Promoting subjective well-being through communication savoring

Abstract

ABSTRACT The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions articulates the merit of positive emotions in promoting well-being. Using an online two-group posttest-only randomized experimental design, this study examined the effects of communication savoring on subjective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect, happiness, and life satisfaction) among young adults (M age = 20.97, SD = 1.91). After writing about a communication moment they savored and savoring the positive emotions derived from reminiscence, participants in the experimental group (n = 90) reported higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect compared to participants in the comparison group (n = 87) who wrote about a communication moment they recently experienced. Moreover, results showed that the one-time communication savoring intervention was indirectly related to higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction through both positive and negative affect. Results bolster recent theorizing about communication savoring as a distinctive positive communication construct.