Extract
Is Happiness Contagious?
SPREAD A LITTLE HAPPINESS AS YOU GO BY
A recent study carried out by Nick Powdthavee at the University of Warwick, presented at the Royal Economic Society's Annual Conference in Nottingham (March 21-23, 2005), was commented upon by the print media. The stories were framed around a central question which the study purported to answer: Could your spouse's happiness determine your own happiness? The study did not challenge the idea that happiness might be contagious and inhere between individuals; rather the sensational aspects of the stories revolved around the findings which suggested that the only couples to benefit from such good feeling were married couples. The affective transmission of happiness was reported as buffeting them against the stresses and strains of losing a job, illness and whether they owned their own property.This apparently contagious aspect of happiness exists in parallel to another way in which happiness is allowed to take form across popular and scientific discourse. This is the likening of happiness to a muscle; it must be exercised to stay healthy.1 Happiness involves an investment of time, energy, money, resources and so forth; it is a form of labour which demands patience, diligence, repetition, perseverance, practice and effort. Happiness is an achievement, and one which you do not have to suffer in isolation or silence. There is a whole consumer industry to support and encourage such endeavours; ranging from a burgeoning popular psychological literature offering the tools of happiness from the people who 'know'; through to the practices and techniques to achieve happiness which can be imparted through the growing services offered by life coaches and motivational speakers. Happiness takes form as a set of practices of the self-oriented towards particular goals: aligned with success and satisfaction in the work place; romantic relationships (particularly the art of dating and seduction); physical and mental health and well being; and the maximisation and optimisation of leisure and recreation time through the establishment of happy life-skills. These practices are epistemological, cognitive, corporeal and affectual, organised through a distinction made between motivation and habit. An inspirational quote offered to gym goers in a national franchise captures this assemblage in terms that most people would recognise and possibly identify with; 'Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.' We will explore the genealogy of the connection between habit and motivation later in the essay, but suffice to say it is one that structures a whole range of inspi...See the full content of this document
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