Together with a team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Amsterdam, Prof. Lukasz Kaczmarek and Dr. Maciej Behnke have published another meta-analysis on the psychophysiological functions of positive emotions. The article was published in Emotion Review.
The "undoing" hypothesis assumes that positive emotions reduce sympathetic arousal associated with negative emotions and stress. However, a recent qualitative review questioned the "undoing" effect, presenting conflicting results. To quantify this issue, the study authors conducted a meta-analytic review of 16 studies (N = 1220; 72 effect sizes) measuring sympathetic arousal during evoked positive emotions and under neutral conditions. The results indicate that in most cases, positive emotions did not accelerate sympathetic recovery compared to neutral conditions. The results encourage further work on the psychophysiological role of positive emotions.