So, as other diseases, our emotion is contagious. Happiness as one of emotional states is also transmitted among personal social networks. I find this article very interesting, first, it studies individual’s psychological issue from a relational perspective, second, this finding is somehow contradictory to the well-known emotional response of “turning green with envy.” Isn’t it also true for some cases that we feel a sort of relative deprivation when we find someone around me is indeed doing good thus happy while myself is not even close to it? I mean, saying frankly, don’t we also feel jealous to other’s happiness in the other side of mind?
Maybe, our emotion is too multi-dimensional to be defined in a simple term. Above all, I get curious how on earth happiness can be defined with a few survey questions…Anyways, I love this article, at least it provokes a lot of thoughts!
News article:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-happy5-2008dec05,0,5449915.story
Full paper:
http://is.gd/amt3
Hi, I'm Hazel. I'm a PhD candidate in the dept. of Communication at the SUNY-Buffalo.
My heart moves when I appreciate an artwork that sheds the beauty of blanks. I'm also fascinated by what Mother Nature shows us.
However, what pounds on my heart the most is a scholar's wholehearted work that reflects his conscience, passion, and insight into the world we live in. That's why I chose to be a social scientist, neither an artist nor a park ranger.