A new UC Berkeley Psychology study shows that not all emotions are created equal.
The study, titled "Letting Go of the Negative, Holding on to the Positive," tested whether emotions fade at different rates. It found that, over the course of time, negative emotions are more likely to persist.
The study was published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, one of the leading journals in social psychology research. It was designed by former Berkeley Psychology doctoral student Elizabeth Yartsev, Berkeley Psychology Professor Oliver John and Berkeley Psychology Chair Özlem Ayduk.
Past research has typically focused either on emotional responses to negative stimuli or major life events. The present study instead compares emotional responses to both positive and negative stimuli, a process known as differential affective habituation, to test whether positive emotions fade more quickly than negative ones.
“People habituate to positive experiences faster than to negative ones,” said Yartsev. “Positive experiences lose their emotional impact more quickly, whereas negative experiences tend to linger. This pattern may reflect an evolutionary tendency to remain alert to potential threats.”
For example, one might feel happy when walking through a colorful garden for the first time. If one walks through that same garden repeatedly, Yartsev explained, those positive feelings will eventually diminish. In contrast, seeing litter in the garden could trigger annoyance for a longer time.
The study found that this effect is even stronger in individuals with high anxiety. This means that those individuals quickly become desensitized to things that used to make them happy. Surprisingly, people reacted similarly to negative events, regardless of their anxiety levels.
“The key distinction between those with high anxiety and those with low anxiety lies in their reactions to positive events. High anxiety individuals habituate to positive events significantly faster,” said Yartsev. “This suggests that anxiety may reduce the ability to savor rewarding moments, making it harder for anxious individuals to maintain feelings of pleasure or excitement over time.”
To test for differential affective habituation, the researchers conducted two separate studies. In each study, participants were repeatedly exposed to positive and negative stimuli. The first study measured their baseline anxiety, while the second manipulated it. By doing this, researchers could measure changes in reactions over time.
Yartsev noted that this study could provide new insights into the clinical treatment of anxiety. Until now, research on differential affective habituation has received little attention. This study highlights the importance of addressing that gap, as it could be invaluable in developing new interventions.
“Clinically, this study indicates that interventions should focus not only on reducing negative emotions, but also on helping individuals with higher anxiety maintain and prolong positive affect. This could improve overall well-being and resilience,” said Yartsev.
According to Yartsev, this research is critical in understanding the psychological cost of emotional dysfunction. More than that, it demonstrates the importance of positive habituation in psychological well-being. By advancing our understanding of this subject, UC Berkeley researchers are helping to change mental health outcomes for the better.