Does savoring increase happiness? A daily diary study

Abstract

Bryant and Veroff (2007 Bryant, FB and Veroff, J. 2007. Savoring: A new model of positive experience, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Google Scholar], Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates) have proposed that savoring, namely, regulating the emotional impact of positive events by one's cognitive or behavioral responses, increases happiness. The present study was designed to determine whether and how savoring influences daily happiness. Experience sampling methodology was used with 101 participants, who provided self-reports of their momentary positive events, savoring responses, and positive affect daily over a period of 30 days. Multilevel modeling analyses verified that (a) these three constructs were positively related to each other within a given day, (b) momentary savoring both mediated and moderated the impact of daily positive events on momentary happy mood, and (c) levels of trait savoring moderated the observed mediational pattern. These results provide support for the hypothesis that savoring is an important mechanism through which people derive happiness from positive events.