on.
Therefore they use more effective coping strategies
which, in turn, also lead them to feel that they can
cope with problems. Furthermore, positive affect
makes it possible for physiological responses to
return faster to a normal state after a stressful event
(Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998; Fredrickson, 2009).
Even though most studies on the influence
of positive affect on health indicate that such positive
activity is related to lower morbidity, lower mortality,
better life quality and functioning, lower number of
symptoms, less serious diagnosis and greater
survival, some studies have found an inverse relation,
especially in people with serious diseases. This
finding can be accounted for by the fact that people
with more positive affect who are suffering from
serious diseases can sometimes underestimate the
number of symptoms, tend to be excessively
optimistic about their prognosis development and so
are less strict in following medical prescriptions
(Derogatis, Abeloff, & Melisaratos, 1979; Devins et
al., 1990).
Health and eudaimonic well-being
With regard to eudaimonic well-being,
there is also growing data about its association with
health-related biological indicators and, surprisingly,
this type of well-being has been found to have a more
consistent relation with physical health than the
hedonic well-being measures (Vázquez & Castilla,
2007). The reasons for this fascinating finding are
unclear; however, eudaimonic well-being may be
related to short and long-term affect regulation
mechanisms through the search for survival
behaviours and others adjusting to environmental
demands (e.g. giving sense to experience, searching
for the positive in what happens to us, adjusting life
goals, and so on), whereas hedonic well-being,
although subjectively more important, is more related
to satisfaction and enjoyment of immediate
circumstances (Vázquez & Castilla, 2007).
The research group led by Carol Ryff, has
found some of the most interesting results in this
area. In samples with elderly women, they have
found that those with higher levels of life purpose,
more feelings of personal growth and better
interpersonal relationships showed lower
cardiovascular risk (lower levels of glycosylated
hemoglobin2, lower body weight, lower waist to hip
ratios, higher rates of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) and
better endocrine regulation, that is, lower cortisol
levels in the saliva throughout the day (Ryff et al.,
2006; Ryff, Singer, & Love, 2004).
This link between lower cortisol levels and
eudaimonic well-being has also been tested in other
studies (e.g. Lindfors & Lundberg, 2002). As for
inflammatory factors, people with better interpersonal
relationships—interpersonal well-being—and
feelings of life purposes show lower levels of
interleukin 6 (IL-6) and its soluble interleukin
2 A form of hemoglobin (HbAlc) used above all to identify
the average plasma glucose concentration during long
periods of time. It can monitor average glucose in the blood
in relation to a 2-3 month period previous to the testing and
is also a relevant diabetic and cardiovascular risk marker.
receptor (sIL-6r) (Friedman et al., 2005; Friedman,
Hayney, Love, Singer, & Ryff, 2007).
Many of these variables (systolic and
diastolic blood pressure, waist width, measures of
cholesterol, hemoglobin, cortisol, epinephrine and
norepinephrine levels) are related to the so-called
allostatic load3 (Ryff & Singer, 2002). Longitudinal
studies of ageing have shown that high allostatic load
predicts cardiovascular diseases, cognitive and
physical deterioration and mortality. Women are less
likely to have high allostatic load than men, which
may be significant, as women’s life expectancy is 7
years longer.
An especially important issue about the role
of eudaimonic well-being in biology and health is
that it seems to work as a buffer or protector in face
of the adverse effects of negative experiences
(Fredrickson, 2009). For example, some studies have
shown that elderly women with sleep deficiency
(defined as the total time asleep divided by the total
time in bed), had higher interleukin IL-6 levels
(Friedman et al., 2005). This difference, however,
disappeared in the subgroup of women with a good
level of interpersonal well-being.
In the prediction of glycosylated
hemoglobin (HbAlc), Ryff’s research group has
found that women with a lower economic level show
an increase of this parameter over time (Tsenkova,
Love, Singer, & Ryff, 2008) but the results are
moderated both by the role of hedonic factors, (i.e.,
positive affect) and eudaimonic factors (i.e. life
purpose and personal growth). But a very relevant
aspect in the study is that the HbAlc levels in women
with high positive well-being did not differ on the
basis of their socioeconomic status.
The role of optimism in health
Optimism is, of all personality traits, the
most relevant for this review since, in addition to
being strongly associated with greater well-being, it
seems to play an important role in physical health
(Avia & Vázquez, 1998). Numerous research studies
have shown that optimism is related to higher
protection in face of disease and to higher life
expectancy. For example, Peterson, Seligman and
Vaillant (1988) carried out an analysis of personal
writings on situations experienced during World War
II by a group of 99 Harvard University graduates.
Over thirty years later, the optimists had better health
and showed less mortality than the pessimists.
Maruta, Colligan, Malinchoc and Offord (2000,
2002) found a similar result in a sample with more
than 700 general medicine patients who had been
assessed on an optimism scale. Thirty years later it
was shown that not only did the optimists live longer
than the rest of the participants (50% risk of death
reduction) but their survival rate was significantly
better than the one expected on the basis of their
social and demographic characteristics, namely age,
sex and year of birth. Furthermore, they had better
physical and mental health, which was assessed by
3 Allostatic load has been defined as the cumulative strain
on several physiological systems (cardiovascular, the
metabolic system—the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
axis—and the sympathetic nervous system).

Vázquez, C.; Hervás, G.; Rahona, J. J. & Gómez, D.: Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive
psychology
22
means of the SF-36 questionnaire (Short-Form Health
Survey)
Optimism seems to have some influence on
resistance to illness and health improvement but,
through what mechanism? Just as previously
described about the influence of positive effect on
health, optimism can affect health through several
paths. Firstly, optimism, hope and positive
expectations are elements that can protect health in
challenging situations for people’s equilibrium
(Vázquez & Castilla, 2007; Taylor et al., 2000) by
means of direct paths. For example, body systems of
the most optimistic people generate better
immunocompetence responses than those of the
pessimistic ones, taking as an indicator the activity of
NK cells (natural killers)- (Sieber, Rodin, Larson, &
Ortega (1992).
In general terms, optimism also seems to be
related to a better state of the immune system.
Kamen-Siegel, Rodin, Seligman and Dwyer (1991)
showed the relationship between an optimistic
thinking style and better immune system responses in
a group of 62-87 year old healthy people. Optimism’s
benefits were reflected in a lower presence of T8
suppressor cells. Optimism is associated to better
mood, greater NK cell cytotoxic activity and a greater
number of T helper4 cells (Segerstrom, Taylor,
Kemeny, & Fahey, 1998). Even in studies of women
with breast cancer, in addition to other psychosocial
variables such as the fact of having a steady
relationship, initial optimism is a predictor of the
quality of life several years later (Carver, Smith,
Antoni, Petronis, Weiss et al., 2005).
Beyond the influence on the immune
system, optimism seems to prevent diseases in two
basic systems for survival, namely the respiratory and
the circulatory systems. In an eight-year prospective
study, Kubzansky and her collaborators examined the
effects of optimism on lung performance in a group
of 670 men between 45 and 89 years old. Those with
a more optimistic attributional style had greater lung
performance levels and a slower decline of this
function, irrespective of smoking. An additional
study observed that after a ten-year follow-up period,
the optimists had half the risk of suffering from
coronary heart disease than those with high levels of
pessimism (Kubzansky, Sparrow, Boconas, &
Kawachi, 2001).
Secondly, a tendency towards optimism can
affect health through the behaviour manifested in face
of life problems in general and health problems in
particular. This behaviour, if appropriate, can prevent
chronic stress and the complication of physical and/or
psychological problems. In this sense, optimism is
very relevant, as it seems to encourage active
strategies to cope with stress and health problems,
which is related to problem solving behaviours, self-
care and recovery plans (Scheier, Weintraub, &
Carver, 1986). For example, in the study conducted
by Scheier and his collaborators (1989) with a group
of patients undergoing coronary bypass, the most
optimistic ones, assessed before the surgical
intervention, not only made more active rehabilitation
4 T helper cells assist other white blood cells in
immunologic processes, including activation of cytotoxic T
cells and macrophages, among other functions.
plans, but showed better recovery and life quality six
months later in relation to resuming work and free-
time, social and sexual activities.
CONCLUSIONS
All the findings described in this paper
concur with the same idea, namely well-being is not
only associated with greater psychological
satisfaction, but it also has important implications for
physical health. Whether assessed from a hedonic or
eudaimonic approach, well-being seems to play a role
in preventing and recovering from physical
conditions and illnesses, even permitting an increase
in life expectancy. The convergence of results should
not suggest that the relation between well-being and
health is a simple one. Rather the contrary, well-
being seems to enhance health from various
perspectives and through different paths. Firstly, all
positive affect, life satisfaction and various
dimensions of the eudaimonic well-being proposed
by Ryff seem to predict positive health outcomes.
Secondly, it seems clear that there are many well-
being action paths to physical health. Well-being
seems to have a direct relation with some physical
protection parameters, such as the ones associated
with immune capacity, but it can also have an effect
through other paths, such as the increase of healthy
behaviour, good health problem coping strategies, or
stress buffers.
All these data suggest that promoting well-
being can have important health effects. First of all,
we should bear in mind the high, and difficult to
estimate, cost of an illness and an early death.
Secondly, we keep in mind the sanitary costs and
other indirect costs such as sick leaves, lack of
productivity, and so on. On the basis of this situation,
it could be concluded that promoting well-being may
be useful not only from a social and humane point of
view, but also from an economic perspective (DeVol
& Bedroussian, 2007). Therefore, the measurement
and promotion of well-being becomes a desirable
social and political objective (Diener, Lucas,
Schimmack & Helliwell, 2009; Vázquez, 2009b).
This is even more of a truth in the case of some
groups, such as elderly people, who, fundamentally
due to cultural reasons, find it more difficult to feel
good about themselves and about the activities they
perform. Besides, as shown by a longitudinal study
which took more than 20 years to carry out, the
people with more positive perceptions of their ageing
at the base line (when they were 50 years of age or
older) lived longer (an average of 7.6 more years)
than those who showed more negative perceptions
about their own ageing (Levy, Slade, Kunkel, & Kasl,
2002). Therefore, promoting well-being in this period
of life is especially necessary.
Findings described in this article also
transmit the importance that health units and health
professionals should pay attention to different
emotional states, well-being versus discomfort. All
the data shown suggests that enhancing positive
emotions might improve health at the same level as
the one shown by other activities, such as physical
execise, good nourishing or giving up smoking
(Vázquez, Hernangómez, & Hervás, 2004). However,
it is very unusual to come across preventive

Anuario de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud / Annuary of Clinical And Health Psychology, 5 (2009) 15-27
23
programmes enhancing well-being and positive
emotions. So is it very difficult to find health
professionals who give answers to the important role
of well-being and positive emotions as healthy life
elements. Disseminating these findings among
doctors, nurses and other health professionals may be
a necessary way to increasingly turn the current lack
of attention to the positive within the health area into
greater awareness and greater resources to put it into
effect.
Looking further afield, public institutions
should also be more aware of the mind and body
connection and, specifically, of the role played by
well-being in illness recovery and prevention.
Designing and applying specific well-being
promotion programmes into different life phases and
encouraging the research of this association on
specific illnesses are only some of the ways how
institutions and professionals can respond to the
importance of these findings.
Finally, it might be important to socially
disseminate these findings in order to spread the idea
that maintaining and increasing well-being is an
important aim in times of good health, but also when
health is seen to be threatened. As we said, this is
crucial in elderly people, but also in other periods of
life during which maintaining well-being is often
pushed into the background as the result of overrating
some professional or other aims.
This article started by reflecting on what the
contribution of positive psychology to health and
clinical medicine might be. As a conclusion of the
review that we have undertaken, we think that these
contributions can be fertile and varied, as long as:
1. This psychological approach promotes important
conceptual changes in the definition of positive
health by anchoring them into a complex vision
of well-being which includes hedonic and
eudamonic components (Vázquez, 2009a)
2. It incorporates the analysis and research of
emotions and cognitions so far ignored by
scientific psychology (Fernández-Abascal,
2009) and of great interest in the field of
intervention (Vázquez, Hervás, & Ho, 2008;
Hervás, Sánchez, & Vázquez, 2008; Vázquez,
Pérez-Sales, & Hervás, 2008).
3. It favours research into the role of positive
emotions and cognitions in the origin and
maintenance of physical and mental well-being.
4. It redefines what is understood as therapeutic
change and ‘recovery’ by using a wider and
more comprehensive perspective than the
traditionally used symptom based criteria
(Zimmerman et al., 2006; Vázquez & Nieto, in
press).
5. It incorporates a multidisciplinary perspective on
the promotion of well-being which implies all
individual, social and institutional spheres
(Seligman, 2003; Vázquez & Hervás, 2008).
In conclusion, even though a valuable path
has been covered, the future presents numerous
challenges that should be addressed with the
objective of shaping many of the research lines on the
relationship between well-being and health. Some of
the challenges belong to the scientific community,
but we should not forget that other important steps
correspond to public institutions and to the society as
a whole.
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