Research has repeatedly established that positive affect (PA) is associated positively with a wide range of physical health outcomes. Little work, however, explores what specific types of positive affect are responsible for these benefits and under what contexts. This talk explores why a consideration of arousal level of emotion may be especially important for understanding the PA-health connection as well as the PA role in buffering the harmful effects of stress. Data underscoring the importance of arousal type will be explored in the context of disease, mortality and acute stress research. Finally, the relevance of these findings for future work on positive psychology interventions will be discussed, especially in the context of health.