Arthur C. Brooks, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School, writes in a recent article that Different Cultures Define Happiness Differently.
So what is happiness? According to a 2016 survey it is “an inner state, feeling or attitude”. It appears it is different for different cultures. For examples, Americans tend to define it in terms of their skills meeting their passions, usually in the context of work, writes Brooks.
Dr. Brooks writes:
The research on how people around the world conceive of well-being, in fact, reveals some major differences among nations. Understanding these differences gives us a much richer picture of global happiness than any index can depict. But more important, it provides a suite of models for well-being that each of us can follow.
Differences in Western and Eastern Cultures
According to the 2016 survey, In the West, happiness is defined as “a high arousal state such as excitement and a sense of personal achievement” whereas, in Asia, “happiness is defined in terms of experiencing a low arousal state such as calmness.”
Dr. Brooks list following four models of Happiness:
- Happiness comes from good relationships with the people you love. (eg. United States).
- Happiness comes from a higher consciousness (eg. Southern India).
- Happiness comes from doing what you love, usually with others. (eg. Nordic countries and Central Europe).
- Happiness comes from simply feeling good. (eg. Latin America, the Mediterranean, and South Africa).
So what makes Dr Brooks happy?
.. a deep absorption in and enjoyment of my research and teaching, and a strong commitment to the people in my life. Barcelona is the happiest place in the world.