Happiness in all countries and cultures, has always been a central question. This is one of the eternal issues that humanity reflected in the philosophical books and folk art, like fairy tales, legends, proverbs, and aphorisms. It is difficult to define happiness because it depends on spiritual traditions and national psychological characteristics.
Besides the cultural factor, each of us has its own idea of what happiness is. For someone, it could be quiet and peaceful family life, others are looking for the creative work, while some people are happy helping homeless animals. For example, for the Indians of the South American tribe Pirahã happiness is a natural feeling. These three hundred people living in the Valley of the river Mèjki are considered to be the most carefree people inhabiting the world. It is a paradox, but hey are unable to explain what happiness is. At the same time, the brightest minds of civilized mankind have been trying to give it a definition for a thousand years.
No one knows exactly what constitutes happiness. In general, happiness is a state of the highest satisfaction of people with the conditions of their existence. A person can be happy when everything in his life is going right. The most widespread opinion says that it is the equivalent of pleasures. Jeremy Bentham understood happiness as "the sum of pleasures minus pains" (Mathews). A large percentage of people identifies happiness as a satisfaction of their needs. Many understand happiness as a success in a career, family life or relations. There are universal in all cultures elements that form happiness. It can include such categories as well-being, good wage, health, family, security, the opportunity to study and travel. A world-view and faith are very important elements of happiness (Lu, Gilmour and Kao 481), because religious people have a very clear view of the world, divided in good and bad.
I think, happiness is culture-bound in ways that are similar to mental illness in Nasser's article. Latif Nasser, a doctoral candidate in the history of science department at Harvard University, researched a phenomenon of culture-bound illnesses and tried to answer the question “how may mental illnesses are a manifestation of the cultures in which they arise” (Nasser). He succeeded in his theory that culture has a great influence on the mental state of people. In his essay Pursuing the Science of Happiness Andrew Guest discussed the complex ways in which human beings define happiness, according to the culture they belong. It incorporates a variety of objective factors depending on a culture. In some Western philosophies, “happiness is defined as just one among several life purposes” (Mathews). For example, the Swedes have some sort of national myth that a good person should be fair, tolerant, free and democratic. It gives them a feeling what is the main goal of life in a society. That is why they are willing to pay huge taxes and be sure this is a pledge of success of their country. It gives them the feeling of success and happiness. Besides, they are Protestants. Protestantism gives them a set of rules: to be good, tolerant and to live in a decent democracy. That is why they are free from prejudices and stereotypes and have a positive approach to life. Buddhists believe that happiness is the natural state of the human mind. We are limited to experience happiness constantly because of awareness of the different concepts and ideologies, as well as the reliance on infinitely variable states of mind. According to the research made by Lu, Gilmour and Kao named Cultural Values and Happiness: An East - West Dialogue, “the same values may be different in Eastern and Western countries, which emphasize individualistic striving and achievement, a legalistic approach, control, advancement and social arrangements”(Lu, Gilmour and Kao 489).
A great influence on the development of moral and ethical trends in happiness and misfortune had Christian dogma. For example, Orthodox Christianity has the most significant influence in Russia. A characteristic feature of the issue of happiness and unhappiness in the Russian national cultural identity remains a problem of moral permissibility of happiness and moral cleansing. Russian Orthodoxy emphasizes on the spiritual and moral basis of unhappiness. According to it, suffering is the authenticity of human being and the path to happiness. The system of values of the Russian people is defined by a mental human responsiveness. A sense of compassion and empathy is one of the most pronounced features of Russians. Speaking of the Russian speaking world view, happiness is a dream, it is what people want, and what they regret. The pursuit of happiness may imply the need for happiness as a universal, absolute good. There is a moral component of inappropriate personal happiness at a time when other people are unhappy, and the ability to share the misfortune of others. Russians today tend to express their unhappiness rather than admit that they are happy.
The United States have opposed situation. American success is shown everywhere. People scream about their happiness and try to hide their problems. The American dream has become a kind of standard of happiness in a consumer society. Although many residents of the United States identify the American dream with their home, income, car, big family and friendly neighbors. The model of the country is based on the concept of Protestant’s work ethic, which preaches a hard and conscientious work.
James Fowler from University of California and Nicholas Christakis from Harvard University have been carefully studied for 20 years the way of life of 5000 people with their immediate family members, colleagues and acquaintances. The scientists analyzed all the events: birth, marriage, death, divorce, higher wages, shift work or field of activity. They made a conclusion that positive perception of life in America does not depend on the presence or absence of money, professional success or active personal life (Fowler, Christakis 1-9). Even health has no direct influence on it. The secret of happiness is in the surrounding environment. If a person spends time with friendly and happy people, its perception of the world is positive (Fowler, Christakis 1-9).
Happiness is a balance between what you want and what you have. It reveals the complex nature of relations of concepts of happiness and unhappiness. In the example of perception of happiness in Russia and America, it is clear that cultural tradition has the most significant influence on the understanding of happiness. The principles of true happiness are the basic principles of the universe. Spiritual growth and purity of the soul are the integral elements of happiness. Besides the common principles of happiness in all over the world, there are individual perceptions of happiness in each culture.
Works Cited
Fowler, James H. and Nicholas A. Christakis. “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study”. British Medical Journal. 337, no. a2338 (2008): 1-9
Lu, Luo, Robin Gilmour, and Shu-Fang Kao. "Cultural Values and Happiness: An East - West Dialogue." The Journal of Social Psychology 141.4 (2001): 477-93. Web. <http://web.ba.ntu.edu.tw/luolu/Culture values and happiness.pdf>.
Mathews, Gordon. Pursuits of Happiness: Well-being in Anthropological Perspective. New York: Berghahn, 2009. Print.
Nasser, Latif. "Do Some Cultures Have Their Own Ways of Going Mad?" The Boston Globe (2012). Web. <http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/01/08/some-cultures-have-their-own-ways-going-mad/fSuwCngcHbTpMZdBzSFagI/story.html>.
