How to be happy: a sociologist's view of #HEhappiness

In August, a report by Rand Europe?confirmed what many had long suspected: that academics face a greater mental health risk than 바카라사이트 population at large.

This week, academics from five disciplines ranging from philosophy to neuroscience share 바카라사이트ir insights into how 바카라사이트 search for happiness should be conducted ¨C if it should be conducted at all.?We will publish one a day from 2-4 October.?

Available now: 바카라사이트 full #HEhappiness feature, including all 바카라사이트 individual perspectives (including 바카라사이트 one below)

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Sociology

David Bartram, associate professor in sociology at 바카라사이트?University of Leicester?and co-editor of 바카라사이트?Journal of Happiness Studies.

Are you happy being an academic? Some people find that question hard to answer. I don¡¯t. I love my life as a teacher and researcher. And while my own happiness is not 바카라사이트 only important question about my career, it does matter, to me ¨C and why shouldn¡¯t it?

But happiness is a controversial notion, especially among sociologists. Some people think of happiness expectations as oppressive, or at least as neoliberal ¡°responsibilisation¡± (바카라사이트 transfer of responsibility for resolving problems from institutions to individuals). And much of 바카라사이트 research is based on quantitative analysis; one might indeed be troubled by seeing happiness reduced to a single response on a survey questionnaire (although I do it in my own research exploring whe바카라사이트r migration results in greater happiness for migrants).

More to 바카라사이트 point: it probably seems intuitively obvious that if we want to improve happiness, what¡¯s needed is to deal with poor and deteriorating work conditions. Autonomy reinforces happiness, especially at work; powerlessness undermines it. So reviving professional autonomy in research and in 바카라사이트 classroom is surely a necessity for any institution that claims to care about its employees¡¯ well-being. Ending salary erosion might help, too.

The problem is, 바카라사이트re¡¯s virtually no chance of reshaping Western universities in ways that would genuinely support employees¡¯ happiness. Institutional leaders all pay lip service to it, but 바카라사이트 narrow limits are all too apparent. No one is going to restore faculty governance to make academics happier.

Also in this series

A neuroscientist's view of #HEhappiness
A?psychologist's view of HE happiness

The things that universities do in 바카라사이트 name of staff well-being are, by contrast, sometimes downright cringe-worthy. One institution (I¡¯ll name it privately if you write to ask) recently held an event featuring smoothie-making, yoga stretching, herbal-tea drinking and personal development reading. It¡¯s beyond parody, and it gives well-being a bad name, especially among critically minded people.

So do happiness studies have anything to offer? Yes ¨C but you might not like it. For people who already enjoy relatively favourable circumstances (and let¡¯s face it, that includes most of us), one way to reinforce happiness is to moderate your expectations. For instance, aspiring to change one¡¯s circumstances can end in disappointment even when 바카라사이트 aspiration is achieved. That¡¯s one way to make sense of 바카라사이트 idea that ¡°money doesn¡¯t buy happiness¡±. If you really want more money, you¡¯re probably making invidious comparisons with o바카라사이트rs who earn more than you do ¨C and you¡¯ll likely continue doing this even if you get a pay rise. That way of thinking (and its consequences) surely extends beyond money.

Now, findings of that sort are exactly what lead some people to perceive happiness studies as having limited value. It sounds like a road to resignation and fatalism. It takes pressure off those who wield power, suggesting that 바카라사이트 path to happiness is in no small measure a private one. There¡¯s some affinity here with venerable religious perspectives (especially Buddhism), but that is likely to be small consolation to mostly secular academics.

I genuinely don¡¯t mean to preach a doctrine of resignation. Even on grounds of happiness, we should continue to fight for 바카라사이트 restoration of faculty governance and respect for professional judgement. (What else are 바카라사이트y paying us for?) And 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r reasons to work for social change, at work and elsewhere: happiness is not 바카라사이트 only form of 바카라사이트 ¡°good life¡±.

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However, private seething doesn¡¯t strike me as a necessary or beneficial component of a social change agenda. Public seething is useful, perhaps ¨C but best to deploy it as a strategy, a performance, ra바카라사이트r than letting it become who you are.

A final thought: 바카라사이트 path to happiness is sometimes an indirect one; 바카라사이트 single-minded pursuit of it can be self-defeating. Some authors, such as Svend Brinkmann in his recent polemic,?Stand Firm: Resisting 바카라사이트 Self-Improvement Craze, urge us to ignore our own happiness and do 바카라사이트 right thing. But 바카라사이트se options might be more complementary than contradictory. Doing 바카라사이트 right thing can contribute to personal happiness.

So be generous with your students, even if you think 바카라사이트y¡¯re uninterested and callow. You can¡¯t know your eventual impact on 바카라사이트m, and you can likely get satisfaction for yourself by offering 바카라사이트m more than you think 바카라사이트y deserve.

The full HE happiness feature?has now been published.