Positive emotions are indispensable in our lives. However, their structure has not yet been clarified, and the majority of previous studies have simply assumed a single category of positive emotions. Several recent psychological and neuroscientific findings suggest the existence of subcategories of positive emotion. Similarly, the psychological functions of positive emotions can be more deeply understood when they are subcategorized. We conclude that subcategorizing positive emotions is a promising avenue for future research on emotion.

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The problem with attempts to improve the well-being of captive chimpanzees is that even the best efforts at environmental enrichment do not ensure immediate, clear-cut outcomes due to the complex nature of chimpanzee society and cognition. Additionally, multiple alternative measures are necessary for outcome evaluation because well-being cannot be measured directly (via self-reports) in chimpanzees. In this article, we suggest that the notion of emotion as an intervening variable is useful for integrating complex structures of society and cognition and complex causal relationships among multiple enrichment attempts and multiple consequences. Well-being can be regarded as a homeostatic state under which individual emotional components interact with one another in a complex, well-balanced manner. The use of emotion as an intervening variable thus contributes to a synthetic view of chimpanzee society, cognition, and well-being.

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The present study examined self-assessed intelligence (SAI) in Britain and mainland China. In total, 102 British and 111 Chinese undergraduates estimated their overall intelligence as well as 14 other multiple intelligences. Results showed that men had higher SAI on overall, linguistic, mathematical-logical, creative, and nonverbal-logical intelligences. In addition, Britons had higher SAI than Chinese on overall, linguistic, mathematical-logical, and nonverbal-logical intelligences. These results support a male hubris-female humility bias and a cultural modesty effect in self-assessments of multiple intelligence.

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This study examined how the factors associated with high school students’ decision-making styles affect their choice-of-university behaviors and goal achievement behaviors to pass the entrance examinations and analyzed the effects of this decision-making style and affiliations on their emotions and ability to cope with regret after graduation. We surveyed 318 senior high school students and followed up with them for six months after graduation. In Study 1, to clarify the relation between these factors and behaviors, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that two types of sub processes were active during the career decision-making processes: the choice-behavior decision-making process and the goal-achievement-behavior process. In Study 2, students who tended to have the high-deliberate style when deciding to take admission to their affiliation felt less regret and disappointment about their affiliation. These investigations stress the importance of high school students being encouraged to deliberate carefully about their academic future.

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This study examined the influences of optimism and positive orientation on students’ subjective well-being. Japanese university students (N = 325) completed a questionnaire. A factor analysis was conducted, and results showed that positive orientation can be divided into five categories—upward orientation, maintenance of undisturbed states, maintenance of status quo, downward comparison (positive), and downward comparison (negative)—depending on where one places the point of reference recognized as positive. Results of structural equation modeling were as follows. Optimism was positively related to upward orientation, maintenance of undisturbed states, and downward comparison (positive), and negatively related to maintenance of status quo and downward comparison (negative). In turn, upward orientation, downward comparison (positive), and maintenance of status quo were positively related to subjective well-being. The influence of optimism through upward orientation on subjective well-being was stronger than the corresponding influence of downward comparison (positive).

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