ABSTRACT

In this paper, we introduce the concept of ‘societal emotional environment’: the emotional climate of a society (operationalized as the degree to which positive and negative emotions are expressed in a society). Using data collected from 12,888 participants across 49 countries, we show how societal emotional environments vary across countries and cultural clusters, and we consider the potential importance of these differences for well-being. Multilevel analyses supported a ‘double-edged sword’ model of negative emotion expression, where expression of negative emotions predicted higher life satisfaction for the expresser but lower life satisfaction for society. In contrast, partial support was found for higher societal life satisfaction in positive societal emotional environments. Our study highlights the potential utility and importance of distinguishing between positive and negative emotion expression, and adopting both individual and societal perspectives in well-being research. Individual pathways to happiness may not necessarily promote the happiness of others.

摘要

在本文中，我们引入了“社会情绪环境”的概念：一个社会的情绪氛围（可操作为一个社会中表达积极和消极情绪的程度）。使用从 49 个国家/地区的 12,888 名参与者收集的数据，我们展示了社会情感环境在不同国家和文化集群之间的差异，并考虑了这些差异对幸福的潜在重要性。多层次分析支持负面情绪表达的“双刃剑”模型，其中负面情绪的表达预示着表达者的生活满意度较高，但社会的生活满意度较低。相比之下，在积极的社会情感环境中，发现对更高的社会生活满意度有部分支持。我们的研究强调了区分积极和消极情绪表达的潜在效用和重要性，并在幸福感研究中同时采用个人和社会观点。个人通往幸福的途径不一定会促进他人的幸福。