Feeling Bad Is Actually Good 161
they have intrinsic or instrumental value. Activities character-
ized by intrinsic value are those that are naturally pleasur-
able (for example, a person who enjoys exercise might walk
to the store), whereas instrumental activities are motivated
by their future intrinsic value, or their long- term reward (for
example, a person who values health might walk to the store
because it fulfills a long- term goal of being healthy, even if
it’s not an enjoyable activity). If this concept still isn’t clear,
imagine writing a book! During the actual writing process,
there may be very little intrinsic value but a good deal of
instrumental value. Emotions, and the ways in which people
regulate them, can be viewed from this same perspective,
but with one caveat: positive emotions naturally have both
intrinsic and instrumental value, but negative emotions typ-
ically only have instrumental value. Indeed, it’s rare for
people to increase their negative emotions based on any
immediate intrinsic (pleasurable) value.
Practice Label the following activities in terms of their intrin-
sic or instrumental emotional properties and explain why. For
example, if you were given the example of cleaning your bedroom, you
might label it as instrumental because it has long- term value (you
value a clean room, find it more peaceful, will be less stressed about
the messes, and so on).
- Dieting
- Shopping for shoes
- Kayaking for sport
- Smoking to calm your nerves
- Studying for a test