Date of Award

5-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The positive psychology movement of the past decade has produced an impressive amount of psychological literature devoted to studying the best of human attributes such as resilience, commitment, and optimism. This dramatic increase in available literature on optimism highlights a heightened awareness and interest in human proficiency, when so much of psychology has been traditionally devoted to the study of human deficiency. This research has lead to an increased understanding of what characteristics of an individual lead to facilitate various activities such as problem solving, leadership ability, income, achievement, sales, and job satisfaction. This study explored the relationship between positive affect and performance, specifically in reading, a skill used frequently in higher education. This study investigated if a comment from an instructor elicited a positive feeling in a student, and what impact that positive affect may have had upon a student's reading performance.

Included in

Psychology Commons

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Faculty Mentor

Scott C. Bates

Departmental Honors Advisor

Scott C. Bates