In fact, psychologists at the University of Leicester in Britain recently produced the world’s first map of happiness. Using data from the emerging science of happiness, they created a color-coded atlas of bliss, a topography of the human spirit, from Algeria to Zimbabwe. It’s not climate or topography or some mysterious “energy” that is at work here, but national culture. Some cultures are simply better at producing happy citizens than others.
Not surprisingly, democracies tend to fare better than dictatorships, though it’s not clear which way the river of causality flows. Perhaps happy countries tend to embrace democracy and not the other way around. Trust of others is another prerequisite for a happy nation, and that is a troubling fact for fans of American happiness. In 1960, 58% of Americans felt most people could be trusted. By the 1990s, only 35% held that view. Indeed, given our economic and military muscle, the U.S. occupies a modest spot on the atlas of bliss. We are not as happy as we are wealthy.
The map contains more than a few surprises. Latin American countries, for instance, are among the happiest in the world, despite their relative poverty and often shaky political situations. “The Latino bonus,” some researchers have dubbed this phenomenon. One explanation: the close family ties found in Latin American countries and among many Latinos in the U.S.
Interesting, but I am a little suspicious of this study. It shows Denmark as being the happiest country. Yet, according to the [url=http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en]World Health Organisation[/url] , Denmark has a higher suicide rate than the U.S.
Maybe Denmark ranks so highly, because unhappy Danes are more likely to kill themselves, and so cannot participate in such surveys.
This study contrasts sharply with another done in the 80’s that showed that levels of happiness were basically consistent across economic levels and countries.
Both this study and the recent Gallup survey show otherwise.
Interesting