Changes in the Definition of Happiness Over Time
Shigehiro Oishi considered how happiness has changed over time. Oishi suggests that older dictionary definitions of happiness included concepts of luck and good fortune. But, when he surveyed dictionaries from 24 nations he found, somewhat surprisingly, that 19 of those countries still had these terms in their definition, and the USA was not among them. Oishi reasoned that definitions of happiness have transformed in the USA over the years to include more agentic conceptions of control, choice, and achievement (e.g., self-help books suggesting how to live a happy life). In America it seems, luck has a lot less to do with happiness than it used to.
Narcissism in China
Virginia Kwan (coincidentally, my first ever research assistant position was with Virginia) discussed how culture has changed in China over the last several decades. Virginia reasoned that four factors have caused a shift in Chinese culture toward increased narcissism: (1) the one child policy, where single children become the center of attention in their families, (2) increased wealth, which promotes self-interested action, (3) urbanization, which admittedly, I can't remember how it influences narcissism, and (4) a cultural shift toward increased individualistic ideas. Kwan found some correlational support for each of these four influences on increased narcissism among the Chinese.
Generation Me
Jean Twenge spoke about generational shifts in USA cultural values. In particular, Twenge found evidence for generational shifts in culture such that people have become less focused on communal goals (charity, environmental conservation), and more focused on extrinsic goals (money, fame, career advancement). The innovative part of this research: the survey evidence was collected from people belonging to three different generations (baby boomers, generation X, and generation me) in two samples where participants were the exact same age (either in high school or college). This controls for changes in personality as people age! That's some awesome research!
Have you seen cultural changes over time? What did they look like?
Cai, H., Kwan, V., & Sedikides, C. (2011). A Sociocultural Approach to Narcissism: The Case of Modern China European Journal of Personality DOI: 10.1002/per.852
i can relate that certain things over time have indeed changed.From the evidence in the passage its safe to say that its true, over time people have became in a way less concetrated on common goals of helping people and certain charitys and more focused on their personal goals like money, job, fortune, and family.it seems as society goes on, our actions and thoughts of certain things changed as well. i like your blog i can relate :)
ReplyDeleteHi Brian,
DeleteThe data presented at the talk do seem to suggest a focus away from communal relations with others. Thanks for reading!
What this blog is saying is true and i think we can look at personality psychology into why some of this is happening. First off lets look at what's on t.v. now days and what the younger population thinks is fun to watch(by younger i mea ages 17-28). Many people find Jersey Shore to be an entreating show. Its filled with drama, action, partying, etc etc. What we forget is that it is a show and not everything on this show is reality but people forget this. We start seeing that many people are acting the way they do on this show in everyday life. Its all about partying, drama, whos cool, dressing and acting ridiculous. This show is sending the wrong influence on the younger generation.
ReplyDeleteI believe more people are less focussed on school, helping there elders, and or there fellow man. All because of the influence of these types of shows.
Culture is often thought of as a mutually constitutive process in which people participate in a culture, and it is that participation which reinforces the cultural norms and expectations. Thinking about culture in this way would suggest that things like Jersey Shore are simultaneous a consequence and a cause of cultural shifts among generation me. Thanks for reading!
DeleteI am not a sociologist, so could someone please explain me one thing (and please correct me if I am mistaken):
ReplyDeleteLike every nation, Chinese nation is constantly changing. Due to their communist government and socialist way of life, the changes are obvious (since it is turning into a democratic republic, I'd say) and more vivid than in some other democratic state. They are becoming individualistic and capitalistic - what our state already is. How come we are calling China 'narcissistic' - what is our society then? Isn't it a bit too much to label it as narcissistic? Thanks for your explanation!
Thanks for the comment. To clarify, China is narcissistic according to the researchers, but it's people are becoming more narcissistic as the culture changes.
DeleteAnd, though this is hard to quantify, I believe the researchers don't find that China is more narcissistic than other countries (like the USA), just approaching levels of narcissism in those countries.
Hope this helps clarify things!
I'd love to read more on the research titled "Narcissism in China". Is it published yet, still in peer-review process or something else? (on the other hand, it might also be too new for sites like JSTOR or Elsevier to already have it in their database, but one can hope...).
ReplyDeleteThe best explanation I could think at the top of my head in relation to point (3), urbanization, is about how one is no longer an intrinsic part of a larger community bonded on long-term relationships where one tries to maintain harmony within it (more rural cultures), and instead is thrust into an environment where the first interest one would look out for is themselves--because no one else would, not in the way the people in the home town/home village would.
Relationships forming in cities are also more likely to be shorter termed and professional instead of long-termed and familial. I'm not talking strictly about personal relationships. I include the sort of relationships that people have with a supermarket cashier, which will be different with the one people have with the owner of a mom-and-pop grocery store standing at the corner of their block. Another example is the difference in relationship between members of a ROSCA (rotating savings and credit associations) and when one tries to own a credit card in a city.
Thanks N. Hermanto, your explanation makes a lot of sense!
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