Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Jul 9;121(28):e2320750121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2320750121. Epub 2024 Jul 1.
Meta-analyses have concluded that positive emotions do not reduce appetitive risk behaviors (risky behaviors that fulfill appetitive or craving states, such as smoking and excessive alcohol use). We propose that this conclusion is premature. Drawing on the Appraisal Tendency Framework and related theories of emotion and decision-making, we hypothesized that gratitude (a positive emotion) can decrease cigarette smoking, a leading cause of premature death globally. A series of multimethod studies provided evidence supporting our hypothesis (collective = 34,222). Using nationally representative US samples and an international sample drawn from 87 countries, Studies 1 and 2 revealed that gratitude was inversely associated with likelihood of smoking, even after accounting for numerous covariates. Other positive emotions (e.g., compassion) lacked such consistent associations, as expected. Study 3, and its replication, provided further support for emotion specificity: Experimental induction of gratitude, unlike compassion or sadness, reduced cigarette craving compared to a neutral state. Study 4, and its replication, showed that inducing gratitude causally increased smoking cessation behavior, as evidenced by enrollment in a web-based cessation intervention. Self-reported gratitude mediated the effects in both experimental studies. Finally, Study 5 found that current antismoking messaging campaigns by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention primarily evoked sadness and compassion, but seldom gratitude. Together, our studies advance understanding of positive emotion effects on appetitive risk behaviors; they also offer practical implications for the design of public health campaigns.
元分析的结论表明，积极情绪并不能减少欲望驱动的风险行为（满足欲望或渴望状态的风险行为，如吸烟和过度饮酒）。我们认为这个结论为时过早。本研究借鉴了评价倾向框架以及情绪和决策相关理论，提出假设，感恩（一种积极情绪）可以减少吸烟，吸烟是全球导致过早死亡的主要原因。一系列多方法研究提供了支持我们假设的证据（总样本量 = 34222）。使用具有全国代表性的美国样本和来自 87 个国家的国际样本，研究 1 和研究 2 表明，感恩与吸烟的可能性呈负相关，即使考虑到许多协变量也是如此。其他积极情绪（如同情）则没有这种一致的关联，这是意料之中的。研究 3 及其复制研究进一步提供了情绪特异性的支持：与同情或悲伤相比，感恩的实验诱导降低了吸烟的渴望，而不是中性状态。研究 4 及其复制研究表明，与中性状态相比，诱导感恩会导致戒烟行为增加，这可以从参加在线戒烟干预中得到证明。自我报告的感恩在两个实验研究中都介导了这种影响。最后，研究 5 发现，美国疾病控制与预防中心目前的反吸烟宣传活动主要唤起悲伤和同情，而很少唤起感恩。总的来说，我们的研究增进了对积极情绪对欲望驱动的风险行为的影响的理解；它们还为公共卫生宣传活动的设计提供了实际意义。
