The pursuit of happiness
How are we supposed to find happiness? Through good works and helping people? By finding religion or discovering the joys of downshifting? Whatever strategy you choose. Where you live might make a difference. The latest global analysis of happiness and satisfaction levels shows that the most ‘satisfied’ people tend to live in Latin America, Western Europe and North America, whereas Eastern Europeans are the least satisfied.
strategy: (noun) [ c or u ] a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry, or sport, or the skill of planning for such situations.
It is not the first time such international league tables have been drawn up. What is new is how experts and politicians are taking such date increasingly seriously. Over the past decade, the study of happiness, formerly the preserve of philosophers, therapists and gurus, has become a bona fide discipline. It even has its own journal, the Journal of Happiness Studies. As a result, government policy advisers are getting interested, and politicians are using the research as the basis for new strategies.
league tables: (noun) a table that shows how well institutions such as schools or hospitals are performing in comparison with each other.
drawn up: (phrasal verb with draw) to prepare something, usually something official, in writing.
decade: (noun) [ c ] a period of ten years, especially a period such as 2010 to 2019
preserve: (noun) an activity that only one person or a particular type of person does or is responsible for
philosophers: (noun) someone who studies or writes about the meaning of life.
gurus: (noun) a person skilled in something who gives advice
bona fide: (adj) real, not false
discipline: (noun) training that makes people more willing to obey or more able to control themselves, often in the form of rules, and punishments if these are broken, or the behaviour produced by this training
What above all else has made systematic study possible is date gathered from hundreds of surveys measuring happiness across difference cultures, professions, religions, and socio-economic groups. Researchers can investigate the impact of money and inequality; they could explore for example how much difference money makes to a person’s happiness after their basic material needs have been met, and whether inequality in wealth and status is as important a source of dissatisfaction as we might think. ‘It is an exciting area,’ says Ruut Veenhoven, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Happiness Studies. ‘We can now show which behaviours are risky as far as happiness goes, in the same way medical research shows what is bad for our health. We should eventually be able to show what kind of lifestyle suits what kind of person.
inequality: (noun)the unfair situation in society when some people have more opportunities, money, etc. than other people.
material: (noun) a physical substance that things can be made from
While it is tempting to hold up those nations that report the highest levels of happiness as a model for others to follow, this may be unwise. For one thing, the word ‘happiness’ has no precise equivalent in some languages. Another complication is that ‘satisfaction’ is not quite the same thing as ‘happiness’. When asked how happy they are, people tend to consider first their current state. To get a better idea, researcher ask people to take a step back and consider how satisfied they are with their lives overall and how meaningful they judge their lives to be.
tempting: (adj) if something is tempting, you want to do or have it.
precise: (adj) exact and accurate
equivalent: (adj) having the same amount, value, purpose, qualities, etc.
Comparisons between countries also need to be treated cautiously. Different cultures value happiness in very different ways. In individualistic western countries, happiness is often seen as reflection of personal achievement. Being unhappy implies that you have not made the most of your life. Eunkook Mark Suh at Yonsei University in Seoul thinks this pressure to be happy could lead people to over-report how happy they feel. Meanwhile, in the more collectivist nationals of Asia, people have a more fatalistic attitude towards happiness. According to Suh, ‘One of the consequences of such an attitude is that you don’t have to feel inferior or guilty about not being very happy.’ Indeed, in Asian cultures the pursuit of happiness is often frowned on, which in turn could lead people to under-report.
individualistic: (noun) the idea that freedom of thought and action for each person is the most important quality of a society, rather than shared effort and responsibility
collectivist: (adj) having a political system based on the principle of collectivism, or relating to the theory of collectivism
fatalistic: (adj) believing that people cannot change the way events will happen and that events, especially bad ones, cannot be avoided
inferior: (adj) not good, or not as good as someone or something else
frown on/upon sth: (phrasal verb with frown) to disapprove of something
How satisfied a person is with their life also depends on how successfully they adhere to their particular cultural standard. In Japan, for instance, satisfaction may come from fulfilling family expectations and meeting social responsibilities. So, while in the US it is perfectly appropriate to pursue your own happiness, in Japan you are more likely to find happiness by not pursuing it directly.
