Happiness may be healthier for some cultures than others
Jiah Yoo
Even after accounting for things like a person's age  gender  socioeconomic status  and chronic health conditions  there was a significant difference between the two groups: "American adults who experience high levels of positive emotions  such as feeling 'cheerful' and 'extremely happy ' are more likely to have healthy blood-lipid profiles " explains lead study author Jiah Yoo  but the same was not true among Japanese adults.
The discrepancy   she  adds  "suggests that health implications of positive emotions may not be completely driven by the inherent nature of positive emotions  but also shaped by American cultural context."
"In American cultures  experiencing positive emotions is seen as desirable and is even encouraged via socialization "  Yoo  explains. "But in East Asian cultures  people commonly view positive emotions as having dark sides -- they are fleeting  may attract unnecessary attention from others  and can be a distraction from focusing on important tasks."
 Yoo  believes the cultural influence on the positivity-health connection may be the result of culturally specific health behaviors. "Frequent experience of positive affect in the Western context would be aligned with prescribed values and beliefs  and thus likely motivate engagement in and pursuit of healthy behaviors "  she  explains. "In contrast  positive affect aligns less with norms and beliefs about positive affect in the East Asian context  and thus may not be associated with healthy behaviors."
After all  experiencing a full range of emotions is perfectly healthy  and a least one study has shown that there's a benefit to embracing your negative emotions .  Yoo  says it's possible that Americans' mental and physical health could improve if we start viewing negativity as more acceptable.
But there are some caveats of the study. One is that this study design can only show correlation  not causation.  Yoo  says it also doesn't address the fact that "sometimes positive emotions may not be healthy  even in the U.S." Indeed  some research points to the damaging health effects of our relentless pursuit of positivity and happiness.
Even after accounting for things like a person's age  gender  socioeconomic status  and chronic health conditions  there was a significant difference between the two groups: "American adults who experience high levels of positive emotions  such as feeling 'cheerful' and 'extremely happy ' are more likely to have healthy blood-lipid profiles " explains lead study author [TGT]  but the same was not true among Japanese adults.
The discrepancy   she  adds  "suggests that health implications of positive emotions may not be completely driven by the inherent nature of positive emotions  but also shaped by American cultural context."
"In American cultures  experiencing positive emotions is seen as desirable and is even encouraged via socialization "  Yoo  explains. "But in East Asian cultures  people commonly view positive emotions as having dark sides -- they are fleeting  may attract unnecessary attention from others  and can be a distraction from focusing on important tasks."
 Yoo  believes the cultural influence on the positivity-health connection may be the result of culturally specific health behaviors. "Frequent experience of positive affect in the Western context would be aligned with prescribed values and beliefs  and thus likely motivate engagement in and pursuit of healthy behaviors "  she  explains. "In contrast  positive affect aligns less with norms and beliefs about positive affect in the East Asian context  and thus may not be associated with healthy behaviors."
After all  experiencing a full range of emotions is perfectly healthy  and a least one study has shown that there's a benefit to embracing your negative emotions .  Yoo  says it's possible that Americans' mental and physical health could improve if we start viewing negativity as more acceptable.
But there are some caveats of the study. One is that this study design can only show correlation  not causation.  Yoo  says it also doesn't address the fact that "sometimes positive emotions may not be healthy  even in the U.S." Indeed  some research points to the damaging health effects of our relentless pursuit of positivity and happiness.