A large variety of positive outcomes including social adjustment, psychological well-being and health, have been recently closely associated with positivity (POS). On the assumption that differences in the POS degree might be associated with different individual neuroendocrine assets that enables people to cope effectively with stress, the present study examined the association between POS, salivary cortisol and α-Amylase (α-Amy) production in a group of healthy male volunteers university students, respectively scoring high (POS-H, N = 10) and low (POS-L, N = 10) in POS. Participants were selected from a larger sample of 300 students of the Medical School at Sapienza University of Rome on the basis of their positivity level: POS was analysed and the upper and lower 25% were invited to participate in this new study. The findings report a distinct salivary cortisol and α-Amy production in the study population: in comparison to the POS-H group, the POS-L subjects presented a lower salivary cortisol awake response (CAR) and a flattened α-Amy production at 30 and 60 min after awakening. In addition, salivary cortisol and α-Amy areas under the curve (AUCs), which were calculated as indicators of the two subclinical biomarkers production during the first hour after awakening, resulted significantly lower in the POS-L group in comparison to the POS-H group. Further studies on larger and different populations are needed to definitively confirm that the different cortisol and α-Amy secretion patterns between POS-H and POS-L individuals is associated with a potentially better capacity to preserving an adequate quality of life in individuals being equipped with a system apparently able to better respond to external and/or internal stimuli. Lastly, a better understanding of the biological correlates of POS is crucial to design psychological interventions able to take advantage of individuals’ assets and thus to integrate and strengthen the efficacy of traditional medications.

包括社会适应、心理健康和健康在内的各种积极成果最近都与积极性 (POS) 密切相关。假设 POS 程度的差异可能与使人们能够有效应对压力的不同个体神经内分泌资产有关，本研究检查了一组中 POS、唾液皮质醇和 α-淀粉酶 (α-Amy) 产生之间的关联的健康男性志愿者大学生，分别得分高 (POS-H, N  = 10) 和低 (POS-L, N = 10) 在 POS 中。参与者是根据他们的积极性水平从罗马 Sapienza 大学医学院的 300 名学生组成的更大样本中选出的：对 POS 进行了分析，并邀请了 25% 的上下 25% 的人参加了这项新研究。研究结果报告了研究人群中明显的唾液皮质醇和 α-Amy 产生：与 POS-H 组相比，POS-L 受试者的唾液皮质醇清醒反应 (CAR) 较低，并且在 30 岁时产生的 α-Amy 趋于平缓和 60 分钟后醒来。此外，与 POS-L 组相比，唾液皮质醇和 α-Amy 曲线下面积 (AUC) 被计算为醒来后第一小时内两种亚临床生物标志物产生的指标，结果显着低于 POS-L 组。 H组。需要对更大范围的不同人群进行进一步研究，以明确证实 POS-H 和 POS-L 个体之间不同的皮质醇和 α-Amy 分泌模式与潜在更好的能力相关，以保持配备一个明显能够更好地响应外部和/或内部刺激的系统。最后，更好地了解 POS 的生物学相关性对于设计能够利用个人资产的心理干预措施至关重要，从而整合和加强传统药物的功效。