Savoring (or savouring in Commonwealth English) is the use of thoughts and actions to increase the intensity, duration, and appreciation of positive experiences and emotions.
Fred Bryant, a social psychologist at Loyola University Chicago, is considered to be the father of savoring research.
Psychological theories on savoring describe various facets of the construct such as its manifestation, operationalization, strategies to facilitate its occurrence, and its association with well-being.
[9] Conventional wisdom states that money doesn't buy happiness – and recent research by Jordi Quoidbach and colleagues has shown that wealthier people report less savoring ability.
[10] In the same study, Quoidbach and others found that when exposed to a reminder of wealth, people were less able to savor and enjoy a piece of chocolate.
According to Barbara Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory (2001), positive emotions can serve as a key element to human flourishing.
[4] Hurley & Kwon (2011) had participants savor their moments and to recall positive experiences from their past week.
However, the researchers did consider the possibility that it takes time for the skills of savoring to develop to the point that they are able to influence positive emotions.
[15] Miyamoto & Ma found that although most individuals do prefer to enjoy their positive experiences, Easterners (East Asians) have a tendency to do so at a lower rate than Westerners (European Americans in this study).