Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations.

Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.

Community survey of elder maltreatment: a report from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The survey on the prevalence of elder maltreatment in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was conducted in a representative sample of older people aged 65 and over (N=960) living in private households in different regions in the country (530 females (55.3%) and 430 males (44.7%)). This survey aimed to describe the prevalence of elder maltreatment and to identify risk factors for its occurrence. Results showed that the prevalence of elder maltreatment in this population is high: psychological abuse 25.7%, financial abuse 12%, neglect 6.6%, and physical abuse 5.7%. Of those reporting abuse, 5.6% reported frequent (at least monthly) abuse of one type and 15.7% reported frequent abuse of more than one type. The perpetrator was most often a family member. Risk factors included female gender, older age, physical or mental ill health, sensory dysfunction, lower household income or education. Strategies are needed for the prevention of elder maltreatment which involve multisectoral action from the health, social and justice sectors.