Fredrickson (1998,2001,2004) supports a compelling account of the processes that turn positive emotions into a high quality life. Her broaden-and-build theory, however, has not been explored in leisure contexts nor has it been applied to older women, an increasingly important yet under-researched population. Our study uses an interpretive thematic analysis of 250 participants' responses to an on-line survey of meaningful experiences in the Red Hat Societȳa leisure context for older women. We found evidence of opening up and self-permission to play as forms of broadening, and of social connections, close friendships, and optimism as resulting forms of building uniquely important to older women. Our findings hold promise for understanding how leisure contexts contribute to quality of life.
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Visits to sites associated with death and suffering are considered emotionally laden. Few studies empirically investigated visitor emotions at such sites. This study examines emotional responses of 241 visitors to concentration camp memorial Neuengamme and assesses how emotions are associated with long-term consequences of revisit intentions and positive word of mouth. Tourists experience negative emotions more intensely compared with positive emotions. Negative emotions predict long-term behavioral intentions more than positive emotions do. Shock and sadness are of particular importance. This study suggests that certain negative emotions also have the power to broaden-and-build and may have long-term behavioral consequences.
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To improve people’s lives, human-computer interaction researchers are increasingly designing technological solutions based on behavior change theory, such as social comparison theory (SCT). However, how researchers operationalize such a theory as a design remains largely unclear. One way to clarify this methodological step is to clearly state which functional elements of a design are aimed at operationalizing a specific behavior change theory construct to evaluate if such aims were successful. In this article, we investigate how the operationalization of functional elements of theories and designs can be more easily conveyed. First, we present a scoping review of the literature to determine the state of operationalizations of SCT as behavior change designs. Second, we introduce a new tool to facilitate the operationalization process. We term the tool blueprints. A blueprint explicates essential functional elements of a behavior change theory by describing it in relation to necessary and sufficient building blocks incorporated in a design. We describe the process of developing a blueprint for SCT. Last, we illustrate how the blueprint can be used during the design refinement and reflection process.
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