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Krys K, Kostoula O, van Tilburg WAP, Mosca O, Lee JH, Maricchiolo F, Kosiarczyk A, Kocimska-Bortnowska A, Torres C, Hitokoto H, Liew K, Bond MH, Lun VMC, Vignoles VL, Zelenski JM, Haas BW, Park J, Vauclair CM, Kwiatkowska A, Roczniewska M, Witoszek N, Işık İ, Kosakowska-Berezecka N, Domínguez-Espinosa A, Yeung JC, Górski M, Adamovic M, Albert I, Pavlopoulos V, Fülöp M, Sirlopu D, Okvitawanli A, Boer D, Teyssier J, Malyonova A, Gavreliuc A, Serdarevich U, Akotia CS, Appoh L, Mira DMA, Baltin A, Denoux P, Esteves CS, Gamsakhurdia V, Garðarsdóttir RB, Igbokwe DO, Igou ER, Kascakova N, Klůzová Kracˇmárová L, Kronberger N, Barrientos PE, Mohoricć T, Murdock E, Mustaffa NF, Nader M, Nadi A, van Osch Y, Pavlović Z, Polácˇková Šolcová I, Rizwan M, Romashov V, Røysamb E, Sargautyte R, Schwarz B, Selecká L, Selim HA, Stogianni M, Sun CR, Wojtczuk-Turek A, Xing C, Uchida Y. Happiness Maximization Is a WEIRD Way of Living. Perspect Psychol Sci 2024:17456916231208367. [PMID: 38350096 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231208367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Psychological science tends to treat subjective well-being and happiness synonymously. We start from the assumption that subjective well-being is more than being happy to ask the fundamental question: What is the ideal level of happiness? From a cross-cultural perspective, we propose that the idealization of attaining maximum levels of happiness may be especially characteristic of Western, educated, industrial, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies but less so for others. Searching for an explanation for why "happiness maximization" might have emerged in these societies, we turn to studies linking cultures to their eco-environmental habitat. We discuss the premise that WEIRD cultures emerged in an exceptionally benign ecological habitat (i.e., faced relatively light existential pressures compared with other regions). We review the influence of the Gulf Stream on the Northwestern European climate as a source of these comparatively benign geographical conditions. We propose that the ecological conditions in which WEIRD societies emerged afforded them a basis to endorse happiness as a value and to idealize attaining its maximum level. To provide a nomological network for happiness maximization, we also studied some of its potential side effects, namely alcohol and drug consumption and abuse and the prevalence of mania. To evaluate our hypothesis, we reanalyze data from two large-scale studies on ideal levels of personal life satisfaction-the most common operationalization of happiness in psychology-involving respondents from 61 countries. We conclude that societies whose members seek to maximize happiness tend to be characterized as WEIRD, and generalizing this across societies can prove problematic if adopted at the ideological and policy level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuba Krys
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Olga Kostoula
- Institute of Psychology, Johannes Kepler University Linz
| | | | - Oriana Mosca
- Department of Education, Psychology, and Philosophy, University of Cagliari
| | - J Hannah Lee
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Northwest
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kongmeng Liew
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
- School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury
| | - Michael H Bond
- Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
| | | | | | | | | | - Joonha Park
- Graduate School of Management, NUCB Business School
| | - Christin-Melanie Vauclair
- Centre for Psychological Research and Social Intervention (CIS-Iscte), Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
| | | | - Marta Roczniewska
- SWPS University
- Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet
| | - Nina Witoszek
- Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
| | - İdil Işık
- Psychology Department, Bahçeşehir University
| | | | | | | | - Maciej Górski
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw
| | | | - Isabelle Albert
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg
| | | | - Márta Fülöp
- Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church
- Research Centre of Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary
| | - David Sirlopu
- Faculty of Psychology and Humanities, Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción
| | | | - Diana Boer
- Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz
| | - Julien Teyssier
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II
| | - Arina Malyonova
- Department of General and Social Psychology, Dostoevsky Omsk State University
| | | | | | - Charity S Akotia
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Ghana
| | - Lily Appoh
- Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University
| | | | - Arno Baltin
- School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University
| | - Patrick Denoux
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II
| | - Carla Sofia Esteves
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Católica Lisbon Research Unit in Business and Economics
| | | | | | | | - Eric R Igou
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
| | - Natalia Kascakova
- Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University
- Psychiatric Clinic Pro Mente Sana, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | | | | | | | - Tamara Mohoricć
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka
| | - Elke Murdock
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg
| | - Nur Fariza Mustaffa
- Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia
| | - Martin Nader
- Department of Psychological Studies, Universidad ICESI
| | - Azar Nadi
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Yvette van Osch
- Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University
| | - Zoran Pavlović
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
| | | | | | | | | | - Ruta Sargautyte
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University
| | - Beate Schwarz
- Department of Applied Psychology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences
| | | | | | | | - Chien-Ru Sun
- Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University
| | | | - Cai Xing
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China
| | - Yukiko Uchida
- Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University
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