Will Misenheimer

Deby Jizi
UWRT 1102-028
9 February 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Joshanloo, Mohsen and Dan Weijers. Aversion to Happiness across Cultures: A Review of
Where and Why People Are Averse to Happiness. Pursuing Happiness, Macmillan
Education. N.d. Print. 9 February 2016.
Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

267- Indeed, Western culture and

psychology seem to take for granted that
happiness is one of the most important
values guiding individuals lives, if not the
most important.

I totally agree. Especially in the USA, where

there is a free market economy, many
individuals become wrapped up in their
careers and find themselves paper-chasing,
rather than focusing their attention on being
happy.

268- Our research has shown us that many

people are averse to happiness because
bad things, such as unhappiness, suffering,
and death, tend to happy to happy people.

I would not consider myself one of these

people, but I can certainly understand why
this group thinks like it does. I imagine this
group as being a very superstitious and
stickler for the rules type group.

269- The belief that happiness causes, or is I wonder if this trend speaks to the different
likely to be followed by, albeit to a lesser
lifestyles of each culture. For example,
degree, in Western cultures.
perhaps the people of Asia and the Eastern
Hemisphere give more thought to their future,
which is why many of them are afraid that
happiness now means unhappiness later?
270- Along similar lines, Holden (2009) has
argued that people fear achieving extremely
high levels of happiness because they worry
that they will lose sense of who they are,
and consequently feel alien in their own
minds.

This statistic leads me to believe that many

people are not happy, because if one feels
alien in his or her own mind during periods of
happiness, then happiness must be very
unusual for him or her.

271- Similarly, but on a smaller scale,

I have been guilty of this. I can relate to this

Holden observes that some Westerners are

averse to happiness because they consider
happy people to be superficial lightweights
as opposed to serious-minded people who
lament the hopeless suffering of the world.

because I can remember the feeling I get

when I see someone who is obviously happy
and I may think he or she to be a tool. That
is a very poor thing of me to have thought.

272- Holden reports that this fear--the worry

that being happy will lead to a loss of
creative and artistic facultyis widespread
among actors and artists.

I feel that it is necessary for there to be

artwork to connect with us during temporary
times of depression, but it is horrid and
certainly saddening to think that someone
would want to remain in a constant state of
depression in order to produce artwork.

273- Even though not expressing

happiness is sometimes seen as a reason
for concern in Western cultures, we found
evidence for the belief that expressing
happiness should be avoided in many nonWestern and Western cultures.

I consider myself a fairly happy individual, but

I also feel that I rarely show happiness
physically. I feel that this is most likely due to
my subjective nature.

275- The usual advice offered by authors in

this Western tradition is to directly pursue
activities, such as acting morally, that tend
to bring about happiness as a by-product.

I would agree with this thought. I do not

believe that one needs to act immorally to
obtain happiness. Happiness is a perspective
and a peace of mind, not a false euphoria
caused by temporary self-satisfying desires.

276- Given these voices and norms it is not

surprising that some people are averse to
pursuing happiness because of the likely
negative effects on themselves and those
around them.

I believe that the key to happiness is not

really a pursuit, for a pursuit implies intensity,
when actually, it is quite the opposite. What is
needed is a sense of gratitude, self-fulfillment,
and appreciation and love for others.

277- Happiness is regarded by some

Western scholars as a basic building block,
a value in terms of which other values are
justified.

I agree with this, but I would go a step further

to identify the building block as a mindset,
with which other thoughts and actions are
formed in accordance to the established
mindset.

288- The main cultural differences might be

fruitfully explained by referring to both the
extent to which happiness is valued in
different cultures and the extent to which
happiness is valued compared to collective
values.

I agree. I believe that we should all embrace

each others different views of happiness and
what makes us happy/unhappy. Most
everyone is averse to happiness in one way
or another, therefore, the process is made
much easier if everyone would simply accept
others for their patterns of happiness.