Cross-cultural study of representations of happiness in the russian and american proverbs: search for points of contact with Hofstede's dimensions

In this article, I present the results of research into cultural differences in the folk perceptions of happiness of the Russian and American people that enter into their actual happiness experiences. I started from the premise - widely accepted in paremiology - that proverbs are one of the important sources of such information. Based on this idea, I conducted a cross-cultural analysis of Russian and American proverbs on happiness. The research reveals differences in 1) emotional ratings of the happiness experience, and 2) behavioral expectations towards happiness. In approximately half of Russian proverbs, happiness and a happy state are treated in a negative tone, unlike in American folklore, where happiness is regarded in the traditional way, as a positive emotion. A passive position towards happiness is found in 62.2% of the Russian cases presented. In American culture, passive expectations concerning the achievement of happiness are found in only 6.2% of all cases. I discuss the correspondence between the attitudes towards happiness presented in national proverbs and actual happiness experiences, as well as the religious roots of the cultural differences in happiness experience. In particular, I consider how Hofstede's (1980) cultural dimensions of national cultures enter into the perceptions of happiness in national proverbs. The research extends the conceptions on cultural differences of the Russian and American people and contributes to the revealing determinants of the cultural differences in the happiness experience.

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