Teaching About the Good Life: Culture and Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

Culture and Subjective Well–Being, MIT Press, 2000. Edited by E. Diener & E. M. Suh. “It’s the good life to be free and explore the unknown. . .” — The Good Life (1963, words by J. Reardon and music by S. Distel) Exploring the positive side of human experience is rapidly becoming a preoccupation among psychologists. Conferences, journal articles, books and book chapters, and awards are now devoted to the study of “positive psychology,” the examination of what factors keep people happy and healthy, if not always wealthy and wise. Teachers should get on the bandwagon, too, so that their students will learn how and why positive psychology—the theoretical and empirical pursuit of happiness—represents both an emerging trend as well as a sea change in academic psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The study of subjective well–being (SWB) represents one of the earliest forays into the burgeoning field known as positive psychology (e.g., Diener, 1984). What is SWB, and why is it a timely psychological construct worthy of interest to teachers of social and clinical psychology? SWB refers to comparative private experiences regarding the self–perceived quality of people’s lives (e.g., “Am I happy about my life?” “Does my life have a purpose?”), and it involves both affective (ongoing emotional reactions) and cognitive (life satisfaction) components (Diener & Diener, 1995). Research on SWB tackles the web of questions centering on who is satisfied and happy with his or her lot in life, and why. The age old question, “What is the good life?,” is no longer quite so rhetorical; not only are researchers providing some answers, they are broadening the question by introducing a new element—the role of culture—into the proceedings. What roles do economic, political, and personal freedom play in SWB? Instructors who like to demonstrate to students that quality of life issues involving such factors should not be exclusively evaluated through a Western lens will be drawn to using Culture and Subjective Well–Being in their classrooms. The editors and authors of this book share an interest in surveying quality of life issues in different countries and then making cross–society comparisons of SWB. Some intriguing