The trending of happiness scores and economic crises and transitions.

Studies of industrialized societies demonstrate that most people are happy (Diener & Diener, 1996). Over long periods these societies have experienced improvements in the norms of well-being, but also serious interruptions from war and other disasters. Research in less developed societies also found that the vast majority of respondents (84 percent) reported being happy. Nevertheless there is little data from poor or war ravaged countries, and whether results from these regions would report happiness at these levels is suspect. Happiness as we have seen is linked to meeting basic human needs that include basic security as well as material well-being rarely present in deprived countries.

Research has found rising levels of happiness in the world. Happiness reports indicate increasing levels over time and for most people. In studies that included 90 % of the world’s population, happiness increased in 45 of the 52 countries investigated. However, most of this happiness data was collected before the Great Recession (Inglehart, Foa, Peterson, & Wetzel, 2008). Within these trends there are consistent relationships between happiness and normative well-being. In countries characterized by broad economic well-being, freedom and social justice people not only live longer but also report more happiness (Veenhoven, 2005). Other research has supported the importance of material well-being to happiness. Stevenson and Wolfers (2008) demonstrated a clear link between economic growth and happiness. In another review Deaton (2008) found that people in richer countries reported more happiness. It seems uncontroversial that income is a significant factor in happiness, although other factors of well-being such as individual liberty and social justice are salient for personal growth and happiness. However, we live in times of socio-economic crises and whether these reports are valid over time remains to be seen. The economic insecurity of the peoples of the world may well be reflected in a downward trend in happiness not surprising given the relationship of economic well-being to happiness.

Happiness and well-being has positive consequences in other domains of life. A meta-analysis of 225 studies showed that happy people are more fortunate in love relationships. Happy people also develop significant health benefits compared to the unhappy, and do better in reaching career goals. The range of positive consequences of happiness is broad as happy people are more likely to get involved in their communities, live longer, and have better marriages (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 910