ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights several dramatically different trends affecting happiness in various parts of the world during the period of the world wars and great depression. Death rates in the many millions were compounded by the presence of many mutilated survivors, visible reminders to themselves and those around them. The experience of brutal trench warfare and constant bombardment marked even those who were physically unscathed, in ways they felt the civilian society around them could not understand. Economic dislocations greatly heightened the problem. Massive inflation affected several countries right after the war, and then the global depression seized center stage beginning in 1929. Unemployment reached unprecedented heights, causing the psychological trauma of job loss compounded by rising poverty. One theory argues that societies that receive many immigrants – including but not confined to the United States – emphasize smiling because, amid different cultures and languages, positive facial expressions become vital in trying to create a constructive atmosphere.
