To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women's college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. Consistent with the notion that positive emotions help build personal resources, positive emotional expression correlated with the self-reported personality traits of affiliation, competence, and low negative emotionality across adulthood and predicted changes in competence and negative emotionality. Observers rated women displaying more positive emotion more favorably on several personality dimensions and expected interactions with them to be more rewarding; thus, demonstrating the beneficial social consequences of positive emotions. Finally, positive emotional expression predicted favorable outcomes in marriage and personal well-being up to 30 years later. Controlling for physical attractiveness and social desirability had little impact on these findings. Individual differences in emotion are thought to shape personality and life outcomes across the life course. In this article, we examine whether positive emotionality measured from college yearbook photos at age 21 relates to personality traits, observer responses, marital outcomes, and personal well-being. Our hypotheses were derived from recent theorizing about personalityemotion relations and positive emotion. A Social-Functional View of Personality-Emotion Relations A social-functional approach views emotion as a central organizational and motivational force underlying personality
