Table Of ContentHappiness: Understandings, Narratives and Discourses
Happiness:
Understandings,
Narratives and Discourses
Laura Hyman
UniversityofPortsmouth,UK
©LauraHyman2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-32152-7
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Contents
Preface vi
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction 1
2 Happiness:TheStorySoFar 9
3 WhatIsHappiness? 31
4 TheHappySelf:UnderstandingHappinessthrough
TherapeuticDiscourse 56
5 ‘PackAnimals’?InterpersonalRelationshipsand
Happiness 87
6 OrientationstoMoney,WorkingLifeandHappiness 119
7 Conclusion 145
Appendix1:RespondentProfiles 155
Appendix2:InterviewQuestions 158
Bibliography 159
Index 164
v
Preface
This is a book about happiness; its title and cover makes that very
clear. Why is a book on happiness important? One of the reasons
whyIhavewrittenthisisbecauseitoccupiessuchacentralplacein
contemporaryBritishandWesternsocieties.Almostallofuswillhave
felthappyatvariouspointsduringourlives.Listentoanypopsong
or read any novel, and there is a reasonable chance that happiness
willfeaturesomewhereinthewords.Watch,lookatorlistentoany
advertisement, and you will likely come across a product or service
that promises to improve your life in some way. We are constantly
exposed to images of a happy life, and we are also surrounded by
suggestedroutesthatwecantakeinordertoattempttoobtainone.
Notonlyhaveweseenaproliferationoftheself-helpbookindustry
in recent decades, but we also have available to us a range of web-
sites, videos and mobile phone apps that can help to guide us in
thedirectionofhappinessandfulfilment.Andifthatisnotenough,
the growth in popularity of techniques such as yoga, mindfulness
and meditation in recent years means that we can be taken there
by qualified experts through a vast range of classes and workshops
that are now on offer. Even politicians are taking an interest in the
happinessandwell-beingoftheircitizens,aswemoveintoafourth
year of the UK government’s ‘Measuring National Well-Being’ pro-
grammesinceitsinitiallaunchlatein2010.So,ifhappinessissuch
a concern to people, both in Britain and beyond, then surely it is
necessary to try and understand what this thing is that seems to be
preoccupyingthem?
Inrecentdecades,wehavewitnessedaburgeoningofacademicand
popularpsychologyandself-helpliteraturethathashadanemphasis
onhappiness.Thus,onecouldaskwhetherthisneedtounderstand
happiness has already been addressed. Well, to a degree, it has. We
are now exposed to a wealth of information about the brain func-
tions that are required to experience it, and the mental, emotional
andphysicaltechniquesthatindividualscanengageintobringabout
increased feelings of happiness. However, what seems to be missing
vi
Preface vii
fromthisbranchofknowledgeisanideaofhowourexperiencesand
perceptionsofhappinessaresociallysituated.Thatis,howdocultural
and social norms, social networks and other facets of our everyday
livesaffectthewayweexperienceandmakesenseofhappiness?Itis
not simply a private feeling brought about on an individual, physi-
ologicallevel,butitalsohasasocialcontext.Anditisthisthatthis
bookconsiders.
Sowhysuchapreoccupationwithhappiness?Howandwhyhasit
become such a talking point in British society? Zygmunt Bauman’s
‘liquid modernity’ argument (2000) could provide one answer to
these questions. It could be argued that, due to increased rates of
geographical mobility and fragmentation of communities, our rela-
tionshipsandfriendshipshavebecomemorefragileasourplacesin
theworldasindividualsarelesscertainand‘fixed’thaneverbefore.
As a result, we are encouraged to be self-sufficient, and part of this
self-sufficiency is a focus on the achievement of individual happi-
ness. However, this conflicts with debates about the ways in which
our class, gender, race, sexuality or place in social space restrict our
abilitiestodrawonresourcestomakeourselveshappy,whichsucha
‘liquidmodernity’perspectiveseemstooverlook.Yetinaneoliberal
and individualistic society like ours, it is this way of thinking that
seemstodrivedominantconceptionsofhappinessandourcapacities
toattainit.
Thisbookisnotaself-helpmanual,perse.Icannotguaranteethat
readerswillbeabletopositivelytransformthemselvesintoastateof
well-beingbyreadingit,andIapologisetoanybodywhoboughtthis
bookinthehopethatitcouldteachthemhowtobehappy.Instead,
itsprimaryaimistobegintofillwhatIfeelisagapingholeinsoci-
ological inquiry and scholarship, by providing an understanding of
thewaysinwhichpeople’sexperiencesandperceptionsofhappiness
are socially and culturally patterned. Thus far, sociologists have not
fully embraced studies of happiness (and I suggest some reasons for
thisinthebook),andthosewhohavehavelargelyfocuseduponits
measurement, rather than on deeper understandings of its nature.
I therefore hope that readers will nevertheless be able to take some
happiness from this, by strengthening their understanding of the
socialframeworkwithinwhichitisexperienced.Forsociologistsand
non-sociologists alike, this – I hope – could also allow for a better
understandingofone’sownthoughtsandexperiencesofhappiness.
viii Preface
This book follows a number of people, through their own per-
sonalaccountsoftheirexperiencesandperceptionsofhappinessand
unhappiness, provided in interviews that I carried out. Their voices
and their accounts are a central element of the book, and tell a key
part of the story of how we can understand happiness in modern
Britain. I explore these accounts through a distinctively sociologi-
cal lens, but my intention is that they also add a dimension of real
life to the book, which I hope that readers will be able to relate to.
I enjoyed writing this book, and I hope that you – as readers – will
enjoyreadingit.
Acknowledgements
There are several people to whom I would like to offer thanks. Paul
Johnson, Jane Fielding and Geoff Cooper, all at the University of
Surrey, UK, provided me with invaluable advice, guidance, feedback
andsuggestionswhilstIwasundertakingtheresearchonwhichthis
book is based. I also owe thanks to Susie Scott at the University of
Sussex, UK. I am extremely grateful to all of those who took part
in the interviews that formed part of the research, as without their
insightfulaccountsofhappiness,thisbookwouldnotexist.Iwould
liketothankmycolleaguesontheSociologyteamattheUniversity
ofPortsmouth–inparticular,KayPeggs,BarrySmart,SimonStewart
and Joseph Burridge have generously offered me their support and
wisdom both before and during the writing process. I am lucky to
have had the opportunity to work with Mark Cieslik and Alexandra
Jugureanu, my fellow co-convenors of the British Sociological Asso-
ciation’s Happiness Study Group. Thank you both for keeping me
so inspired about pursuing happiness within academia. Thanks also
to Beth O’Leary at Palgrave Macmillan, for her patience with my
deliveryofthebookmanuscript.
Lastly,thankstomyparents,SandraHymanandRichardHyman,
for all of their love, support and understanding, and to Gerard
Harrison,forputtingupwithmeandformakingmehappy.
ix
1
Introduction
Theconceptofhappinessissuchanindeterminateonethat
eventhougheveryonewishestoattainhappiness,yethecan
neversaydefinitelyandconsistentlywhatitisthathereally
wishesandwills.
(Kant,1785/1981:27)
It could be argued that the idea of happiness is ubiquitous in con-
temporary Western societies such as Europe and North America;
it features heavily in popular culture, advertising and mass media
more broadly, and it is something that most people would feel is
an inevitable goal that they strive to achieve in their lives. Many
wouldfeelthatitisthepursuitofhappinessthatstandsastheguid-
ing principle of people’s lives; indeed, as the American Declaration
of Independence (1776) states, the rights of all men are ‘life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness’. Although happiness is a ubiquitous
aspiration,Kant’swordspresentedheremayhavesomerelevancein
the contemporary world; happiness is far from straightforward, and
many people may be unable to clearly articulate the specific source
and nature of their happiness. On the other hand, it being such a
majorfacetofpopularcultureandhumanexistenceinthiswaymay
neverthelessleavepeoplewell-placedtobeabletoarticulateandtalk
aboutthewaysinwhichtheyexperienceandperceivehappiness.
This book has been written at a time when happiness and well-
being are high up on the agendas of national governments world-
wide.Indeed,inNovember2010,itwasannouncedbytheUKPrime
Minister, David Cameron, that the United Kingdom’s ‘subjective
1
