Happiness Across Cultures Views of Happiness and Quality of Life in Non-Western Cultures

This second edition of Happiness Across Cultures contains 8 brand new chapters on previously uncovered topics, such as Covid19, refugees, and violence. Different cultures experience happiness differently. Traditionally, the West is considered materialistic, and happiness is said to come from achievement and acquisition. The East is said to be more people-oriented, where happiness is a result of deep personal interactions. Thus, poor people can be happier in the East than the West, because they are not so concerned with possession and more with society. This new edition considers happiness and quality of life in non-Western countries and cultures. Its coverage is now more diverse and spans the breadth of the non-Western world, revealing unique perspectives of happiness and life quality embedded in rich cultural traditions and histories.

Chapter 1. Introduction (Helaine Selin and Gareth Davey).- Chapter 2. Happiness in India (Robert Biswas-Diener, Louis Tay, Tithi Bhatnagar, and Ed Diener).- Chapter 3. Happiness and Wellbeing in the Dai Ethnic Minority in China—Some Observations (Gareth Davey).- Chapter 4. Between tradition and modernity: Exploring the differences in factors driving happiness in indigenous and the general population in Bangladesh (Salauddin Tauseef).- Chapter 5. Subjective Wellbeing in Kazakhstan: Evidence from the Subnational Level (Dina Sharipova and Gulnur Makulbayeva).- Chapter 6. Singapore: A Happier State of Mind (Siok Kuan Tambyah and Yuen Wei Lun).- Chapter 7. Life Satisfaction Among Driver-Partners in a Gig Economy: A Case Study From Vietnam (Le Van Hung, Nguyen Ngoc Trung).- Chapter 8. Happiness in a First People’s Community in New South Wales, Australia (Daniela Heil).- Chapter 9. Indigenous American Happiness (Amoneeta Beckstein).- Chapter 10. Happiness in the Amazon: Concepts and Everyday Causes of Happiness by the Tsimane’ Indigenous Peoples in the Bolivian Amazon (Victoria Reyes-Garcia).- Chapter 11. Person-Based Interpersonal Relations and Happiness in Latin America (Mariano Rojas).- Chapter 12. Happiness from Here: Conceptions and Experience of Well-Being from Ghanaian Settings Ghana (Adjeiwa Akosua Affram, Glenn Adams, Syed Muhammad Omar, Vivian Afi Dzokoto, Abraham Kenin and Annabella Osei-Tutu).- Chapter 13. Tribal Conceptions of Happiness and Wellbeing in Tanzania (Damian Boniface Sambuo).- Chapter 14. The Climatic Ecology and Geography of Happiness (Evert Van de Vliert).- Chapter 15. The Science of Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Stephen Morris).- Chapter 16. Does Happiness Differ Across Cultures?  (Ruut Veenhoven).- Chapter 17. World Database of Happiness: Uses for comparing across cultures (Ruut Veenhoven).- Chapter 18. The Complex Relationship Between Morality and Happiness Around the World (Stephen Morris).- Chapter 19. The pursuit of well-being in the midst of climate change. Reflections from Mapuche youth and the embodiment of Küme Mongen (Rosario Carmona, Shayeññ Rojas and Rayen Rupayan).- Chapter 20. Unhappiness and social stress at work: South American research on workplace bullying and harassment (Elisa Ansoleaga, Silvia Franco, and Stale Einarsen).- Chapter 21. The Wellbeing of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Israel: A Life Course and Sociocultural Perspective (Geva Shenkman).- Chapter 22. Migration and Happiness: Perspectives from Bhubaneswar's Migrant Construction Workers (Ramya Ranjan Behera, Rashmi Ranjan Behera, and Rudra Prakash Pradhan).- Chapter 23. Happiness and Religion: The Islamic Context (Iffath Unissa Syed and Mohammed Shehzad Kazi).- Chapter 24. The Effect of the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Pandemic on the Happiness and Wellbeing on Some Countries in the Non-Western World (Melek Zubaroglu Yanardag, Özlem Özer and Okan Özkan).- Chapter 25. Hospitality and Wellbeing Across Cultures (Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener).

Helaine Selin was a Faculty Associate and Science Librarian at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, from which she retired in 2012.  She is the editor of the Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (3rd ed. Springer 2016) and eleven books in Springer’s Science Across Cultures series, on Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, Nature, Childbirth, Parenting, Happiness, Death, Aging, Childhood in Turkey and Sustainability, Diversity, and Equality: Key Challenges for Japan.

 

Gareth Davey is a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Professional Studies at the University of Bolton in England. He is a sociologist and social psychologist with diverse research interests. He is particularly interested in identity, health, and wellbeing in non-Western cultures. He has worked as a university professor in numerous countries including China, India, Lebanon, Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.