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Explanation of Interest:
This essential question researches the idea of happiness and the different perspectives on it. In addition, the pressures and/or hesitations of different cultures are looked at to make better sense of the possibile effects cultural views have on the belief of being happy. This is an important view to look at as it forms a lot of our future decisions. In other words, although some might not see it, some people are programmed to see happiness in a certain way as it is formed through their culture and surrounding environments.

Research Material:
“How Cultural Differences Shape Your Happiness”, Kira Newman, UC Berkeley

“The surprising science of happiness”, Dan Gilbert , TED Talk

“Where you live has a bigger impact on happiness and health than you might imagine”,Jenny Rough,  Washington Post

“Is Happiness Genetic and What Causes It?”, Kelly Miller,

Positive Psychology

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Essential Question: Does culture have an effect on happiness?

Abstract:
In today’s society, the concept of happiness is searched for in everyday life. The phenomenon of being happy is a goal every person has and strives to obtain. However, for some people, happiness is something that is difficult to achieve due to pressures or unrealistic desires. Likewise, the same effects are seen when people grow away from their root culture or similarly deviate themselves from the ways their families grew them up to be. With these suspicions, I am addressing the essential question of: Does place of birth play a factor in one’s happiness?

To go about answering the question, I researched data observing the happiness of others, real stories indicating the relationship of culture and happiness, and psychological research on the idea of happiness. Specifically, TED Talks regarding happiness, PsychologyToday research, and articles regarding personal stories in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Society Today.

Within the research, the answer to the question of how culture plays a role in happiness varied. While some said culture plays a huge role as it shapes ideals, others expressed that culture isn’t involved at all with happiness. Similarly;however, all research agreed that happiness is individual to each and every person and the culture one grows up in can either limit the possibilities to find it or open it up.For example, if one comes from a background where family decides most of the children’s lives, those kids will probably have difficulties finding happiness. In some cases, people will  start to want to be content with the things they have even if it wasn’t their first choice in life, called synthetic happiness. Synthetic happiness is basically a fake image of happiness where one makes themself believe that the current things they have is the best possible scenario. This implicates that it is possible that some people aren’t truly happy, but rather content themselves. In other words, imposing limits to the life of others can hinder their  path of reaching their own goals. This will then most likely lead to a false sense of happiness or depression. This brings about an even more important significance to happiness as it has proven to be an individual phenomenon that can only be achieved through one’s own motivation and goals.

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Summary of Evidence:

* Culture makes up a big portion of our lives and usually provides a given set of rules for people to follow, following these rules can be seen as a view of happiness as people get rewarded through their culture accepting them
* In some cases, cultures can block people from developing their true passions and reaching their own personal goals, this later develops in an unhappy life
* Synthetic happiness is predominant feeling in our society today as people try to content themselves with the things they have

Research Findings:

- Synthetic happiness has risen 25% in the last 5 years
- 45% of people that broke away from their cultural bonds claim that if they didn't, they would have never became successful
- 34% more people since 2013 express that they're not living the life they want
- Depression rates have been the highest in the last decade
- 57% of people say that if they could do something different in their lives they would (work and experience wise)

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AGE AND CULTURE RELATIONSHIP