Positive emotions have long been theorized to play an important role in physical well-being. However, until recently, the vast majority of studies were focused on connections between negative emotional states and traits with health due to the widespread focus on the biomedical model. Due to the upswing in research in positive psychology, there is now growing evidence that feelings like happiness and joy might lead to improved physiological outcomes.

In this talk, Dr. Pressman will review the existing evidence tying positive emotions to various objective health indicators such as mortality, morbidity, and disease survival. This will be followed by a discussion on some of the problems in the existing literature and suggestions for improvement. Dr. Pressman will then outline a theoretical model that might allow positive emotion “to get under the skin” and influence objective physical health outcomes, and will go over some her own evidence of mediators that might connect positive feelings to medical outcomes. Pathways discussed will include stress hormones, cardiovascular function, the stress response, social relationships, and restorative health behaviors.