Worldwide high: Existing theory suggests that, as a general rule, society doesn't get much happier over time. But a new study of 350,000 people over 26 years turns that idea on its head.
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"Democracies are significantly happier than non-democratic countries; prosperous countries tend to be happier than poor countries; and tolerant people – even intolerant people living in a tolerant society – tend to be happier."
In the U.S., Switzerland and Norway, happiness was stagnant, but all three countries were still in the top 20 of the 97 nations that were ranked in order of happiness levels.
Deeply unhappy
Denmark, where 52 per cent of the population said they were very happy, was at the top of that list and Zimbabwe at the bottom, with only around four per cent of Zimbabweans saying they were happy.
"Zimbabwe has everything going wrong. It's desperately poor, AIDS is high, people are being killed, [and] the political system is repressive. It's not a great place to live these days and it's deeply unhappy," said Inglehart.
"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said, citing the tolerant societies and democratic political systems in Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada – all of which rank among the 10 happiest countries in the world.
what does "happier" mean?
I am curious about the nature of the survey. How has it asked participants to evaluate happiness? I think happiness is hard to define.
Does happiness in this survey pertain to the general "feeling" of happiness - how often one "feels" happy compared to how often they are unhappy; or does it regard happiness in the sense of overall life satisfaction or fulfilment? Has exposure to the plight of the 3rd world through media and whatnot forced people in the 1st world to subconciously re-evaluate their notion of happiness? - people may simply convince themselves that they're happy because they can see how well off they are compared to the less fortunate. Furthermore, have people let society convince them that they're happy? - i.e. in this capitalist world people may tend to equate happiness with wealth, status, or material posessions rather than actual contentment.
Suicide rates, depression, and stress - I thought these were on the rise in developed nations? I read in a recent article that they are nearly 5 times higher than they were 50 years ago!
Anyway, I'm ranting on here. The concept of happiness to me just seems too complicated to be measured as percent population.
Agreed.
I'm also quite sceptical of the bridge crossed from survey data to a world that is "happier". Why isn't the world becoming more shallow or self-deceptive? Is more hardship dumped on fewer people now? The alternate conclusions are innumerable. Although, this one makes for a great, pot-stirring headline.
happiness
All that may be, but nevertheless this report is so encouraging. Albeit a double depressive, I am happy and contented!
yes world is happier place
ya i trullly agreed with the report given n its really appreciable!