Abstract

Positive social experiences are a major source of positive emotions, which are tightly associated with physical and psychological well-being. In the present study, using the experience sampling method, we examined whether and how emotional reactions toward social positive events that individuals experience in everyday life are related to happiness. Participants reported their moment-to-moment experiences including the occurrences of positive or negative events, mood, and happiness, five times a day for a week. We examined whether each participant’s emotional reactions toward social positive events, non-social positive events, and negative events, respectively, predict their average daily happiness. We found that participants who experienced greater positive emotion after the occurrence of social positive events reported greater happiness, while emotional reactions to non-social positive events or negative events did not influence happiness. These findings suggest that savoring positive events in the social domain in particular may play an important role in improving happiness.