Editorial [International Journal of Emotional Education, 5(1)]

Abstract

Positive psychology has been making deep inroads in various aspects of our lives, underlining the role of positive emotions such as happiness and hope in facilitating adjustment and wellbeing and preventing depression and anxiety (Seligman et al., 2009). On the other hand, a parallel but opposing movement celebrating negative affect, such as sadness, is becoming popular amongst groups of young people, such as Punks, Goths and Emos. In the first paper in this edition, Cooper (Hong Kong) and Kakos (UK) explore the current interest in Negative Affect amongst young people, and discuss it in relation to the history of melancholy and theories of identity formation. The authors relate the phenomenon to the romantic tradition in art and literature, wherein it is associated with progress and enlightenment, and consequently to modern and postmodern understandings of the human quest for identity.