DAY 174 - HAPPINESS: EAST AGAINST WEST

Day 174 

A Russian student of mine came up to me the other day and asked me why I smiled so much.  He was asking me, but he was also referring to North American people in general.  He thinks that North Americans smile way too much.  In Russia, he says, people only smile when there is something to smile about.  

It is true, that in North America, we tend to value the big, white, beautiful smile as being a sign of happiness, kindness and even success.

It made me think about cross-cultural differences when it comes to happiness and the definitions different societies might have of the concept.  I stumbled upon an article written by Yukiko Uchida, Vinai Norasakkunkit and Shinobu Kitayama entitled: Cultural constructions of happiness: theory and empirical evidence published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.  In that study, the authors compare the perception of happiness in the Western world with the one in Eastern Asia.

They found that the happiness of Westerners was largely based on personal accomplishment, self-esteem and personal gratification.  It was mostly an individualistic quest. They also observed that to feel happy, people had to experience positive feelings such as excitement and enthusiasm. 

In Eastern Asia, happiness tended “to be defined in terms of interpersonal connectedness”. People's happiness came from their relationship with their collectivity, rather than their personal needs and desires being fulfilled. They also noticed that individuals in these cultures wanted to create and maintain a balance between positive and negative feelings.  Finally, Eastern Asians defined happiness as being a feeling of calmness and tranquility.

That study demonstrates that when we, as Westerners, define happiness, we should realize that our vision of it is influenced by our cultural understanding of the word and is not universal.

Happiness is, for many of us, an accumulation of positive emotions brought through positive experiences.  It comes from the bad /evil dichotomy we grew up with and that greatly defines our culture.  You feel bad or you feel good.   When you feel bad, you’re unhappy.  When you feel good, you’re happy. 

Probably because of the influence of many traditional beliefs (Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism), Eastern Asian people view good and bad, joy and pain, as being complementary and equally essential to a balanced life.  And so negative emotions are viewed as being part of the equation, as much as positive emotions, in order to be happy!  That is why they believe you need to feel calm to be happy and not exhilarated.  That philosophy is something we, as Westerners, can definitely learn from.

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