What makes people happy?
Every one or two years, the UNSDSN, an initiative under the United Nations, releases the World Happiness Report. This report is based on surveys from individuals in various countries, assessing their happiness levels and attempting to link the findings with various factors.
These factors include:
- Economic Level: Per capita income.
- Social Support: Availability of family and friends for any kind of support. This and other factors are determined through surveys.
- Healthy Life Expectancy: Average healthy lifespan, based on WHO data.
- Freedom to Make Life Choices: Satisfaction with the freedom to choose one’s life path.
- Generosity: Charitable donations.
- Perception of Corruption: How widespread corruption is perceived in government and businesses.
The results of the 2016 report are as follows:
The survey effort by this organization is remarkable, surveying significant samples from 157 different countries is no small feat. Additionally, all the report data is available on their website.
It would be interesting to explore the impact of other factors on happiness, like murder and suicide rates, average annual sunshine hours, percentage of religious population, and economic growth.
Various studies attempt to identify relationships between happiness, a subjective and complex concept, and certain factors:
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