Resting Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Is Associated With Tonic Positive Emotionality

Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA _REST) indexes important aspects of individual differences in emotionality. In the present investigation, the authors address whether RSA _REST is associated with tonic positive or negative emotionality, and whether RSA _REST relates to phasic emotional responding to discrete positive emotion-eliciting stimuli. Across an 8-month, multiassessment study of first-year university students (n = 80), individual differences in RSA _REST were associated with positive but not negative tonic emotionality, assessed at the level of personality traits, long-term moods, the disposition toward optimism, and baseline reports of current emotional states. RSA _REST was not related to increased positive emotion, or stimulus-specific emotion, in response to compassion-, awe-, or pride-inducing stimuli. These findings suggest that resting RSA indexes aspects of a person's tonic positive emotionality.