4 Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts
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David Tross
Abstract
This chapter introduces the Mass Observation archive, its participant panel and its significance for qualitative happiness research. I outline key themes that emerge from my research before focusing on one significant finding: how disaffection with socio-economic conditions, political structures and ‘selfish’ social norms are embedded in happiness narratives. This was an unexpected finding, partly because the panel participants were not prompted to include a social dimension in their responses and also because in survey research individual (un)happiness is assumed to relate to an evaluation of personal wellbeing domains rather than wider social concerns (Thin, 2012; Pavot and Diener, 2013).
I situate this social dimension of happiness narratives in the context of political and sociological theories around democratic deficit and political disengagement in the UK (Norris and Inglehart, 2016; Curtice, 2018;). I also employ concepts of moral sentiment and lay normativity (Haidt, 2003; Sayer 2004; Smith, 2009) that view individuals as socially situated and sensitive to others’ wellbeing as well as their own. I conclude with two considerations for future happiness research: first, the need to understand the interrelationship of societal and individual happiness and, second, the challenge of developing methodologies that can interrogate lay perceptions of happiness/wellbeing.
The Mass Observation Project represents ‘a key national, qualitative, secondary data resource’ (Lindsey and Bulloch, 2014: 3). Originally established in 1937, Mass Observation (relaunched as the Mass Observation Project in 1981) aims to provide a record of everyday life by eliciting written accounts about a diverse range of topics from ordinary people to gain access to the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of non-official voices in the UK.
Abstract
This chapter introduces the Mass Observation archive, its participant panel and its significance for qualitative happiness research. I outline key themes that emerge from my research before focusing on one significant finding: how disaffection with socio-economic conditions, political structures and ‘selfish’ social norms are embedded in happiness narratives. This was an unexpected finding, partly because the panel participants were not prompted to include a social dimension in their responses and also because in survey research individual (un)happiness is assumed to relate to an evaluation of personal wellbeing domains rather than wider social concerns (Thin, 2012; Pavot and Diener, 2013).
I situate this social dimension of happiness narratives in the context of political and sociological theories around democratic deficit and political disengagement in the UK (Norris and Inglehart, 2016; Curtice, 2018;). I also employ concepts of moral sentiment and lay normativity (Haidt, 2003; Sayer 2004; Smith, 2009) that view individuals as socially situated and sensitive to others’ wellbeing as well as their own. I conclude with two considerations for future happiness research: first, the need to understand the interrelationship of societal and individual happiness and, second, the challenge of developing methodologies that can interrogate lay perceptions of happiness/wellbeing.
The Mass Observation Project represents ‘a key national, qualitative, secondary data resource’ (Lindsey and Bulloch, 2014: 3). Originally established in 1937, Mass Observation (relaunched as the Mass Observation Project in 1981) aims to provide a record of everyday life by eliciting written accounts about a diverse range of topics from ordinary people to gain access to the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of non-official voices in the UK.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
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Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
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Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
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Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
