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.