<p>First - you might want to redefine you search. Are you looking for <strong>happiness</strong> or rather  <strong>positive affect</strong>? <strong>Happiness</strong> is fairly ambigious term, and it's much more associated with positive psychology studies on well-being. If you are interested in more global definition of happiness, check the work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi">Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi</a>. </p>

<p>On the other hand, there is a large number of studies on physiological measurements of <strong>positive affect</strong>. </p>

<p>One such physiological measurement is <strong>Electromyography (EMG)</strong> - recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG will detect very brief smiles or higher activity in cheek muscles (zygomaticus major) which are correlated with positive affect. There is quite classic (but very quoted) paper on that:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Cacioppo JT, Petty RE, Losch ME, Kim HS. (1986) Electromyographic
  Activity Over Facial Muscle Regions Can Differentiate the Valence and
  Intensity  of Affective Reactions. J Pers Soc Psychol., 50(2):260-8. <a href="http://www.socialneuro.com/psyphy/Cacioppo1987.pdf">download</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Another simple physiological assesment is <strong>heart rate</strong> measured by the interbeat interval (IBI). For example, study by Brosschot &amp; Thayer (2003) shows that heart rate response is longer after negative emotions than after positive emotions. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Brosschot JF, Thayer JF. (2003) Heart rate response is longer after
  negative emotions than after positive emotions. Int J Psychophysiol.,
  50(3):181-7.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In fact, the full spectrum of somatic measurements have been used along heart rate including <strong>pulse transmission time</strong> to the finger, <strong>skin conductance level</strong> or <strong>pupil dilation</strong> (Partala, 2003). All those are a bit less reliable methods and usually they detect arousal rather then indicate physiological differences between positive and negative affect.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Partala T.; Surakka V. (2003) Pupil size variation as an indication of
  affective processing. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies,
  59(1):185-198. <a href="http://dblab.cs.nccu.edu.tw/presentation/20071204/Pupil%20size%20variation%20as%20an%20indication%20of%20affective%20processing.pdf">download</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Finally, I would advise browsing literature on measurements of <strong>negative affect</strong>. You are likely to find some interesting methods there, like in this paper on the psychophysiology of crying (Gross et al., 1994).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Gross JJ, Frederickson BL, Levenson RW. (1994) The psychophysiology of
  crying. Psychophysiology, 31(5):460-8. <a href="http://spl.stanford.edu/pdfs/1994%20Psychophysiology%20-%20Psychophysiology%20of%20Crying.pdf">download</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-12T23:14:31.967Z
@Geek On Acid: I was indeed looking for physiological correlates to  positive Affects.
Software Mechanic
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T23:35:13.573Z
2012-07-10T23:35:13.573Z
Geek On Acid
<ul>
<li><strong>Is there a reliable physiological measure or correlate to positive affect?</strong></li>
<li><strong>What does research say on this?</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>I thought that serotonin levels are correlated with self-reported happiness levels, but, after a google scholar search I am not so sure.
I tried google scholar and couldn't find any papers reviewing/summarizing multiple experiments. I only found a whole lot of papers with vague sounding titles than what i am looking for. </p>

<p>EDIT 1: Replaced happiness by positive affect. As Geek on Acid pointed out happiness is too general.</p>

<neuroscience><emotion><well-being>
What is a reliable physiological measure  (e.g., serotonin levels)  of positive affect? 
Software Mechanic
# What is a reliable physiological measure  (e.g., serotonin levels)  of positive affect? 

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-07-06)

* **Is there a reliable physiological measure or correlate to positive affect?**
* **What does research say on this?**

I thought that serotonin levels are correlated with self-reported happiness levels, but, after a google scholar search I am not so sure.
I tried google scholar and couldn't find any papers reviewing/summarizing multiple experiments. I only found a whole lot of papers with vague sounding titles than what i am looking for.

EDIT 1: Replaced happiness by positive affect. As Geek on Acid pointed out happiness is too general.

**Tags:** neuroscience, emotion, well-being


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-07-10. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

First - you might want to redefine you search. Are you looking for **happiness** or rather **positive affect**? **Happiness** is fairly ambigious term, and it's much more associated with positive psychology studies on well-being. If you are interested in more global definition of happiness, check the work of [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi).

On the other hand, there is a large number of studies on physiological measurements of **positive affect**.

One such physiological measurement is **Electromyography (EMG)** - recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG will detect very brief smiles or higher activity in cheek muscles (zygomaticus major) which are correlated with positive affect. There is quite classic (but very quoted) paper on that:

> Cacioppo JT, Petty RE, Losch ME, Kim HS. (1986) Electromyographic
> Activity Over Facial Muscle Regions Can Differentiate the Valence and
> Intensity of Affective Reactions. J Pers Soc Psychol., 50(2):260-8. [download](http://www.socialneuro.com/psyphy/Cacioppo1987.pdf)

Another simple physiological assesment is **heart rate** measured by the interbeat interval (IBI). For example, study by Brosschot & Thayer (2003) shows that heart rate response is longer after negative emotions than after positive emotions.

> Brosschot JF, Thayer JF. (2003) Heart rate response is longer after
> negative emotions than after positive emotions. Int J Psychophysiol.,
> 50(3):181-7.

In fact, the full spectrum of somatic measurements have been used along heart rate including **pulse transmission time** to the finger, **skin conductance level** or **pupil dilation** (Partala, 2003). All those are a bit less reliable methods and usually they detect arousal rather then indicate physiological differences between positive and negative affect.

> Partala T.; Surakka V. (2003) Pupil size variation as an indication of
> affective processing. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies,
> 59(1):185-198. [download](http://dblab.cs.nccu.edu.tw/presentation/20071204/Pupil%20size%20variation%20as%20an%20indication%20of%20affective%20processing.pdf)

Finally, I would advise browsing literature on measurements of **negative affect**. You are likely to find some interesting methods there, like in this paper on the psychophysiology of crying (Gross et al., 1994).

> Gross JJ, Frederickson BL, Levenson RW. (1994) The psychophysiology of
> crying. Psychophysiology, 31(5):460-8. [download](http://spl.stanford.edu/pdfs/1994%20Psychophysiology%20-%20Psychophysiology%20of%20Crying.pdf)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @username_1: I was indeed looking for physiological correlates to  positive Affects.  

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