Happiness is overrated and boring. Diversity in emotions is cool.
Emotions are fundamental to one’s living. They deterministically influence our mood and behaviour — social and professional. Thus, it is crucial to be aware of our emotions and be able to conscientiously traverse through them.
Today individuals, organisations and governments are fixated over happiness. It has become an obsession. Happiness is important, and it must be clarified that the article does not seek to oppose it. However, the aim is to highlight that happiness is not everything. It is the diversity in emotions, not just happiness, which is crucial for the well-being of an individual. The traditional way of the rectilinear classification of emotions in a binary continuum — positive or negative, pleasant or unpleasant — is problematic.
Emotional diversity in India
Different emotions are treated differently in different cultures. Longing for happiness is more in Western cultures than in the Eastern cultures. Indian cultures have celebrated emotional diversity since ancient times. The historical texts highlight the celebration of naurasas (nine emotional states) by people in their lives. These naurasas include love, joy, anger, compassion, disgust, horror, heroism, wonder and peace, to put it simply. Similarly, it is said that the ragas (notes/melody) in the Hindustani classical music evoke not just happiness, but the entire spectrum of emotions. This reflects the celebration of diversity in emotions in the Indian cultures.
Diversity — cultural and emotional, is a cherished value and goal for the people of India. Our social fabric fosters and celebrates diversity. Attaching importance to and promoting a single value (happiness!) alone is exclusionary. Is it scientifically or culturally tenable to exclude people based on differential emotional experience? Such an exclusion makes them feel a pariah and goes against the essence of individual dignity and diversity.
‘Happiness’ departments and ministers
A single emotion of ‘happiness’ has been hogging an uncritical limelight in the recent years. The fixation over happiness has become global. The government of UAE has appointed a Minister of State for Happiness. A Governor in Nigeria has appointed a Commissioner for Happiness. The Happiness Alliance goes a step further by calling for the appointment of officers or ministers of happiness at all tiers of government in every country. In India too, the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have started a department of happiness and a happiness commission, respectively. The government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has launched a “happiness curriculum” for the government schools in Delhi.
Research on ‘happiness’
Though the uncritical fixation over happiness persists, studies have shown that pursuing happiness may not be good for individuals. Maya Tamir, professor of Psychology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says, “people want to feel very good all the time in Western cultures, especially in the United States… Even if they feel good most of the time, they may still think that they should feel even better, which might make them less happy overall.” It is thus, a poor public policy to promote a single emotion.
“people want to feel very good all the time in Western cultures, especially in the United States… Even if they feel good most of the time, they may still think that they should feel even better, which might make them less happy overall.”
Recent studies have shown that it is the diversity in emotions which is critical for an individual’s well-being. A research published in the journal Emotion finds that it is the “emodiversity” which is crucial in controlling the inflammation (biological health) in individuals.
Emotions have both affective and cognitive components. A so-called ‘negative emotion’ may have a positive cognitive or biological outcome. Focussing on one and disregarding the other is not suited for a well-informed, evidence-based policy formulation and implementation. The ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ component of each emotion is multi-causal, and is affected by many factors.
The pursuit of happiness can be lonely. Placing more emphasis on happiness may surprisingly generate negative consequences. It is true that we all seek happiness in our lives and want our experiences to be merry, joyful and happy. But, is happiness everything in life? Is happiness a means or an end in itself? Research suggests that though happiness is crucial for a ‘great’ life, there may be “dark sides” to it. It may not be beneficial at every level, in every context, for every reason, and in every variety.
We know that ‘positive emotions’ promote more internally-focussed processing, while ‘negative emotions’ promote more externally-oriented and accommodative processing. Contrary to the pursuit, it may make people more self-centred or selfish. It may go against our vision of a naturally empathetic and socially responsible demographic dividend.
‘Happiness’ promotion as a public policy
The objectives and approaches of various ‘happiness’ initiatives are laudable and appreciable. They must be congratulated for focussing on an important aspect of identifying and guiding the emotions. However, it may have negative and exclusionary consequences.
Every individual experience different emotions on a different scale, which is perfectly alright. The individuals, societies and governments must relinquish their uncritical view of happiness. They must give heed to the various scientific researches and cultural values. The pursuit of happiness may be unfortunate to the extent of promoting anti-social individuals, defeating the entire purpose of producing a “good human being”. Though unique and with good intent, as a public policy, inhibiting the emotional diversity may not be compatible with our cherished values of individual dignity, democracy and diversity.
Please note: This is an edited version of the article earlier published here.
