Happiness Varied by Culture

Discussion 2: What Brings Happiness Varies by Culture

Components of happiness and well-being are dependent on each individual culture. For instance, in one culture, feeling connected to nature may bring happiness while in another culture experiencing happiness may be linked to receiving an award or praise from others.

For this Discussion, you will read several resources describing how happiness may vary by cultural context and even how words and terms for happiness may not be universal and thus may not appear in every culture. As you consider these Learning Resources, think about the influence or term for happiness and whether it appears in every culture.

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and select an influence for happiness or a term for happiness that does not appear in every culture.

Post an explain the influence or term for happiness you selected and explain why you think it does not appear every culture.

 

Learning Resources

Required Readings/REFERENCES

Colby, B. (2009). Is a measure of cultural well-being possible or desirable? In G. Mathews & C. Izquierdo (Eds.), Pursuits of happiness: Well-being in anthropological perspective (pp. 45–64). New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
Credit Line: Pursuits of Happiness: Well-being in Anthropological Perspective, by Mathews, G.; Izquierdo, C. Copyright 2009 by Berghahn Books. Reprinted by permission of Berghahn Books via the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Lomas, T. (2016). Towards a positive cross-cultural lexicography: Enriching our emotional landscape through 216 ‘intranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being. Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 546–588.

Oishi, S. (2018). Culture and subjective well-being: Conceptual and measurement issues. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. DOI: nobascholar.com Retrieved from https://www.nobascholar.com/chapters/46/download.pdf 

Suh, E. M., & Koo, J. (2009). Comparing subjective well-being across cultures and nations: The “what” and “why” questions. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 414–427). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Credit Line: The Science of Subjective Well-Being by Eid, M.; Larson, R. J. (Eds).  Copyright 2009 by Guilford Publications. Reprinted by permission of Guilford Publications via the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Veenhoven, R. (2010). How universal is happiness? In E. Diener, J. F. Helliwell, & D. Kahneman (Eds.), International differences in well-being (pp. 328–350). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Credit Line: International Differences in Well-Being, by Diener, J.; Helliwell, J. ; Kahneman, D. Copyright 2010 by Oxford University Press. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press via the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Government.ae (2018). UAE Government: Happiness. Retrieved from https://government.ae/en/about-the-uae/the-uae-government/government-of-future/happiness