Why some people are happier than others?

Author: Nino Kokashvili

Leo Tolstoy, famous Russian writer, said “If you want to be happy, be.”

Is being happy really that simple or are there other circumstances that effect our well-being? This question is addressed in many different ways. Scholars of all disciplines argue about this topic in both: nonscientific and mathematical terms. They discuss various issues about happiness, such as why some people are happier than others or what happy people have in common, how happiness is created on individual level or why some countries are considered to be happier places to live in.

While many researchers consider it impossible to measure happiness, as it is very subjective term, others have created different ways to capture aspects of happiness and provide its nature through exact numbers by measuring several different components. United Nation has even passed a United Nation’s Happiness Resolution in 2011 and there are plenty of reports available that define happiness index.

The World Happiness Report 2016 ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels. The study is based on a survey data. Happiness score for each country consists of different components such as: GDP per capita, Social support, Healthy life expectancy, Freedom to make life choices, Generosity, Perceptions of corruption and etc. 

It is interesting to underline that Nordic countries rank highest positions regarding to happiness level. Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden are among 10 happiest countries in the world. This fact provides a not surprising evidence that richest countries are the happiest ones as Scandinavian countries are widely considered as most wealthy nations. The correlation between GDP and Happiness Index is very high. In a same time if we look at correlation between Happiness Index and all other subjective determinants of happiness (Social support, Healthy life expectancy, Freedom to make life choices, Generosity, Perceptions of corruption, level of trust and etc.) excluding GDP, we will find even higher correlation between those two.  Therefore, it can be concluded that money matters, it makes people happier, but there are other things that may matter more.

Why Nordics do so well? Partly because of Nordic welfare model which by providing healthcare, equal opportunities, access to free education, unemployment benefits and etc. creates possibility to reduce extreme unhappiness. Additionally, factors such as personal freedom, trust towards both: society and political institutions (Yes, maybe this is the reason they have high taxation, because they trust they will get high return from government), level of generosity and other factors that are highly correlated with happiness are very high in Scandinavian nations.

With all these statistics, why are suicide rates still high in Scandinavian countries when there are less extremely low happiness living conditions compared to others? Well, maybe because it “hurts” more to be somewhere down in a happy society. Happiness itself is a relative term. People do not feel satisfied in a society where everyone is happy in a same way. Nobody likes iPhone 4 while everyone else has iPhone 5.

Happiness Index might be a good measure of progress.  Ranking of happiness index gives similar picture every year, but If we look at changes in happiness scores from 2005-2007 to 2013-2015, we can find that less developed countries are also progressing. 

Gross National Happiness is a term coined by His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan in the 1970s. The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing. If all countries concentrate on happiness rather than just increase GDP per capita, this world might be a better place to live in.