Collective pride, happiness, and celebratory emotions

Abstract

Leeds Metropolitan University In recent years, many instances of positive collective emotional manifestations of widely shared forms of pride, joy, and happiness have been reported in international media. Reactions to Obama’s election victory in 2008 included pride, excitement, and euphoria amongst supporters within the USA and worldwide. In 2010, the successful rescue of trapped miners in Chile produced contrasting emotions of national pride within the coun-try and transnational collective joy in the global audience following the drama. In Japan, the women’s soccer team triumph in the 2011 FIFA World Cup produced widespread hap-piness only a few months aft er the nuclear disaster and devastating tsunami. In the Ivory Coast in April 2011, supporters of rebel Alassane Ouattara celebrated in the streets aft er the UN confi rmed the capture and surrender of former President Gbagbo. Finally, 80% of the 1002 Britons (aged 16 years and over) surveyed about the 2012 Olympics felt that the “games has made people more proud to be British”—although 53% also agreed with the statement: “the eff ect will be short-lived” (BBC, 2012). Th ese instances of intense collective positive emotion represent only a brief list of events that require greater investigation, understanding, and explanation by an interdisciplinary combination of work from philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, political science, and social psychology. Although multiple perspectives can be taken toward the emotions that occur in groups, it is important to identify some common features. Even when groups (or subgroups) are ephemeral, collective emotion is felt by most members of the group. Th is demonstrates not only the means by which a group is identifi ed by other groups and how group members conceive themselves, but also displays common group inter-ests, values, and aims. It is useful to be aware of: (1) the wide variety of groups in which collective emotions can occur; (2) the degree of commitment, attachment, or identifi ca-tion involved; and (3) the types of collectives that aff ord collective emotions. Salmela (forthcoming) reminds us that collective emotions can occur on the basis of voluntary commitment to “teams, fan clubs, social clubs, bands and orchestras, theater ensembles, political parties, religious sects, as well as other identity groups that focus on gender, sexuality, health, environment, spirituality, or ethnicity.” Furthermore, events affi rming