Rebecca Dickason, social psychologist: "How can I feel better at work if I don't know I'm feeling bad?"

" How are you ? "

- " How are you. "

This question/answer punctuates the codified workdays, where appearances and pretenses stretch into smiles as the chief happiness officer , the happiness manager in organizations, passes by. Because yes, organizational life is a social ecosystem where everyone plays their part, embodies a role, their role.

In the game of social conventions, you have to show your enthusiasm and reliability, your loyalty and your commitment to work. Put on a good face, hide your sad face. Show that you are a balanced person who never lets yourself be overwhelmed by your emotions, suggest a state of ataraxia, this "absence of troubles" described since Greek Antiquity where emotions and passions fade behind tranquility, serenity.

While not perfectly overlapping with equanimity (equality of soul, detachment, and calm affectivity) and euthymia (balance of mood), it shares certain aspects, such as constancy or not being overwhelmed by emotions. In mythology, moreover, Poseidon, the god of the sea, personifies the world of emotions. Metaphorically, ataraxia therefore implies keeping one's head above water, out of the flood of emotions. Anecdotally, the sedative antihistamine Atarax, with moderate anxiolytic properties and prescribed in certain cases of mild anxiety, takes its name from ataraxia.

The documentary The Happy Worker or How Work Was Sabotaged ( John Webster, 2022) exposes some of the inner workings of organizational mechanics. It raises several points, including that of a broken social contract ( “You sit here and talk nonsense and I sit here silently and don’t listen to you, checking my email” ). and a biased social perception ( “If everyone is happy, smiling, doing well… why am I not capable enough?” ). That of nonsense too, emerging from daily injunctions and disjunctions, where, even in the absence of an actively toxic culture, malaise lurks.

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