Where are the World’s Happiest Countries?

WORLD

Well, it helps to be in Western Europe . . . (CNN)

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, including a link to today’s MapMaker Interactive map.

Discussion Ideas

The World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries in seven major areas of happiness or “subjective well-being.” How do the authors of the new report define happiness or “subjective well-being”?
- The researchers borrow definitions from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the OECD, “Subjective well-being encompasses three different aspects:
  - cognitive evaluations of one’s life
  - positive emotions (joy, pride)
  - negative emotions (pain, anger, worry)

What is per-capita GDP?
- Per capita GDP is a measure of the total output of a country that takes the gross domestic product (GDP) and divides it by the number of people in the country.
  - Per capita GDP is sometimes used as an indicator of standard of living as well as economic output, with higher per capita GDP being interpreted as having a higher standard of living.

What is “healthy life expectancy”?
- The World Health Organization defines a healthy life expectancy as the number of years a person can live in “full health,” without debilitating illness or injury.

What is “social support”?
- Social support is having someone to rely on in times of trouble. Researchers measured a country’s social support by evaluating answers to this question: “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?”

What is “freedom to make life choices”?
- Researchers measured a country’s freedom by evaluating answers to this question: “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?”

What is “generosity”?
- Researchers measured generosity by evaluating a country’s per-capita GDP and the answer to this question: “Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?”

What is “perception of corruption”?
- Researchers measured the perception of overall corruption by evaluating answers to two questions: “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not” and “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?”

What are “positive and negative affects”?
- Positive affect measures the general happiness, laughter, and enjoyment over more than one interview.
- Negative affect measures the general worry, sadness, and anger over more than one interview.

The new report also measured the “equality of happiness” or “distribution of happiness.” What is this?
- The equality of happiness (called the “Standard Deviation of Happiness” in the report) describes the distribution of happiness within a country, factored by variables such as health, income, education, freedom, and justice.
  - “Just as happiness provides a broader measure of well-being than separate accountings of income, health status, and the quality of the social context, we find that inequality of well-being provides a broader measure of inequality than measures focusing on the distribution of income and wealth.”

What is the intended outcome of this report?
- Authors hope the report might influence governments and non-governmental organizations to invest in social and financial policies that encourage factors that correlate to happiness. For instance, the authors suggest that reducing inequality and promoting sustainable development correlate to a country’s or region’s happiness.
- Four governments have already appointed Ministers of Happiness to develop, manage, and advocate for policies influencing what Bhutan evaluates as “gross national happiness”: Bhutan, Ecuador, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

CNN: Where are the world’s happiest countries?

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