Capitalization

Capitalization in Everyday Life

Several studies on naturally occurring capitalization have asked people to report on the best thing that happened to them each day over a period of time, such as over 2 weeks. More often than not (up to 80 percent of the time), people tell at least one person about the best thing that happened to them that day. Of course, people are more likely to capitalize about important events, but capitalization about minor events is also common. More importantly, these studies also confirm common intuitions that there are benefits to sharing positive events with others. These benefits included increases in positive emotions, greater life satisfaction, increased quality of interpersonal relationships, greater memory for the event itself, and higher value placed on the event. These benefits occur in addition to the benefits experienced from the event itself.

These benefits are contingent, however, on how the person or persons with whom the event is shared reacts. That is, some responses to capitalization are associated with benefits whereas others are associated with no benefits or even harm. It seems that the responder plays a key role in the capitalization process, but with whom do people share their positive events? Typically, people tell close others; over 90 percent of the time positive events are shared with spouses or romantic partners, friends, roommates, parents, or siblings. Only on occasion do people share positive events with acquaintances or strangers.

Responses to Capitalization

When people attempt to capitalize, the close other with whom they have shared the positive event can respond in various ways. The response can range from active to passive and from constructive (encouraging and supportive) to destructive (critical and unsupportive). In terms of activity versus passivity, the responder can show interest and involvement when the event is shared, or the responder can be reserved and distant. In terms of the constructive versus destructive tone, the responder can be encouraging and supportive or negative and unsupportive. By considering variations along these two dimensions, four proto types of responses to capitalization attempts can be described: active-constructive, passive-constructive, active-destructive, and passive-destructive.

Active-constructive. An active-constructive response is one that expresses excitement about the positive event and conveys positive regard toward the person who disclosed the event. An active-constructive responder will often ask questions about the event, highlight important aspects of the event, and elaborate on its potential implications. The active-constructive responder expresses enthusiasm, happiness, or pride.

Passive-constructive. A passive-constructive response is one that may seem positive or supportive but is delivered in a tempered and subtle manner. These responses are often pleasant but quiet exchanges involving few questions about the event and little if any elaboration on implications of the event for the capitalizer.

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