Name of Institution

MODULE 1
Programme B.A. A.P. , 1
Course PSYC137
Name of Faculty
Ms. Anmol Bansal

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 INTRODUCTION Name of Institution

Happiness and Positive Psychology

•Positive psychology can be described as a
psychology of potential, and what ‘could be’ as
compared to what ‘is’ (Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

• It aims to shift what has historically been the

predominant focus of psychology – pathology – to
examining the development of positive qualities in
individuals and communities (Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
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 INTRODUCTION Name of Institution

Happiness and Positive Psychology

•In other words, Positive Psychology aims to
understand and cultivate the factors that put
individuals, communities, and societies in a
position where they can ‘flourish’ (Fredrickson,
2001).

•What does it mean to ‘flourish’? Put simply, it is a

state of optimal wellbeing (Fredrickson, 2001).

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 INTRODUCTION Name of Institution

Happiness and Positive Psychology

•Well, as it turns out, happiness can be thought of
as experiencing predominantly positive emotions, or
affective states, rather than negative ones (Tkach &
Lyubomirsky, 2006).

• Thus, positive emotions are a sign of flourishing,

or, in other words, happiness (Fredrickson, 2001).

•Happiness is central to the assumptions of positive

psychology.
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TERMS
• The terms affect and emotion often are used
interchangeably in scholarly and popular
literatures.

• Furthermore, well-being and happiness appear

to be synonymous in psychology articles.

• Unfortunately, however, the interchangeable

use of these terms is very confusing.
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TERMS
• Although we try to clarify the distinctions
among these closely related ideas, we
acknowledge the overlap that exists.

• We begin by suggesting that affect is a

component of emotion, and emotion is a
more specific version of mood.

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TERMS
EMOTION
Emotions are biologically-based
psychological states brought on by
neurophysiological changes, variously
associated with thoughts, feelings,
behavioural responses, and a degree of
pleasure or displeasure.

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TERMS
EMOTION
A feeling state resulting from the appraisal
of an external object as salient to our own
well-being. An emotion has a specific,
"sharpened" quality, as it always has an
object.

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TERMS
AFFECT

Specifically, Professor Nico Frijda (1999)

reasoned that affect involves the appraisal
of an event as painful or pleasurable-that
is, its valence-and the experience of
autonomic arousal.

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TERMS
AFFECT

1.A person's instinctive response to a

stimulus; characterized by a sense of arousal.

2. Affect is considered the most basic element

of feeling and often involves evaluation of a
stimulus as good or bad.

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TERMS
AFFECT

Valence:
The direction of affect: positive (pleasant)
or negative (unpleasant).

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TERMS
MOOD
An emotion has a specific and
"sharpened" quality, as it always has an
object (Fredrickson, 2002), and it is
associated with progress in goal pursuit. In
contrast, a mood is objectless, free
floating, and long lasting.

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TERMS
MOOD

General, free-floating feelings that last

longer than an emotion. Mood is thought
to be tied to expectations of future positive
or negative affect.

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TERMS

TYPES OF AFFECT
Positive and Negative affect––
refer to peoples’ feelings about
their lives.

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TERMS

POSITIVE AFFECT
•Positive affect refers to the frequency and
intensity of pleasant emotions such as
happiness and joy.

•Positive affect is a summary term for

pleasurable emotions such as joy,
contentment, laughter, and love.
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TERMS

NEGATIVE AFFECT
•Negative affect refers to the
frequency and intensity of
unpleasant emotions such as
sadness and worry.

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TERMS
1. People high in positive affectivity have
frequent and intense experiences of pleasant,
enjoyable moods and are generally cheerful,
enthusiastic, and confident about their lives.

2. People high in negative affectivity have more

frequent emotional episodes involving feelings
of anger, sadness, distress, guilt, and fear
(Watson et al., 1988).

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TERMS

HAPPINESS
Happiness is a positive emotional
state that is subjectively defined
by each person.

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 ASSESSMENT Name of Institution

• A variety of scales are used to measure people’s emotional

experiences (see Argyle, 2001; Larsen & Fredrickson,
1999; Lucas, Diener, & Larsen, 2003, for reviews).

• Some scales ask only about positive emotions, like

happiness or joy, while others assess both positive and
negative feelings.

• For example, Bradburn (1969) asked people to indicate the

percentage of time they had experienced different positive
and negative feelings, using questions like the following:

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 ASSESSMENT Name of Institution

• Another example of a scale that is widely used

to measure positive and negative affect is the
Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity
Schedule (PANAS) (Watson, Clark, &
Tellegen, 1988).

• It may be interesting to see how you score.

To complete this measure, use the 1–5 rating
scale to indicate how you feel right now.

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 ASSESSMENT Name of Institution

• A more common method of assessing feelings

is to ask people to rate the frequency and
intensity of different emotions they
experienced during a given time period.

• For example, Diener and Emmons (1984)

used nine descriptors to assess affect
valence.

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• The descriptors for positive affect were

happy, pleased, joyful, and
enjoyment/fun.

• The adjectives for negative or

unpleasant affect were worried/anxious;
frustrated; angry/hostile; unhappy; and
depressed/blue.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (GENERIC)
• Happiness opens up people’s thinking to more
imaginative and creative possibilities by
placing current concerns in a broader context.

• These effects of happiness may enhance

meaning if they also cause people to think of
their lives in terms of a larger system of
meaning.

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
• Happiness opens up people’s thinking to
more imaginative and creative possibilities by
placing current concerns in a broader
context.

• These effects of happiness may enhance

meaning if they also cause people to think of
their lives in terms of a larger system of
meaning.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
• For example, an enjoyable walk in the mountains on a
beautiful day or a fun evening with friends may lead
you to think of your place in nature’s scheme of things
or the importance of relationships in a satisfying life.

• Happiness may also be a marker of meaningful

events and activities. Progressing toward important
goals makes us feel good.

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BROADENS OUR THOUGHT-ACTION
REPERTOIRES

• Negative emotions tend to narrow our thoughts to a limited set

of possible actions that might be taken in response to an
emotion-evoking situation. When we are angry or fearful, we
become self-focused and absorbed in the emotion.

• This may result in a kind of tunnel vision and an unduly limited

consideration of all the possible options.

• It is harder to think in a free and creative way when we are angry

or fearful. 29
 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BROADENS OUR THOUGH-TACTION
REPERTOIRES

• In contrast, positive emotions seem to open people’s

thinking to a wider array of possible actions.

• Perhaps because we are not so self-focused, more

options and ways of thinking about a situation come
to mind when we are content or happy than when we
are upset.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BROADENS OUR THOUGH-TACTION
REPERTOIRES

• The broadening of thought-action possibilities,

resulting from positive emotions, helps build
intellectual resources for solving important life
problems, because the more options we consider, the
more likely we are to find an effective solution.

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS HAS AN UNDOING EFFECT ON
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

• Positive emotions and negative emotions seem to produce

opposite effects.

• Our thinking and possible actions are narrowed by negative

emotions and broadened by positive emotions. Positive
emotions and negative emotions also seem incompatible with
each other, in the sense that it is hard to imagine experiencing
both at the same time.
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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS HAS AN UNDOING EFFECT ON
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

• Have you ever been very happy and very angry at the same
time? Joyfully sad? Fearfully relaxed?

• Combinations of emotional feelings are certainly possible, but

the simultaneous experience of both intense positive and
intense negative emotions seems unlikely.

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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS ENHANCES RESILIENCE

• Resilience is the ability to bounce back from

stressful events and regain composure and a
sense of well-being.

• Happiness may increase our resilience and

ability to cope by offsetting the effects of
negative emotions caused by stressful
experiences. 35
 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS ENHANCES RESILIENCE

• Resilient individuals seem (knowingly or

unknowingly) to use positive emotions to offset
negative emotions.

• Their tendency to cultivate positive emotions in

times of stress may be one source of their
resilience and effective coping.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)

HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND

IMPROVE WELL-BEING

• Depression can produce a downward spiral of

increasing negative mood and pessimistic thinking.

• Negative mood causes more pessimism, and more

pessimism causes intensified negative mood.

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)

HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND

IMPROVE WELL-BEING

• Conversely, Fredrickson proposes that happiness

may create a comparable upward spiral of well-being.

• A broadened outlook and increased resilience may,

in turn, increase the experience of positive emotions,
and so on.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)

HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND

IMPROVE WELL-BEING

• In short, happiness may help build our physical

resources for fighting disease, our individual
psychological resources for coping with stress, and
our social resources (in the form of support from
others) that are important in dealing with nearly all life
challenges.

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

1. PHYSICAL RESOURCES
The evidence, at the very least, seems to be strongly suggestive
that people who are generally happy and cheerful (whether it’s
a result of enjoyable experiences, their sense of humor, their
temperament, or their active cultivation of a positive attitude)
are likely to reap health benefits compared to those who are
generally sad, unhappy, pessimistic, and humorless
(Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).
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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES

• In general, people experiencing positive affect tend

to show more proactive coping styles and
skills(Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997).

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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES

• Positive affect leads people to think about how to prevent

stressful situations rather than just how to cope with them after
the fact.

• Individuals experiencing positive affect also show more

flexibility and creativity in solving problems.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES
• Positive affective states may make people less defensive in response to
criticism or information that threatens their self-image (Trope & Pomerantz,
1998).

• Further, individuals experiencing positive affect may be less likely to deny or

distort information that does not agree with their beliefs and preconceptions
(Estrada et al., 1997).

• These findings affirm the contribution of positive emotions to our

psychological resources for coping with life’s challenges.
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES
• Problem-focused coping involves behaviors directed at altering,
reducing, or eliminating the source of stress, such as seeking concrete
help from others, taking action to change a stressful life situation, or
gathering and evaluating information to assess one’s alternatives.

• Emotion-focused coping involves an attempt to change or reduce one’s

own response to a stressful experience. Examples of emotion-focused
coping would include avoiding the problem, denying the problem exists,
seeking emotional support from others, venting one’s emotions to relieve
stress, and positive self-talk (e.g., “counting your blessings”)
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES
• Aspinwall and Taylor (1997) have suggested a third category of coping
called proactive coping, which involves efforts to prevent stress from
happening in the first place.
• An example of a proactive approach would be going to the doctor when
you first notice symptoms that might indicate a seriousillness, rather than
worrying about your symptoms, hoping they will go away, or waiting until
you do have a serious illness.
• Another example would be finishing your term paper ahead of the deadline
to avoid the stressful feeling that, “it’s due tomorrow!”
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES

POSITIVE REAPPRAISAL

• Positive reappraisal refers to a cognitive strategy that

reframes the problem in a more positive light.
Whatever situation you are in, it could be worse
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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING

3. SOCIAL RESOURCES

The irony of relationships is that they contribute most to

our enduring happiness and joy, but also to our distress
and misery. Our relationships have the potential both to
enhance and to compromise our health.

What explains the role of relationships in health?

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 EFFECTS OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING
2. SOCIAL RESOURCES

• One long-standing explanation is built on the value of social support as a

resource for coping with stress.

• The buffering hypothesis states that social support from others reduces
(i.e., buffers) the potential debilitating effects of stress (Berscheid & Reis,
1998).

• By sharing our burden with others, our own burden becomes lighter, stress
levels are reduced, and stress-induced suppression of the immune system
may decrease.
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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING
2. SOCIAL RESOURCES

• The buffering hypothesis suggests that people benefit from

social support only in times of stress.

• However, proponents of the direct effects hypothesis argue

that social support contributes to an individual’s health
independent of his or her level of stress (Stroebe & Stroebe,
1996)
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HAPPINESS (SPECIFIC)
HAPPINESS BUILDS ENDURING RESOURCES AND
IMPROVE WELL-BEING
2. SOCIAL RESOURCES
• People involved in close, caring relationships are generally happier and
healthier because of their supportive relationships, whether or not they are
dealing with stressful life experiences (Berscheid & Reis, 1998).

• The health benefits of social support may stem from the positive emotions
associated with close relationships and the feelings of security that come
from the knowledge that people care about you and will be there when you
need them (Salovey et al., 2000).

• These positive feelings may, in turn, enhance immune-system functioning.

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CAUSES OF
HAPPINESS

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 The 2 Traditions Name of Institution

• What is a good life?

• What is happiness?
• What defines a satisfying life or a life
well-lived?
• What kind of life do you wish to lead?
• And in the end, how do you hope
people will remember you?

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 SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING: Name of Institution
THE HEDONIC BASIS OF HAPPINESS
• Subjective well-being shares a common core of meaning
with the more everyday term happiness.

• The term “subjective” means, from the point of view of the

individual. That is, it refers to a person’s own assessment of
his or her life, rather than assessment by an external
observer or evaluator, or as might be inferred from more
objective measures of factors such as physical health, job
status, or income.

• As Myers and Diener (1995) put it, the final judge of

happiness is “whoever lives inside the person’s skin” (p. 11).

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 SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING: Name of Institution
THE HEDONIC BASIS OF HAPPINESS
• Diener (2000) describes SWB as follows: “SWB refers to
people’s evaluations of their lives—evaluations that are both
affective and cognitive.

• People experience an abundance of SWB when they feel

many pleasant and few unpleasant emotions, when they are
engaged in interesting activities, when they experience many
pleasures and few pains, when they are satisfied with their
lives” (p. 34).

• In short, a person with high SWB has a pervasive sense that

life is “good.”

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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• Buddha left home in search of a more meaningful
existence and ultimately found enlightenment, a sense
of peace, and happiness.

• Aristotle believed that eudaimonia (human flourishing

associated with living a life of virtue), or happiness
based on a lifelong pursuit of meaningful,
developmental goals (i.e., "doing what is worth
doing"), was the key to the good life (Waterman,
1993).

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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• Eudaimonic conceptions of happiness, given fullest
expression in the writings of Aristotle, define
happiness as self-realization, meaning the expression
and fulfillment of inner potentials.

• From this perspective, the good life results from living

in accordance with your daimon (in other words, your
true self). That is, happiness results from striving
toward self-actualization—a process in which our
talents, needs, and deeply held values direct the way
we conduct our lives.
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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• “Eudaimonia” (or happiness) results from realization
of our potentials.

• We are happiest when we follow and achieve our

goals and develop our unique potentials.

• Eudaimonic happiness has much in common with

humanistic psychology’s emphases on the concepts of
self-actualization (Maslow, 1968) and the fully
functioning person (Rogers, 1961) as criteria for
healthy development and optimal functioning.
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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• Eudaimonic happiness results from experiences of
personal expressiveness.

• Such experiences occur when we are fully engaged in

life activities that fit and express our deeply held
values and our sense of who we are.

• Under these circumstances we experience a feeling

of fulfillment, of meaningfulness, of being intensely
alive—a feeling that this is who we really are and who
we were meant to be.
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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• “The good life,” from a eudaimonic
perspective, suggests that the pursuit of
pleasure may detract from a personally
expressive and meaningful life.

• Pleasure is seen as a shallow and

unsatisfying substitute for deeper purposes in
life.

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 The Eudaimonic Name of Institution

Tradition
• Finding meaning in life’s difficulties contributes
to positive coping and adaptation.

• Meaning in life may stem from a person’s goals,

intrinsically satisfying activities, interpersonal
relationships, self-improvement efforts, or a
transcendent philosophy or religion that
provides a larger sense of understanding and
coherence to the journey through life..

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 THEORY 1 Name of Institution

• Genetic/personality
predisposition theories of
happiness:

Suggesting that happiness may be a more

stable personality trait or a characteristic
that is genetically based.

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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
GENETIC FACTORS
•A meta-analysis done at Stanford University (Levinson, 2005)
showed the particular role that genetics plays in depression. While
an absence of depression is not an indicator of the presence
of happiness many wonder if we are genetically predisposed to
higher levels of life satisfaction.

•An additional study was conducted in an attempt to locate a

gene responsible for happiness.

•In this twin study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience (De

Neve, 2012) subjects with a higher presence of the number of
longer alleles of the 5-HTTLPR gene (a serotonin transporter gene)
self-reported higher levels of life satisfaction, aka happiness.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
GENETIC FACTORS
•While the study did not define this gene as the happiness
gene, it did equate 33% of subjective life satisfaction with
genetic variation. Whereas environmental factor variation
equated to not more than 3%.

•A twin study of over 2,000 twins from the Minnesota Twin

Registry found that approximately 50% of life satisfaction is
due to genetics. This leaves 40% attributable to intentional
activities and 10% attributable to external events.
(Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005) Being able to
move a happiness “set point” with intentional activities
makes levels of happiness variable.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
SITUATIONAL FACTORS (SOCIO-
ECONOMIC-CULTURAL
INFLUENCES)

The SES in which the person exists also has

an influence on the levels of happiness
experienced, that in turn may emanate from
differences in nutrition, education, cultural
ideals etc.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
SITUATIONAL FACTORS (Quality of
social support)

•Deep trusting connection to other human

beings throughout life, is vital to emotional
well being. Statistics on happiness and
marriage don’t lie. (Grover, 2014) The
quality of our relationships matters deeply in
the creation of happiness.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
SITUATIONAL FACTORS (Quality of social
support)
•Meaning in work and meaning in relationships are two very
important ways that people become happy in life.

• Having a purpose and deeply knowing the people around

them creates high-quality connections that fuel life
satisfaction.

• The more connection one must core values and to the core
values of those around them will result in continued positive
emotion.

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 THEORY 3 Name of Institution

• Need/goal satisfaction
theories of happiness:

Suggesting that happiness lies in the

reduction of tension through the
satisfaction of goals and needs.

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 THEORY 4 Name of Institution

• Process/activity theories of
happiness: :

Suggesting that happiness is produced by

engaging in certain activities or working
toward a goal.

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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
ACTIVITIES WITHIN VOLUNTARY
CONTROL
Giving
•Increases in neurochemicals like oxytocin and dopamine. Acts
of kindness and volunteering are areas in which life satisfaction are
increased with giving behaviors. Pro-social behaviors when
developed from a place of feeling are mutually beneficial to giver and
receiver.
Improving Communication
•In relationships, improving communication, attunement, and
compassion allows for opportunities in high-quality connections,
increasing opportunities for positive emotions through interactions
with others.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
ACTIVITIES WITHIN VOLUNTARY
CONTROL
TRUST & EMPATHY
•Seeing the perspective of others is a pathway to
flourishing. Humans are interdependent and
improving the ability to relate with others
increases instances of positive emotions.

•Trust, empathy, vulnerability, appreciation, and

belonging are additional areas that are vital for
flourishing relationships. 76
 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
ACTIVITIES WITHIN VOLUNTARY
CONTROL
Being active
•Human brains work more efficiently when BDNF (brain-
derived neurotrophic factor) is created during exercise.

•This neuropeptide allows for the easier transmission of

neurochemicals that are associated with positive emotions.

• Endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are

all released during exercise and are all important in
regulating mood.
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 CAUSES OF Name of Institution

HAPPINESS
ACTIVITIES WITHIN VOLUNTARY
CONTROL
•Mindfulness pulls human attention away from anxiety and
worries into a more resilient and accurate way of thinking.

• Mindfulness also increases instances of savoring, which

allows you to fully feel, enjoy, and extend our positive
experiences.

• Being present with quality attention has far reaching

benefits during exercise and are all important in regulating
mood.
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 Name of Institution

CULTURE, HAPPINESS
AND
WELL-BEING

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 INTRODUCTION Name of Institution

1. Because societies are complex and multi-dimensional, it is difficult

to give an unambiguous definition of the term “culture.”

2. However, culture generally refers to the social roles, norms,

values, and practices that are shared by a social group or society
and are transmitted across.

3. Cultural differences can be found in groups, both large and small.

Commonalities in national heritage, language, religion, ethnicity,
race, age, gender, geographic location, and historical events are
among the many factors that contribute to cultural differences
among nations.

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 AGENTS OF INFLUENCE Name of Institution

1. Parents, schools, peers, and the media instruct

children in the ways of their culture.

2. Shared attitudes, norms, and values then come

to influence the way people think, act, and feel.

3. Culture influences our goals and values,

contributes to how we think about desirable and
undesirable individual characteristics and
behaviors, and sets normative expectations
concerning the meaning and achievement of a
successful life. 81
 AGENTS OF INFLUENCE Name of Institution

For positive psychology, these influences are

most relevant to understanding how culture
shapes people’s ideas about the meaning of
happiness and how to achieve it.

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 The Self in Individualistic Name of Institution
and Collectivist Cultures

• Many cultures can be characterized

according to the relative value they place
on individualism or collectivism.

• These two orientations represent two

contrasting cultural models of the self.

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 A. INDIVIDUALISTIC Name of Institution

CULTURE
1. Individualistic cultures include the industrialized countries of North
America (e.g., United States & Canada), Western Europe (e.g.,
England, France, Denmark, Netherlands), and countries reflecting
Western cultural traditions (e.g., Australia & New Zealand).

2. These cultures share an emphasis on individual rights,

responsibilities, and freedom. Individualistic cultures value self-
reliance, independence, self-direction, individual choice, and
assertiveness.

3. Western culture reflects a view of the self as independent and

distinct from others and defined by a unique combination of
qualities and abilities (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989).
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 B. COLLECTIVISTIC Name of Institution

CULTURE
1. Collectivist cultures include countries of East Asia (e.g., China, Japan,
Korea), the Middle East (e.g., Pakistan), Africa, and Latin America (e.g.,
Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico).

2. These societies emphasize an interdependent view of self, in which

personal identity is defined relationally, according to connections with
others (e.g., family, country, peers, employer, religion), and to the
immediate social context.

3. Collectivist cultures place a premium on social responsibility, fulfillment

of social roles, cooperation with others, and maintaining social harmony.

4. The individual is defined as part of a larger social network rather than as

a unique and separate entity.

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 THE DISTINCTION Name of Institution

• Americans are encouraged to identify and express the

unique internal attributes that distinguish them from
others, to develop a positive view of self that enhances
self-esteem, and to make personal and social judgments
primarily on the basis of internal traits and motives.

• In contrast, Asians are encouraged to identify and express

attributes that contribute to harmonious relations and
fitting in with others, to develop a self-critical and self-
disciplined attitude that enhances self-improvement, and
to make personal and social judgments based on
sensitivity to the social context and social norms.

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• In America’s individualistic culture, individual happiness is

an important cultural value and ideal. Children are
encouraged to be emotionally expressive, to take pride in
their achievements, stand out from others, and to take a
positive and self-enhancing view of themselves.

• This can be contrasted with Asian cultures, in which

happiness has less importance as a cultural ideal and
children are encouraged to moderate their emotions, fit in
with others, take pride in the achievement of their groups,
and to adopt a self-critical and self-effacing attitude toward
themselves.

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A number of these differences have

specific relevance for understanding
the cultural basis of happiness.

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 The American-Individualistic
Style of Happiness Name of Institution

• Being happy, having a positive attitude, and feeling

good about the self are central values in American
culture.

• The pursuit of happiness is described in the

Declaration of Independence as an inalienable right.

• In a society that offers abundant opportunities and

considerable individual freedom, people are
encouraged to make life choices based on what
makes them happy and satisfied.
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 The American-Individualistic
Style of Happiness Name of Institution

• What makes Americans happy is heavily influenced by

their culture’s individualistic model of self.

• Consistent with the SWB conception, happiness in

America is an individual’s subjective judgment about
his or her own life.

• Happiness is both subjective and individualized, in

that the basis of judgment reflects the person’s unique
personal makeup and his or her own idiosyncratic
criteria
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Happiness Name of Institution

• CULTURAL IDEALS

Within East Asian societies, happiness appears

less important as a culturally prescribed goal,
and life satisfaction is based more on external
and normative expectations than on
individualized criteria.

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 The Asian-Collectivist Style of
Happiness Name of Institution

• CULTURAL IDEALS

1. In contrast to North American cultures, East Asian

cultural traditions do not emphasize happiness, life
satisfaction, or the experience of positive emotions as
central life concerns.

2. Several studies support the general conclusion

concerning the differential importance of SWB in
American and Asian cultures.
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 The Asian-Collectivist Style of
Happiness Name of Institution

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIVENESS
• Within Asian culture, excessive exuberance may be regarded as
indicating a lack of maturity or refinement.

• Asians certainly do experience and enjoy happiness, but these

emotions do not function as central life goals or prominent criteria
for life decisions, as they do for North Americans.

• The Asian cultural emphasizes on moderation and balance in

emotional expression.

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Happiness Name of Institution

GROUP PRIDE AND SENSITIVITY

• In Asian cultures, emotional experience and assessments of well-being are
intimately connected to relationships. How you are viewed by others is critical to
how you view your self.

• North Americans care about how they are regarded by others, but they are also
encouraged to stand on their own two feet and stick to their convictions. An
independent self may have to endure the negative regard of others in the service
of remaining true to the self.

• In contrast, East Asian children are taught to develop what Kitayama and Markus
(2000) describe as “sympathetic relationships” with others.

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Happiness Name of Institution

GROUP PRIDE AND SENSITIVITY

• Sympathy here refers to an interdependent relationship in
which individuals are expected to attune themselves
empathically to the feelings and thoughts of others.

• Attunement means taking the perspective of others and

acting in manner that both anticipates and serves their needs
and desires.

• Children are expected to learn how to adjust themselves to

others to enhance and maintain harmonious social
relationships.
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Happiness Name of Institution

GROUP PRIDE AND SENSITIVITY

• Good feelings for Asians more often result from
social relationships, in which pleasing others and
fulfilling social expectations lead to feelings of
friendliness, closeness, and mutual respect.

• Achievement of goals that enhance

interdependence is important to happiness in
collectivist cultures.

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 The Asian-Collectivist Style of
Happiness Name of Institution

SELF-CRITICAL ATTITUDES
• Another significant feature of East Asian relationships is the important
role of a self-critical attitude in promoting mutual trust and support.

• In individualistic cultures, a shared belief in the importance of feeling

good about oneself promotes self-enhancement and social exchanges
characterized by mutual approval and praise.

• Receiving social approval requires presenting desirable features of the

self to others to invite positive affirmation.

• This contributes to a positive view of oneself.

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Happiness Name of Institution

SELF-CRITICAL ATTITUDES
• In contrast, within Asian collectivist cultures, social approval
requires the expression of a self-critical attitude that invites
sympathetic and supporting responses.

• This contributes to a positive view from others.

• An old American adage advises that “if you can’t say

something positive, don’t say anything at all.” In Japan, the
adage might be, “if you can’t admit your shortcomings, don’t
expect sympathy from others.”
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SOCIAL SENSITIVITY
1. Americans may regard self-critical and self-effacing attitudes as
manifestations of excessive politeness or self-deprecation.

2. But the Asian view (according to Kityama & Markus, 2000) is that these
characteristics reflect sensitivity to personal shortcomings that might
jeopardize favorable regard from others.

3. That is, modesty and humility both invite sympathetic treatment and
guard against giving offense to others.

4. When self-definition is intimately connected to relationships, the positive

regard of others is critical to personal satisfaction and happiness.
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SOCIAL SENSITIVITY
1. Self-promotion or considering oneself special and unique (so common
in America) is frowned upon in many Asian societies because self-
enhancing behaviors separate, rather than blend the individual with the
group.

2. In America it is said that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

Standing out and calling attention to oneself are virtues.

3. In Japan it is said that “the nail that stands out is pounded down.”

4. Fitting in and sensitivity to others are viewed as virtues.

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GEOGRAPHICAL
DIFFERENCES IN HAPPINESS

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 UNDERSTANDING Name of Institution

MONEY AND HAPPINESS

• What can we conclude about the contribution
of money to individual happiness?

• People living in rich nations are, on average,

happier than those living in poor nations;
however, this conclusion must be tempered by
all the factors that co-vary with wealth that
may be responsible for the relationship.

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MONEY AND HAPPINESS

• Among individuals within a particular country, the money–
happiness correlation is quite small and primarily evident
among the very poor.

• The role of income in fulfilling basic needs helps explain

the importance of money for people living in poverty.

• Among economically and technologically advanced

nations, increased economic growth over the last several
decades has had little appreciable effect on SWB.
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 UNDERSTANDING Name of Institution

MONEY AND HAPPINESS

• In affluent nations the money–happiness association
appears to be curvilinear, with money making a
greater difference at lower income levels, but much
less so at moderate or higher levels, so that the curve
levels out after a certain income is reached.

• Within wealthy nations, beyond a certain point,

increasing income does not yield continued increases
in happiness. Even the richest Americans are only
slightly happier than those with more moderate
incomes.
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MONEY AND HAPPINESS

• At the individual level, the most relevant evidence for
evaluating the importance of money comes from
longitudinal studies that track the impact of increased
or decreased income.

• Longitudinal studies follow the same individual over

time.

• If money has a consistent relationship to happiness,

then as a person’s income goes up or down, so
should his or her level of happiness.
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• Interestingly, Diener and Biswas-Diener’s

review (2002) concluded that longitudinal
studies do not show such a consistent
relationship.

• Several studies report no effect of increased

income on well-being and some have even
found increased happiness associated with
decreased income.
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• Studies of pay raises also show mixed results (see

Argyle, 2001). Pay increases produce only short-term
gains in satisfaction and pay reductions seem to have
little or no effect.

• Some of the most powerful evidence for the lack of

direct connection between money and happiness
comes from a study of lottery winners who reported no
long-term increase in SWB despite their dramatic
increases in income (Brickman, Coates, & Janoff-
Bulman, 1978).

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