Searching for Smiles 1 Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: "to be happy." Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves. % V; `0 v! [0 y& b* R
2 Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. "If you're a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you're more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune (免疫的) systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer."
# R3 ~& j$ ^6 T7 G, U1 A( e 3 So who are the world's happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction. 中华考试网* P5 Q4 a$ p& L7 n1 ]
4 "In the West, the individualistic (个人主义的) culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves, what can I do that's fun or interesting? They become unhappy when they can't do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied." 0 j# e; z {9 K) L0 x0 o
5 People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. "The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic (西班牙语言的) cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others."
: U9 f: \0 y+ B/ V# b 6 Income also made a big difference to people's happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure.
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! N" K$ Q* J+ k/ s5 P" a 7 But can we be too happy? "You get people who are actually happy, but they think happiness is so important that they try to be even happier. This desire to be always happy is a product of individualism, where the emphasis is on you individually, your emotions and feeling good. People can end up feeling unhappy because ordinary happiness is not good enough for them." |
发表于 2012-8-15 23:46:35
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