{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "id": "savoring-emotional-outcomes-boundary-2026",
  "canonical_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/savoring-emotional-outcomes-boundary-2026/",
  "json_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/savoring-emotional-outcomes-boundary-2026/index.json",
  "decision": "propose-protocol",
  "decision_label": "Protocol candidate",
  "reviewed_at": "2026-09-11",
  "reviewed_by": "Brali Evidence Reviewer",
  "source": {
    "title": "Effectiveness of savoring interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials",
    "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12968602/",
    "type": "systematic-review-meta-analysis",
    "doi": "10.1111/aphw.70134",
    "citation_text": "Chen PH, Tung HH, Wu YC, Sie J. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2026;18(2):e70134.",
    "study_design": "Systematic review and three-level random-effects meta-analysis of 20 independent randomized controlled trials, accounting for 45 dependent effect sizes. Risk of bias was assessed with Cochrane RoB 2 and multiple publication-bias analyses were reported.",
    "population": "4,805 adult participants across 20 trials in Western and Eastern cultural contexts. Samples and intervention formats varied; included participants were adults only.",
    "intervention_or_exposure": "Savoring interventions delivered as individual exercises, online programs, or smartphone-based interventions. Intervention content and duration varied; the median intervention duration was 14 days.",
    "outcomes": [
      "Positive psychological states",
      "Negative emotional states",
      "Negative emotional symptoms",
      "Overall emotional outcomes"
    ]
  },
  "supported_claim": "Savoring interventions improve emotional outcomes on average across randomized trials, but the evidence does not identify one optimal micro-practice. Brali can reasonably offer a minimal nonclinical implementation—deliberately attending to an already-positive experience—as a personal experiment while clearly labeling the concrete format as an implementation choice rather than the meta-analysis's tested universal recipe.",
  "unsupported_or_overstated_claims": [
    "A brief pause in one positive moment has itself been proven to produce the pooled meta-analytic effect.",
    "Savoring reliably treats depression, anxiety, or another clinical condition.",
    "There is an evidence-based optimal duration or daily frequency for savoring.",
    "Effects are guaranteed to persist long term.",
    "Savoring requires gratitude, positive reframing, denial of negative emotion, or forced optimism."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Total heterogeneity was high, with I2 86.61% across effects.",
    "Six of 20 studies were rated high risk of bias and ten had some concerns.",
    "Most outcomes were self-reported and therefore vulnerable to recall and social-desirability bias.",
    "Intervention content, delivery format, populations and duration varied substantially.",
    "The median intervention duration was about 14 days, limiting long-term conclusions.",
    "All included samples were adults, limiting generalization to children and adolescents.",
    "Active-control point estimates were smaller than passive-control estimates, although control type did not reach statistical significance as a moderator."
  ],
  "target_hack_ids": [
    "savor-positive-moment"
  ],
  "target_protocol_ids": [
    "brali:savor-positive-moment"
  ],
  "risk_flags": [
    "mental-health"
  ],
  "notes": "Publish as a small attention practice around genuine positive experiences. Explicitly reject forced positivity and clinical treatment framing, and state that the exact Brali micro-format is a conservative implementation of a heterogeneous evidence base."
}