The Complex Dynamics of Wishful Thinking: The Critical Positivity Ratio.
We examine critically the claims made by Fredrickson and Losada (2005) concerning the construct known as the "positivity ratio." We find no theoretical or empirical justification for the use of differential equations drawn from fluid dynamics, a subfield of physics, to describe changes in human emot...
| Publicado en: | American Psychologist Vol. 68; no. 9; pp. 801 - 814 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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American Psychological Association
Dec2013
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=93551370&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 93551370 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0003066X APT jtl: American Psychologist issn: 0003066X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2013 vid: 68 iid: 9 pid: 34 pub: American Psychological Association artinfo: ui: 93551370 10.1037/a0032850 ppf: 801 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: The Complex Dynamics of Wishful Thinking: The Critical Positivity Ratio. aug: au: Brown, Nicholas J. L. Sokal, D. Friedman, Harris L. affil: New York University University College London Saybrook University University of Florida su: Emotions Empiricism Optimism Pessimism Psychology Biomechanics Chaos theory Mathematics Research Time Mathematical variables Theory sug: subj: Emotions Empiricism Optimism Pessimism Psychology Biomechanics Chaos theory Mathematics Research Time Mathematical variables Theory keyword: broaden-and-build theory Lorenz system nonlinear dynamics positive psychology positivity ratio broaden-and-build theory Lorenz system nonlinear dynamics positive psychology positivity ratio ab: We examine critically the claims made by Fredrickson and Losada (2005) concerning the construct known as the "positivity ratio." We find no theoretical or empirical justification for the use of differential equations drawn from fluid dynamics, a subfield of physics, to describe changes in human emotions over time; furthermore, we demonstrate that the purported application of these equations contains numerous fundamental conceptual and mathematical errors. The lack of relevance of these equa-tions and their incorrect application lead us to conclude that Fredrickson and Losada 's claim to have demonstrated the existence of a critical minimum positivity ratio of 2.9013 is entirely unfounded. More generally, we urge future researchers to exercise caution in the use of advanced mathematical tools, such as nonlinear dynamics, and in particular to verify that the elementary conditions for their valid application have been met. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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