Happiness campaigns could make us sadder
Campaigns to increase the level of happiness in Society could have the ironic effect, of making sad people feel sadder, suggests new research reported on our Research Digest.
A survey of hundreds of Australian and Japanese students found that those who believed more strongly that society expects us to try to be happy, also tended to evaluate their own negative emotions more negatively. In other words, believing that there's a cultural expectation to strive for happiness is associated with feeling sad about being sad.
