Happiness Maximization Is a WEIRD Way of Living
Happiness Maximization Is a WEIRD Way of Living
StatusVoR
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Authors
Krys, Kuba
Kostoula, Olga
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
Mosca, Oriana
Lee, J. Hannah
Maricchiolo, Fridanna
Kosiarczyk, Aleksandra
Kocimska-Bortnowska, Agata
Torres, Claudio
Hitokoto, Hidefumi
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Date
2024-02-13
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Perspectives on Psychological Science
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1-29
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1745-6916
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2024-02-13
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Abstract EN
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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Keywords PL
Keywords EN
culture
society
subjective well-being
happiness
life satisfaction
society
subjective well-being
happiness
life satisfaction
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43Acquisition Date4.08.2025
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