Kahneman (2011) distinguished between the "experiencing self", which is concerned with how the individual feels now, and the "remembering self" (how an individual remembers feeling in the past). Happiness can be experienced in relation to both of them - ie: "as a response to an event in the present or to a recollection of - or 'fantasy' about - the past" (Hyman 2014). Hyman (2014) concentrated on this and the meanings that individuals make from them - "people can gain happiness from reflection upon past experiences, as well as from present conditions, and happiness felt in the past can manifest itself in the here and now" (Hyman 2014). The meaning is derived from culturally dominant discourses or narratives. Twenty-six adults in the UK aged between 22 and 80 years old were interviewed about their perceptions and experiences of happiness. Two key themes emerged from the qualitative interviews by Hyman (2014):
1. "Life was happier in the past" - Older interviewees expressed the view that both society and their own lives were happier in the past than now. For example, "Laurence" (aged 65 years) felt that "we've got very materialistic" ("a modern 'malady of infinite aspiration' Durkheim (1925/1961) whereby people's heightened expectations in an increasingly affluent society have led, for some, to a feeling of discontentment or unhappiness"; Hyman 2104). "Eileen" (63 years old) lamented: "When I was young, there was camaraderie, with people... you helped one another then. People are not so ready now, to help one another. You know, there's a lot of jealousy, and I think jealousy is the worst thing".
Hyman (2014) noted: "What is interesting here is that these accounts pose a challenge to Ruut Veenhoven's (2011) claims that improved living conditions can raise levels of happiness. These older people perceive the quality of society and living conditions to have worsened (though this worsening may or may not have actually taken place), but yet - for Eileen and Laurence particularly - they can nevertheless reflect on the happiness that they felt in the past. Thus, it could be said here that people's subjective perceptions of living conditions are just as important as actual living conditions for understanding how people evaluate their lives". At a personal level, "Maureen" (aged 80), for instance, reflected: "when we were young they were good days". Reflections on a happy past is one culturally dominant discourse or narrative (Hyman 2014).
Dowd (1986) referred to a "past-situated social identity where "'the world has changed so significantly, it is no longer a world that is recognisable to the aged or one in which they feel ''at home''' (Dowd 1986)... Therefore, it may be that if older people feel that they have less of a place in 'contemporary cultural experience' (Dowd 1986) they are also less likely to draw happiness from the present than they would do from the past. Therefore, drawing upon the narrative outlined here, whereby life was deemed happier in the past than in the present, is one way in which such individuals may articulate their memories and their happiness as well as their relationship with the social world" (Hyman 2014).
2. "Happiness can be gained from reminiscing about the past" - Interviewees of all ages expressed ideas similar to "Gillian" (aged 46), who said: "I get a lot of pleasure from reminiscing. And that's why I said it's experiences that make you happy. Because it's those things that stick with you, you know, the happy times that stick with you... good memories are important to your well-being". "Nick" (aged 25 years old) emphasised the importance of experiences now to remember with pleasure later: "I find people get more sentimental as they get older, and they begin to appreciate things more. I think that's what... before, I'd like, go out, and have experiences and go 'oh this is fine', but now I look back on nights out and times with friends and I go 'this is great'. And sometimes I have nights out and I go 'I'll remember this night, this is brilliant'...".
Hyman (2014) argued that "memories and reminiscence are used as 'technologies of the self' with which people can make themselves feel better about their lives. In other words, the act of reminiscing and reconnecting with the past is a technique that people perform on their own minds, 'so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality' (Foucault 1988)".
REFERENCES
Dowd, J (1986) The old person as stranger. In Marshall, V.W (ed) Later Life: The Social Psychology of Aging, Beverley Hills, CA: Sage
Durkheim, E (1925/1961) Moral Education, New York: Free Press
Foucault, M (1988) Technologies of the self. In Martin, L.H et al (eds) Technologies of the Self, London: Tavistock
Hyman, L (2014) Happiness and memory: Some sociological reflections Sociological ResearchOnline, 19, 2: 3 (http://www.socresonline.org.uk/19/2/3.html)
Kahneman, D (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow, London: Penguin
Veenhoven, R (2011) Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible? If so, how? In Sheldon, K.M et al (eds) Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward, New York: Oxford University Press