Cultural Deceptions

How progress is making us miserable and how we can get back on track

By Dr Ashley Humphrey

Are you struggling to maintain your mental wellbeing in today’s demanding world?

You’re not alone.

Across the developed world, rates of mental distress are climbing even as material standards reach historic highs. The paradox is stark: in our pursuit of progress, we have created a culture that undermines the very wellbeing it promises to deliver.

Yet most solutions still focus narrowly on the individual, overlooking the deeper influence of culture itself.

That’s the oversight Melbourne-based social researcher and educator Dr Ashley Humphrey set out to address in this his first book, Cultural Deceptions.

Drawing on years of research and international work — including projects in Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia examining youth wellbeing in conflict-affected regions — Ashley explores how the dominant values of Western life have reshaped what we believe makes for success, happiness, and meaning.

We have been sold the idea that success is measured by achievement and consumption, but in the process we have eroded the deeper psychological needs for connection, purpose and belonging.

Blending cultural insight with practical tools from contemporary psychology,

Cultural Deceptions unpacks how Western culture’s fixation on competition, status and self-improvement has created widespread discontent — and what can be done about it.

Ashley challenges readers to question the assumptions that drive their daily lives and offers practical, evidence-based ways to rebuild meaning and mental health from the ground up.

“A thought-provoking and enlightening read — one that prompts moments of real self-reflection on what truly matters.”

Available in Australia and New Zealand exclusively from this webstore.

About the author

Ashley Humphrey completed his PhD in Psychology at Monash University, where he continues to work as a researcher and lecturer in the Social Sciences. He is also active in a number of organisations aimed at supporting disengaged young people. Having travelled the world far and wide, he holds a fascination with how differing cultural environments can influence every sphere of a person’s life. His written work exploring this has been published in international scientific journals as well as the popular press. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Read a sample on 

From the author:

'We have come to drastically misunderstand and overestimate the virtues of happiness, and this, paradoxically, has caused us to suffer. If we, both personally and collectively, are to be truly happy, a greater understanding of the true causes and nature of happiness is required.

    To get to this point, it is necessary to understand the importance of gratitude, contentment, and the role of hardship and growth experiences. As Holocaust survivor and psychologist Viktor Frankl once wrote: It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.To therefore actually live “happily ever after,” we need to redefine happiness and the way we pursue it in a way more consistent with what research and ancient wisdom tell us.

    This includes pursuing a life of meaning and one aimed at fostering long-term happiness outcomes rather than in-the-moment gains. It includes acknowledging hardship and discomfort as unfortunate realities of existence — but also as sometimes necessary for the cultivation of long-term wellbeing.

    Lastly, we should aspire to live a life that takes moments of mindfulness to express gratitude for the pleasantries we are presented with. This should not be done in a forceful way, but the next time we catch a glimpse of a well-formed rainbow outside our window, or find ourselves sharing a meal with friends, take some time to appreciate that moment. If positive emotions follow, that is a sign of authentic happiness.’



ISBN 9781923114104

Softcover, 170 pages

Released November, 2025