Science has demonstrated the link between the influence of positive affect, its impact on human motivation, perceptions, and performance outcome.  human motivation and improved human performance.  Tap into the power of this proven science of psychology to get an edge in life and improve your mental game plan.

General scientific findings:

• science has demonstrated a solid link between positive affect and motivation

• positive affect influences cognitive processes which drive motivation 

• positive affect increases ones own perceptions of expectancy

• lasting motivation requires cognitive processes ( thinking) 

• daily positive reinforcement is required to transform behavioral changes

• motivation is the fuel that drives internal change / paradigm shifts
   

Psychology of Motivation - Scientific Journal Abstracts

Positive psychology: An introduction.
by Seligman, Martin E. P.; Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly
from American Psychologist. 2000 Jan Vol 55(1) 5-14

(from the journal abstract) A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless. The exclusive focus on pathology that has dominated so much of our discipline results in a model of the human being lacking the positive features that make life worth living. Hope, wisdom, creativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance are ignored or explained as transformations of more authentic negative impulses. The 15 articles in this millennial issue of the American Psychologist discuss such issues as what enables happiness, the effects of autonomy and self-regulation, how optimism and hope affect health, what constitutes wisdom, and how talent and creativity come to fruition. The authors outline a framework for a science of positive psychology, point to gaps in our knowledge, and predict that the next century will see a science and profession that will come to understand and build the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)

The Influence of Positive Affect on the Components of Expectancy Motivation

Amir Erez ,University of Florida , Alice M. Isen ,Cornell University

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2002, Vol. 87, No. 6, 1055–1067

The influence of positive affect on expectancy motivation was investigated in 2 studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that positive affect improved people's performance and affected their perceptions of expectancy and valence. In Study 1, in which outcomes depended on chance, positive affect did not influence people's perceptions of instrumentality. In Study 2, in which the link between performance and outcomes was specified, positive affect influenced all 3 components of expectancy motivation. Together, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicated that positive affect interacts with task conditions in influencing motivation and that its influence on motivation occurs not through general effects, such as response bias or general activation, but rather through its influence on the cognitive processes involved in motivation.

Achievement motivation and the dynamics of task difficulty choices.
by Slade, L. Allen; Rush, Michael C.
from Journal of Personality & Social Psychology. 1991 Jan Vol 60(1) 165-172

Undergraduate students performed a vigilance task in a study of the dynamic theory of achievement motivation. Positively motivated subjects (n = 66) and negatively motivated subjects (n = 60) did not differ in initial task difficulty choices. Both groups shifted to more difficult tasks over time, but this linear trend interacted with achievement motive group, with positively motivated subjects shifting faster. Quadratic and cubic trends in task difficulty choices were also observed. Periodic interruptions attenuated achievement group differences in average task difficulty choices. Subject gender affected average task difficulty choices, but gender did not interact with theoretically important variables in this study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)

Why are some people happier than others? The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being.
by Lyubomirsky, Sonja
from American Psychologist. 2001 Mar Vol 56(3) 239-249

(from the journal abstract) Addressing the question of why some people are happier than others is important for both theoretical and practical reasons and should be a central goal of a comprehensive positive psychology. Following a construal theory of happiness, the author proposes that multiple cognitive and motivational processes moderate the impact of the objective environment on well-being. Thus, to understand why some people are happier than others, one must understand the cognitive and motivational processes that serve to maintain, and even enhance, enduring happiness and transient mood. The author's approach has been to explore hedonically relevant psychological processes, such as social comparison, dissonance reduction, self-reflection, self-evaluation, and person perception, in chronically happy and unhappy individuals. In support of a construal framework, self-rated happy and unhappy people have been shown to differ systematically in the particular cognitive and motivational strategies they use. Promising research directions for positive psychology in pursuit of the sources of happiness, as well as the implications of the construal approach for prescriptions for enhancing well-being, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)