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The geography of happiness
Where does one find happiness? Whether you live in Puerto Rico or in Latvia (the nation with the highest suicide rate) can make a difference. One usually tends to think of happiness as something personal: individuals, not nations, are (or can be) happy. So the question is: is happiness a subjective reality (“feeling good”) or do objective conditions exist (“being fine”) that let us define a common standard?
The first to venture into the exploration of accumulated happiness were the social researchers of the World Value Survey who published the results of a study focused on the declared rate of happiness in 2003.
Top of the list of the ten happiest nations is Nigeria, and only in sixth place do we find the first of the developed nations, Iceland. Disputable though it may be, the chart is the first worthy attempt to define an original indicator of quality of life other than the account of the nation’s resources.
The first block in the systematic study of a nation’s happiness is finding the way to discriminate between existential satisfaction, associated with a state of things, and perceived happiness, a state of mind. It is no surprise then that in general thirtysomethings declare themselves much happier, but far less satisfied than seventy-year-olds.
What’s more, qualitative studies of national happiness rates are conditioned by cultural frameworks. In individualistic Western societies, happiness is seen as a reflection of personal achievement and professional accomplishment. Being happy has therefore become almost a moral obligation, it hurts to be considered a failure. And so the tendency to declare oneself happier than one really is has developed. The same phenomenon can be seen in Latin countries, which find winning behaviour particularly attractive.
On the contrary in Asia, where happiness is concerned a more fatalistic attitude prevails. One doesn’t chase it. Maybe one day it’ll just arrive like an unexpected gift. And, as it isn’t confirmation of anyone’s shortcomings, unhappiness doesn’t cause any feelings of guilt. Indeed, in Asiatic countries, whose values include self-discipline, a sense of responsibility, collaboration and friendship, the pursuit of happiness at all costs is frowned upon.
Whatever it is, for modern man happiness is a complicated jigsaw that always has a piece missing.
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