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American Cool
The History of Emotions Series
EDITED BY PETER N. STEARNS, CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY JAN LEWIS, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEWARK
1. On the Sources of Patriarchal Rage: The Commonplace Books of William Byrd and Thomas Jefferson and the Gendering of Power in the Eighteenth Century KENNETH A. LOCKRIDGE
2. The Anchor of My Life: Middle-Class American Mothers and Daughters, 1880–1920 LINDA W. ROSENZWEIG
3. American Cool: Constructing a Twentieth-Century Emotional Style PETER N. STEARNS
American Cool
Constructing a Twentieth-Century Emotional Style
Peter N. Stearns
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Copyright © 1994 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stearns, Peter N.
American cool : constructing a twentieth-century emotional style /
Peter N. Stearns,
p. cm. — (History of emotions series)
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-8147-7979-4 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-8147-7996-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. United States—Social life and customs—20th century—
Psychological aspects. 2. Middle class—United States—Psychology.
3. Emotions—Social aspects—United States—History—20th century.
I. Title. II. Series.
E169.S786 1994
305.5’5’0973—dc20 93-42152
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my family, some of whom think they’re pretty cool.
Contents
3. Evaluating the Victorian Emotional Style: Causes and Consequences
4. From Vigor to Ventilation: A New Approach to Negative Emotions
5. Dampening the Passions: Guilt, Grief, and Love
6. Reprise: The New Principles of Emotional Management
7. “Impersonal, but Friendly”: Causes of the New Emotional Style
8. The Impact of the New Standards: Controlling Intensity in Real Life
9. The Need for Outlets: Reshaping American Leisure
10. Pre-Conclusion: Prospects? Progress?
11. Conclusion: A Cautious Culture
Acknowledgments
A number of people have contributed to this study. Research assistants have been invaluable, not only in ferreting out data but also in collaborating on thinking through the results. Steve Tripp, Timothy Haggerty, Amy deCamp, Mark Knapp, Steve Beaudoin, and Barry O’Rorke have carried out important phases of this inquiry. Charles Hachten and Daniel Fiore also contributed directly by generously sharing undergraduate research projects. Scarlett Townsend, Karen Callas, Clio Stearns, and particularly Gail Dickey and Naomi Wahlberg assisted in various phases of manuscript preparation. Barbara Lassonde provided vital editorial help. Niko Pfund and Despina Papazoglou Gimbel, of New York University Press, offered encouragement and a host of additions and corrections. Many colleagues have contributed not only suggestions but essential research ideas as well: John Modell, Jan Lewis, Stephen Lassonde, Deborah Stearns, Steve Gordon, Wendy Wiener, and Linda Rosenzweig head a long list. Both the sociology department of the University of Amsterdam and the International Society for Research on Emotion gave me opportunities to try out key ideas in the final phases of the synthesis. I am particularly grateful to my ISRE colleagues for the regular interdisciplinary stimulus and support they provide. Last but definitely not least, Carol Z. Stearns has contributed suggestions, criticisms, and fundamental ideas all along the way.
1 Introduction
Cool. The concept is distinctly American, and it permeates almost every aspect of contemporary American culture. From Kool cigarettes and the Snoopy cartoon’s Joe Cool to West Side Story (“Keep cool, boy.”) and urban slang (“Be cool. Chill out.”), the idea of cool, in its many manifestations, has seized a central place in the American imagination.
By the 1990s, the word has come to mean many things, but it always suggests approval. A university student writes on an examination that Columbus received a hearty welcome on his return to Spain; when asked why he made such an egregious historical mistake, he points to the textbook, which states quite clearly that the explorer had received “a cool reception.” This anecdote encapsulates the recent history of the word “cool.” The textbook writer had used the word according