Created with Sketch. While happiness seems to be one of the most cross-culturally recognizable emotions in terms of individual expression, culture can influence how one thinks about happiness.

Americans gravitated toward individualism as people spread out in a new land that seemed wide-open with many opportunities. Many had to make individual decisions to come to America in the first place.

The debate struck me as uniquely American — a debate that could only happen in a country where we prioritize rugged individualism as much as we do. Here we see the concept of individualism ...