Towards a positive cross-cultural lexicography: : Enriching our emotional landscape through 216 ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being

• Autores: Tim Lomas
• Localización: Journal of Positive Psychology, ISSN-e 1743-9779, Vol. 11, Nº. 5, 2016, págs. 546-558
• Idioma: inglés
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• Dialnet Métricas: 1 Cita
• Resumen

  • Although much attention has been paid to culture-specific psychopathologies, there have been no comparable attempts to chart positive mental states that may be particular to certain cultures. This paper outlines the beginnings of a positive cross-cultural lexicography of ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being, culled from across the world’s languages. A quasi-systematic search uncovered 216 such terms. Using grounded theory, these words were organised into three categories: feelings (comprising positive and complex feelings); relationships (comprising intimacy and pro-sociality) and character (comprising personal resources and spirituality). The paper has two main aims. First, it aims to provide a window onto cultural differences in constructions of well-being, thereby enriching our understanding of well-being. Second, a more ambitious aim is that this lexicon may help expand the emotional vocabulary of English speakers (and indeed speakers of all languages), and consequently enrich their experiences of well-being. The paper concludes by setting out a research agenda to pursue these aims further.