EP 151: The Broaden-and-Build Theory | Barbara Fredrickson

In today's new Radical Responsibility Podcast episode, I speak with Barbara Fredrickson PhD. We discuss her “Broaden-and-Build Theory” and how positive emotions as a daily practice, enable us to navigate challenging situations more effectively. We explore why our attention often gravitates towards negative experiences despite their relative rarity. And how learning the distinction between valuing positive emotions and the process of intentionally cultivating them, helps us avoid the pitfalls of toxic positivity.

We also Discuss:

- How making positive emotions habitual (like a daily diet) can help us be more resourceful in tough times.
- Why we tend to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones, even though negative experiences are less common than positive ones.
- The cyclical nature of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and how positive emotions feed into that.
- Explains her theory in relation to Toxic positivity, and how learning to value positive emotions is different from the process of cultivating them