Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

Egon DEJONCKHEERE; Joshua J. RHEE; Peter K. BAGUMA; Oumar BARRY; Maja BECKER; Michał BILEWICZ; Thomas CASTELAIN; Giulio COSTANTINI; Girts DIMDINS; Agustín ESPINOSA; Gillian FINCHILESCU; Malte FRIESE; Maria Cecilia GASTARDO-CONACO; Ángel GÓMEZ; Roberto GONZÁLEZ; Nobuhiko GOTO; Peter HALAMA; Camilo HURTADO-PARRADO; Gabriela M. JIGA-BOY; Johannes A. KARL; Lindsay NOVAK; Liisi AUSMEES; Steve LOUGHNAN; Khairul A. MASTOR; Neil MCLATCHIE; Ike E. ONYISHI; Muhammad RIZWAN; Mark SCHALLER; Eleonora SERAFIMOVSKA; Eunkook M. SUH; William B. SWANN; Eddie M.W. TONG; Ana TORRES; Rhiannon N. TURNER; Alexander VINOGRADOV; Zhechen WANG; Victoria Wai-lan YEUNG; Catherine E. AMIOT; Watcharaporn BOONYASIRIWAT; Müjde PEKER; Paul A.M. VAN LANGE; Christin Melanie VAUCLAIR; Peter KUPPENS; Brock BASTIAN

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

Egon DEJONCKHEERE^*, Joshua J. RHEE, Peter K. BAGUMA, Oumar BARRY, Maja BECKER, Michał BILEWICZ, Thomas CASTELAIN, Giulio COSTANTINI, Girts DIMDINS, Agustín ESPINOSA, Gillian FINCHILESCU, Malte FRIESE, Maria Cecilia GASTARDO-CONACO, Ángel GÓMEZ, Roberto GONZÁLEZ, Nobuhiko GOTO, Peter HALAMA, Camilo HURTADO-PARRADO, Gabriela M. JIGA-BOY, Johannes A. KARLLindsay NOVAK, Liisi AUSMEES, Steve LOUGHNAN, Khairul A. MASTOR, Neil MCLATCHIE, Ike E. ONYISHI, Muhammad RIZWAN, Mark SCHALLER, Eleonora SERAFIMOVSKA, Eunkook M. SUH, William B. SWANN, Eddie M.W. TONG, Ana TORRES, Rhiannon N. TURNER, Alexander VINOGRADOV, Zhechen WANG, Victoria Wai-lan YEUNG, Catherine E. AMIOT, Watcharaporn BOONYASIRIWAT, Müjde PEKER, Paul A.M. VAN LANGE, Christin Melanie VAUCLAIR, Peter KUPPENS, Brock BASTIAN

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Applied Psychology

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.

Original language	English
Article number	1514
Pages (from-to)	1514
Number of pages	14
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z
Publication status	Published - 17 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. The Author(s).

Funding

Fund for Scientific Research in Flanders (FWO) grant 1210621N (ED). Research Fund of KU Leuven grant C14/19/054 (ED, PK). Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies grant ANID/FONDAP 15130009 (RG). Interdisciplinary Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Studies grant ANID/FONDAP 15110006 and ANID/FONDECYT1201788 (RG). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Keywords

Cross-Sectional Studies
Happiness
Humans
Peer Influence
Perception

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10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

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DEJONCKHEERE, E., RHEE, J. J., BAGUMA, P. K., BARRY, O., BECKER, M., BILEWICZ, M., CASTELAIN, T., COSTANTINI, G., DIMDINS, G., ESPINOSA, A., FINCHILESCU, G., FRIESE, M., GASTARDO-CONACO, M. C., GÓMEZ, Á., GONZÁLEZ, R., GOTO, N., HALAMA, P., HURTADO-PARRADO, C., JIGA-BOY, G. M., ... BASTIAN, B. (2022). Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1514. Article 1514. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

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abstract = "Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.",

keywords = "Cross-Sectional Studies, Happiness, Humans, Peer Influence, Perception",

author = "Egon DEJONCKHEERE and RHEE, {Joshua J.} and BAGUMA, {Peter K.} and Oumar BARRY and Maja BECKER and Micha{\l} BILEWICZ and Thomas CASTELAIN and Giulio COSTANTINI and Girts DIMDINS and Agust{\'i}n ESPINOSA and Gillian FINCHILESCU and Malte FRIESE and GASTARDO-CONACO, {Maria Cecilia} and {\'A}ngel G{\'O}MEZ and Roberto GONZ{\'A}LEZ and Nobuhiko GOTO and Peter HALAMA and Camilo HURTADO-PARRADO and JIGA-BOY, {Gabriela M.} and KARL, {Johannes A.} and Lindsay NOVAK and Liisi AUSMEES and Steve LOUGHNAN and MASTOR, {Khairul A.} and Neil MCLATCHIE and ONYISHI, {Ike E.} and Muhammad RIZWAN and Mark SCHALLER and Eleonora SERAFIMOVSKA and SUH, {Eunkook M.} and SWANN, {William B.} and TONG, {Eddie M.W.} and Ana TORRES and TURNER, {Rhiannon N.} and Alexander VINOGRADOV and Zhechen WANG and YEUNG, {Victoria Wai-lan} and AMIOT, {Catherine E.} and Watcharaporn BOONYASIRIWAT and M{\"u}jde PEKER and {VAN LANGE}, {Paul A.M.} and VAUCLAIR, {Christin Melanie} and Peter KUPPENS and Brock BASTIAN",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z",

language = "English",

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DEJONCKHEERE, E, RHEE, JJ, BAGUMA, PK, BARRY, O, BECKER, M, BILEWICZ, M, CASTELAIN, T, COSTANTINI, G, DIMDINS, G, ESPINOSA, A, FINCHILESCU, G, FRIESE, M, GASTARDO-CONACO, MC, GÓMEZ, Á, GONZÁLEZ, R, GOTO, N, HALAMA, P, HURTADO-PARRADO, C, JIGA-BOY, GM, KARL, JA, NOVAK, L, AUSMEES, L, LOUGHNAN, S, MASTOR, KA, MCLATCHIE, N, ONYISHI, IE, RIZWAN, M, SCHALLER, M, SERAFIMOVSKA, E, SUH, EM, SWANN, WB, TONG, EMW, TORRES, A, TURNER, RN, VINOGRADOV, A, WANG, Z, YEUNG, VW, AMIOT, CE, BOONYASIRIWAT, W, PEKER, M, VAN LANGE, PAM, VAUCLAIR, CM, KUPPENS, P & BASTIAN, B 2022, 'Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 1514, pp. 1514. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

AU - DEJONCKHEERE, Egon

AU - RHEE, Joshua J.

AU - BAGUMA, Peter K.

AU - BARRY, Oumar

AU - BECKER, Maja

AU - BILEWICZ, Michał

AU - CASTELAIN, Thomas

AU - COSTANTINI, Giulio

AU - DIMDINS, Girts

AU - ESPINOSA, Agustín

AU - FINCHILESCU, Gillian

AU - FRIESE, Malte

AU - GASTARDO-CONACO, Maria Cecilia

AU - GÓMEZ, Ángel

AU - GONZÁLEZ, Roberto

AU - GOTO, Nobuhiko

AU - HALAMA, Peter

AU - HURTADO-PARRADO, Camilo

AU - JIGA-BOY, Gabriela M.

AU - KARL, Johannes A.

AU - NOVAK, Lindsay

AU - AUSMEES, Liisi

AU - LOUGHNAN, Steve

AU - MASTOR, Khairul A.

AU - MCLATCHIE, Neil

AU - ONYISHI, Ike E.

AU - RIZWAN, Muhammad

AU - SCHALLER, Mark

AU - SERAFIMOVSKA, Eleonora

AU - SUH, Eunkook M.

AU - SWANN, William B.

AU - TONG, Eddie M.W.

AU - TORRES, Ana

AU - TURNER, Rhiannon N.

AU - VINOGRADOV, Alexander

AU - WANG, Zhechen

AU - YEUNG, Victoria Wai-lan

AU - AMIOT, Catherine E.

AU - BOONYASIRIWAT, Watcharaporn

AU - PEKER, Müjde

AU - VAN LANGE, Paul A.M.

AU - VAUCLAIR, Christin Melanie

AU - KUPPENS, Peter

AU - BASTIAN, Brock

PY - 2022/2/17

Y1 - 2022/2/17

N2 - Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.

AB - Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Happiness

KW - Humans

KW - Peer Influence

KW - Perception

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124776484&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-04262-z

M3 - Journal Article (refereed)

C2 - 35177625

AN - SCOPUS:85124776484

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 12

SP - 1514

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 1514

ER -

Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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