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Observer
08-04-2025
- General
- Observer
Experiencing happiness in diverse ways
Can we truly say that we are happy with our current circumstances? Why is it that, despite many aspects of our lives being positive, a single issue can still lead to unhappiness? Furthermore, what accounts for the differences in happiness levels among people from various countries? Happy individuals and families come in various forms, just as nations can experience happiness in diverse ways. Past experiences demonstrate that happy people actively engage in their communities and assist others, making them vital contributors to thriving societies and, consequently, shaping a nation's overall happiness. Significantly, life satisfaction and happiness are now central research areas in the social sciences. One notable effort in this regard is the World Happiness Report, which has become an indispensable resource for addressing the growing global interest in prioritising happiness. Researchers of the report indicate that, in addition to health and wealth, several factors that influence happiness may seem deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having someone to rely on for social support, and the size of one's household. 'Happiness isn't just about wealth or growth; it encompasses trust, connection and the assurance that others support you. To foster stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters,' says Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, the primary source for the annual happiness rankings of countries worldwide. The World Happiness Report is a collaboration between Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Editorial Board of the World Happiness Report. Each World Happiness Report typically highlights a specific theme and includes chapters authored by various experts who analyse different facets of global well-being and happiness associated with that theme. Several examples are provided. In Chapter 3 of the report, we find that dining alone is detrimental to one's well-being. The report states, 'People who frequently eat with others are significantly happier, and this effect remains even when considering household size.' The rising number of individuals who dine alone is a contributing factor to the declining well-being in the United States, which has dropped to 24th place in the report - its lowest ranking ever. In the United States, approximately 25 per cent people reported eating all their meals alone the previous day in 2023, marking a 53-per cent increase in solitary dining since 2003. Similarly, household size is closely associated with happiness. In Mexico and Europe, households consisting of four to five individuals report the highest levels of happiness; however, many people in Europe live alone. For most people around the world, family serves as a source of joy and support. The report highlights in Chapter 4 that living alone often experience lower levels of happiness. Conversely, those in very large households may also report decreased happiness, likely due to reduced economic satisfaction. 'Public policies should consider how economic decisions may have secondary effects on relationships, thereby impacting the well-being of families,' it suggests. At the same time, the report reveals that the antithesis of happiness is despair, which can lead to death by suicide or substance abuse. Fortunately, the incidence of such deaths is declining in the majority of countries, although this trend is not observed in the United States or the Republic of Korea. Nordic countries consistently rank among the top ten happiest nations, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden following Finland, which maintains its unbroken streak as the world's happiest country. Their high happiness rankings are generally attributed to their extensive social welfare programmes, strong community connections and robust interactions with nature. In the Gulf region, the UAE has secured 21st place globally, while Kuwait ranks 30th worldwide and second in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia follows at 32nd globally and third in the Arab world. Oman holds the 52nd position globally and is fourth among Arab countries, while Bahrain is ranked 59th globally and fifth among Arab nations.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion: The value of believing in others
Pop quiz: If you knew you were going to lose your wallet, which country would you choose to lose it in? That's an unhappy question to which, fortunately, there is a happy answer. If you said Finland (or any of the Scandinavian countries), you would be right. And it's not a coincidence that those countries also rise to the top of the list as the happiest nations on Earth. The second question is, what can we, in the increasingly unhappy United States, do to be more like Finland? The answer may be that we should simply believe more in the goodness of the people around us. That can be easier said than done in the current political climate, where perceptions about corruption and dishonesty seem to outpace reality. Gallup, in partnership with the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, just released the annual World Happiness Report. Finland leads the world for the eighth year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Norway came in seventh. No surprise there. It's pretty much all pickled herring and ski parties at the top. The U.S. came in 24th. One year ago, I was walking through a small Swedish city with my wife at about the time this annual report was published. As I wrote at the time, we were battling a headwind registering a windchill of 17 degrees Fahrenheit — miserably and unhappily cold. The people around us were scurrying. Few of them looked ready to burst into song. By contrast, a month ago I was on an assignment in Bangladesh, where the weather was pleasant in February. Virtually everyone I cast a smile at returned it readily, but Bangladesh came in 134th on the happiness report. Clearly, happiness, at least as Gallup and co. measured it, has nothing to do with the weather or other external conditions. But those lost wallets, on the other hand … I've written about lost wallet tests before. In one such experiment, researchers littered the world with 17,000 of them, filled with different amounts of cash, or in some cases a key, and a business card. Researchers would hand them in at public places, such as banks, hotels or the post office, and then wait to see what happened. The vast majority were returned, intact, to the name on the business card. The more money they contained, the more likely they were to be returned. The problem is, we don't tend to believe this is so. The happiness report asked people to guess how many times folks around them engaged in benevolent activities, including volunteering, donating and helping strangers. Then it asked, specifically, how likely did they think it was that their own lost wallet would be returned by either a neighbor, a stranger or a police officer. The Finns and Danes each scored high in their expectations of people in each category. So did the Swedes, although they were more skeptical of strangers, finishing 32nd in that measurement. Americans finished 52nd in their faith in strangers returning wallets. In reality, virtually all nations performed better in real terms than their people projected, but the Nordics were indeed the most honest with wallets. It turns out that human expectations are at least as important as real performance. In the United States, the percentage of returned wallets was roughly double what U.S. respondents expected it to be. The report's authors said that 'expected benevolence is a substantial predictor of life satisfaction, meaning that people may be made needlessly unhappy by their unwarranted pessimism.' In other words, exaggerated cynicism emanating from Washington about corruption and dishonesty can make us less happy and more skeptical about our neighbors. Americans ranked 25th in their faith that a police officer would return a wallet — a result, the report said, that reflects 'how people rate the quality of their public institutions.' The good news is that the antidote to this cynicism is as simple as doing good things. The report said 'simply witnessing someone else giving has positive effects on wellbeing.' That is a note of encouragement to people who believe one person can influence many for good. Gallup CEO Jon Clifton is quoted in the report as saying it 'proves we underestimate how kind the world really is. If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other.' The report also ties happiness to simple things such as sharing meals with someone, connecting with others and living in large households with family bonds. But the need for faith in other people is the biggest lesson. It turns out you don't need to fight a biting late-winter wind in a Scandinavian town square to be happy. You just need to see the good around you, and maybe step back from toxic partisanship for a while.
Observer
20-03-2025
- General
- Observer
Finland crowned world's happiest nation for eighth consecutive year
NEW YORK: Finland has been ranked as the country with the happiest population in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report published on Thursday to mark International Day of Happiness. In the report, a partnership between pollster Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, researchers analysed the period between 2022 and 2024. As was the case last year, the Nordic countries were all in the top 10, with Finland followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Norway came in seventh. The Netherlands were back in the top five, while Costa Rica (6) and Mexico (10) have made it into the top 10 for the first time. Germany improved from 24th to 22nd place, while the US fell by one position to 24th place — its worst position ever. The ranking includes 147 countries, with Afghanistan ranking last. Finns asked to evaluate their lives reported an average score of 7.736 (out of 10), while Afghans' average was 1.364. The researchers identified a number of key factors that generally make people happier, such as social support, income, health, freedom and the perception of corruption. The authors found that belief in the kindness of others is much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought. They drew a parallel between believing that others are willing to return your lost wallet and population happiness — with Nordic countries among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets. "The wallet data are so convincing because they confirm that people are much happier living where they think people care about each other," said economist John Helliwell, a founding editor of the World Happiness Report. "The wallet dropping experiments confirm the reality of these perceptions, even if they are everywhere too pessimistic." Jeffrey Sachs, another founding editor of the report, said that this year's findings "reconfirm a fundamental truth: happiness is rooted in trust, kindness and social connection. "It is up to us as virtuous individuals and citizens to translate this vital truth into positive action, thereby fostering peace, civility and well-being in communities worldwide." The authors also found a strong link between sharing meals with others and well-being across all global regions. "Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others. Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness," said Lara Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University and one of the report's editors. Fellow editor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics at the University of Oxford, said the new findings make us "look beyond traditional determinants like health and wealth. "It turns out that sharing meals and trusting others are even stronger predictors of well-being than expected. In this era of social isolation and political polarisation we need to find ways to bring people around the table again — doing so is critical for our individual and collective well-being." — dpa
