An Upbeat Emotion That’s Surprisingly Good for You

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Credit Illustration by Ben Wiseman

This article appeared in the March 29 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

Dark moods are bad for your health. Scientists have known for decades that a wide variety of unpleasant emotions, like shame, depression and anxiety, are linked to greater rates of ills like heart disease, inflammation, cancer and premature death. Conversely, positive feelings have been shown to be good for you.

Far less is known, however, about the health benefits of specific upbeat moods — whether contentment, say, might promote good health more robustly than joy or pride does.