The Illusion of Happiness: A Critical Analysis of Hedonistic Attitudes in the Modern Educational Environment

Abstract

The writers examine how the educational experience has become an arena for emotional satisfaction, as opposed to being intellectually demanding; thereby providing an emotionally comfortable atmosphere that is conducive to hedonic attitudes (i.e. prioritizing "pleasure" over learning) within this illusion of happiness. For the first time within this issue, the gender dimension and the aspect of traumatic experience are integrated. It has been proven that in conditions of global instability, hedonistic strategies in education perform the function of a specific psychological defence and coping mechanism. Trauma, whether social, psychological or due to crisis events, promotes the need to locate an "educational safe-space" as a result of which people seek to create an 'illusion of happiness' in order to avoid further re-traumatization. The gender specificities have been analyzed within the context of how each sex maintains the illusion of being at peace: Women primarily utilize emotional labor; and aesthetically enhance their educational experiences. Men on the other hand are more likely to demonstrate their hedonism via either instrumental detachment or escapist behaviors. The authors justify the need to move from a model of ‘pedagogical comfort’ to a trauma-informed eudaimonic pedagogy that would take into account gender differences in overcoming difficulties and contribute to the formation of true personal resilience.