For people in Japan, happiness isn ’t associated with better health

In the USA but not Japan, more positive emotions correlated with a healthier cholesterol profile (low ratio of total cholesterol to “good”/HDC cholesterol); from Yoo et al 2017 By Emma Young Feeling positive emotions is good for your physical health, right? There’s certainly evidence in support of the idea. But it’s mostly come from studies of people living in Western countries. Now a study published in Psychological Science, concludes that for people in Japan, it may not be the case. While positive emotions, like happiness, are seen as a good thing in the US, UK, and elsewhere in Europe, the picture is different in east Asia: they aren’t seen being as necessarily desirable, and negative emotions aren’t considered to be all that bad. As the researchers, led by Jiah Yoo at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, write in their introduction: “No study to date has directly compared the biological correlates of positive affect across cultures.” The researchers studied 1,017 men and women living in America, and 374 men and women in Japan (selected to be representative of the general population). The participants rated how frequently they had felt each of 10 positive emotions over the past 30 days (including happiness, cheerfulness, “calm and peaceful”, “full of life” and proud). They also gave blood samples, which were checked for levels of HDL-cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) and LDL-cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol). An un...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Cross-cultural Emotion Health Source Type: blogs