Essay on American vs Asian Happiness - 847 Words

American /vs/ Asian View on Happiness Sandra Branco 9044618802 PSY/220 January 28, 2013 Jeana Esler View on Happiness View on Happiness Americans associate feelings of happiness with personal achievement, the Asian associate those feelings with an entire society’s harmony. Asian people feel emotion less often than Americans. Asians tended to rate their emotional events as more neutral than Americans rated theirs. Overall, Americans were more likely to see their experiences as â€Å"somewhat pleasant.† Asians respondents more often have mixed emotions in â€Å"predominantly pleasant situations† than Americans do. One reason suggested in the paper is that Asians seem to define advancement of social harmony as†¦show more content†¦For example, Americans believe that happy people are more likely to go to Heaven after death. Happiness is also closely related to health and life satisfaction. The active and explicit pursuit of happiness is one of the best ways of living out an independent personhood, which masters and controls the external environment, identifies and realizes potentials, create s and achieves goals. The Asian perspective individual’s inner attributes, the gratification of personal needs and desires, the amplification of personal achievement, the creation and protection of individual uniqueness are not important concerns: instead, the fulfillment of role obligations in interdependent social relationships, the creation and maintenance of interpersonal harmony, the striving to promote the welfare and prosperity of the family. The Asian culture exhibits a ‘‘habit of hesitation’’ towards happiness. Asians follow the theory of the ancient Yin–Yang philosophy which takes a cosmological view that everything from the cosmos to human life is a never-ending, cyclic process of change, between good and bad, happiness and misery, well-being and ill-being. Americans view Happiness in regards to money, family, and what can give them the most, Asians to me are more focused on the family and community. We as Americans really just see ourselves as happy when we have more than what our neighbor has, and that we have the perfect job, perfect family, friendsShow MoreRelatedThe Immigrant Advantage By Claudia Kolker878 Words   |  4 PagesIn Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that â€Å"women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status† (Kolker, 71) compared to couples whoRead MoreInterracial Marriage Should Be Legal1365 Words   |  6 PagesStates. 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