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Application of Cross Cultural Psychology Happiness and well being Positive Psychology is a different field of psychology which covers the areas such as well-being, engagement, meaning, and life satisfaction. One of the subfields of positive psychology receiving significant research attention has been the topic of happiness. How happiness is generally defined? Happiness is the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile. Happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It is also used in the context of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and well-being. When used in a broad sense, the word happiness is synonymous with 'quality of life' or 'well- being' To date, there is no universally accepted definition of happiness. According to the World Database of Happiness, happiness refers to “the subjective enjoyment of one’s life as-a-whole”. Components of Happiness 1- Happiness as ‘Affect balance’ 2- Happiness as cognitive phenomenon Individuals consider two components in evaluating their lives and contentment (perceived realization of wants). These two components represent “affective” and “cognitive” appraisals of life, respectively. Together they create an overall evaluation of life, called “overall” happiness. 1- Bentham’s (1789) famous definition of happiness is ‘the sum of pleasures and pains’, which also involves the notion of an ‘affect balance’. “Happiness is a particular emotion. It is an overall evaluation made by the individual in accounting all his pleasant and unpleasant experiences in the recent past. 2- Happiness is also defined as a cognitive phenomenon, that is, as the result of a deliberate evaluation process. In that vein McDowel & Newell (1987: 204) describe life-satisfaction
as a “Personal assessment of one’s condition compared to an external reference standard or to one’s aspirations A consideration of both the cognitive and affective components would yield a more comprehensive understanding of how people experience overall happiness. Alternative literature terms for happiness Literature linked happiness with wellbeing, and used many other related terms for describing happiness. Few of these terms are: Life satisfaction: how closely reality matches your objectives Emotional Well-Being: experiencing positive emotional states Positive Functioning: having a sense of purpose in life Social Well-Being: feeling connected with others Vitality: feeling alert, energized and alive in daily life
4 levels of happiness
We all strive for happiness. According to Aristotle it is the ONLY thing we want for it’s own sake. Everything else we do is in order to be happy - in one way or another. But happiness is not a simple concept. Aristotle distinguished between four different levels of happiness. Happiness level 1: Laetus. Happiness from material objects Happiness at the first level is simply about sensual gratification based on things / something external. This kind of happiness can be intense but is short-lived. Happiness level 2: Felix. Ego gratification. Happiness from comparison: being better, more admired than others etc. You feel this type of happiness when you for example win in sports or get a promotion. Happiness level 3: Beatitudo. The happiness from doing good for others and making the world a better place. This level of happiness is based on the human desire for connection, goodness, meaning, compassion, friendship and unity. Some has summed it up as simply: “Love!”
Chinese and Ameicans vary in conception of happiness. The socially oriented subjective well-being which emphasizes the social role obligations as well as harmony and balance within the individual and one’s surroundings is dominant among Chinese. Whereas, individually oriented subjective well-being which emphasizes personal accountability and achievement prevails among Euro Americans. Role of Emotional Norms in Cultural Differences in the meaning of Happiness One way to study how culture molds the meaning of happiness is to examine differences in emotional norms between collectivistic and individualistic cultures. Eid and Diener (2001) investigated variation in emotion norms in two individualistic groups (U.S. and Australia) and two collectivistic groups (China and Taiwan). They found that with respect to norms for positive emotions (pride, contentment, joy, and affection), the individualistic nations were very homogeneous, whereas the more collectivistic nations were rather heterogeneous. The nations did not have one set of norms that applied to all people. Instead, results suggested variability of emotional norms across society. Conclusion: So emotional norms can vary within the same culture/intraculture variation of emotion norms Cultural Biasness in Happiness Positive Happiness Bias Vs Negative Happiness Bias Ouweneel and Veenhoven (1991) evaluated the possibility that cross-national differences in happiness were due to d differences in social desirability. Some cultures like individualistic don’t tolerate angry faces, and pressure would be there to be with smiling faces. But collectivistic are more tolerant and supportive to accept the anger and aggression of each other just like sharing of happiness occurs. Argyle (2001) compared countries and groups with a positive happiness bias to those with a negative happiness bias. For example, North Americans report more positive self- views and self-serving biases, and engage in more self-enhancement than East Asians (Suh, 2000). The high happiness scores reported in the U.S. may be partly due to social norms toward positive affect. In individualistic cultures, there is more pressure to display positive emotions, whereas collectivistic cultures seem to be less restrictive toward positive emotions. Impact of Happiness on society Happiness is valued by most people and that it is associated with better outcomes for society
Happiness is not just about feeling good for the individual; it also has a positive impact on society. Happy people fare much better on the domains of love, work, and health, compared to unhappy people. Happy people participate more in community organizations, are more liked by others, are less likely to get divorced, tend to live slightly longer, perform better at work, and earn higher incomes. Happiness & SWB correlates strongly with national wealth Happiness and subjective wellbeing tended to be higher in countries that provided citizens with material comfort, social security, education, healthcare, and political rights. The countries who are able to provide such basic living facilities to its people were found out to be more happy and increased sense of wellbeing than the less privileged and under developed countries facing struggles over basic living rights. How government can increase individuals’ happiness? ● First, it would be valuable in determining the domains in which people are more and less satisfied, thus suggesting where interventions might be most needed. ● Second, a national index would provide an educational function, alerting people to the factors that influence their subjective well-being. ● Finally, the development of a national survey to track subjective well-being would increase the likelihood that it will become an outcome variable that is considered in policy decisions. Conclusion Numerous cross-national studies on happiness have provided valuable information on happiness around the world. We now know, for example, that most people around the world are happy (Biswas-Diener et al., 2005; Diener & Diener, 1996) and most people value happiness (Oishi et al., 2007). We also know that citizens’ happiness tends to benefit society in numerous ways.
