Concepts of Happiness Across Time and Cultures

被引：209

作者：

Oishi, Shigehiro ^{[1
]}

Graham, Jesse ^{[2
]}

Kesebir, Selin ^{[3
]}

Galinha, Iolanda Costa ^{[4
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 USA

[2] Univ So Calif, Los Angeles, CA USA

[3] London Business Sch, London NW1 4SA, England

[4] Univ Autonoma Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

来源：

PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN | 2013年 / 39卷 / 05期

关键词：

happiness; subjective well-being; culture; historical; INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM; LIFE SATISFACTION; PEOPLE; CONSEQUENCES; PREVALENCE; EMOTIONS; LANGUAGE; DECISION; HAPPY; LOST;

D O I：

10.1177/0146167213480042

中图分类号：

B84 [心理学];

学科分类号：

04 ; 0402 ;

摘要：

We explored cultural and historical variations in concepts of happiness. First, we analyzed the definitions of happiness in dictionaries from 30 nations to understand cultural similarities and differences in happiness concepts. Second, we analyzed the definition of happiness in Webster's dictionaries from 1850 to the present day to understand historical changes in American English. Third, we coded the State of the Union addresses given by U. S. presidents from 1790 to 2010. Finally, we investigated the appearance of the phrases happy nation versus happy person in Google's Ngram Viewer from 1800 to 2008. Across cultures and time, happiness was most frequently defined as good luck and favorable external conditions. However, in American English, this definition was replaced by definitions focused on favorable internal feeling states. Our findings highlight the value of a historical perspective in the study of psychological concepts.

引用

页码：559 / 577

页数：19

共 65 条

[51] Does living in California make people happy? A focusing illusion in judgments of life satisfaction [J].