… Rather, they are alternative options. People like to have money and/or happiness, under certain conditions, which has led to the mapping of happiness across the globe to augment the usual mapping of wealth and poverty.Leicester University’s Adrian White mined and glommed data from the CIA, UNESCO, WHO, UNDHR, and several other sources to produce a global happiness map.Perhaps you’ve seen this before, but I certainly missed it.According to the study’s author:
The concept of happiness, or satisfaction with life, is currently a major area of research in economics and psychology, most closely associated with new developments in positive psychology. It has also become a feature in the current political discourse in the UK.There is increasing political interest in using measures of happiness as a national indicator in conjunction with measures of wealth. A recent BBC survey found that 81% of the population think the Government should focus on making us happier rather than wealthier.[source]
Here is the map, and the official list of the Nations of the World in order of Happiness:
View larger image________DENMARK (273)SWITZERLAND (273)AUSTRIA (260)ICELAND (260)BAHAMAS (257)FINLAND (257)SWEDEN (257)BHUTAN (253)BRUNEI (DARUSSALAM (253)CANADA (253)IRELAND (253)LUXEMBOURG (253)COSTA (RICA (250)MALTA (250)NETHERLANDS (250)ANTIGUA (AND (BARBUDA (247)MALAYSIA (247)NEW (ZEALAND (247)NORWAY (247)SEYCHELLES (247)ST (KITTS (AND (NEVIS (247)UAE (247)USA (247)VANUATU (247)VENEZUELA (247)AUSTRALIA (243)BARBADOS (243)BELGIUM (243)DOMINICA (243)OMAN (243)SAUDI (ARABIA (243)SURINAME (243)BAHRAIN (240)COLUMBIA (240)GERMANY (240)GUYANA (240)HONDURAS (240)KUWAIT (240)PANAMA (240)ST (VINCENT (AND (THE (240)UNITED (KINGDOM (237)DOMINICAN (REPUBLIC (233)GUATEMALA (233)JAMAICA (233)QATAR (233)SPAIN (233)ST (LUCIA (233)BELIZE (230)CYPRUS (230)ITALY (230)MEXICO (230)SAMOA (WESTERN (230)SINGAPORE (230)SOLOMON (ISLANDS (230)TRINIDAD (AND (TOBAGO (230)ARGENTINA (227)FIJI (223)ISRAEL (223)MONGOLIA (223)SAO (TOME (AND (PERINI (223)EL (SALVADOR (220)FRANCE (220)HONG (KONG (220)INDONESIA (220)KYRGYZSTAN (220)MALDIVES (220)SLOVENIA (220)TAIWAN (220)TIMOR-LESTE (220)TONGA (220)CHILE (217)GRENADA (217)MAURITIUS (217)NAMIBIA (217)PARAGUAY (217)THAILAND (217)CZECH (REPUBLIC (213)PHILIPPINES (213)TUNISIA (213)UZBEKISTAN (213)BRAZIL (210)CHINA (210)CUBA (210)GREECE (210)NICARAGUA (210)PAPUA (NEW (GUINEA (210)URUGUAY (210)GABON (207)GHANA (207)JAPAN (207)YEMEN (207)PORTUGAL (203)SRI (LANKA (203)TAJIKISTAN (203)VIETNAM (203)IRAN (200)COMOROS (197)CROATIA (197)POLAND (197)CAPE (VERDI (193)KAZAKHSTAN (193)MADAGASCAR (193)SOUTH (KOREA (193)BANGLADESH (190)CONGO (REPUBLIC (190)GAMBIA (190)HUNGARY (190)LIBYA (190)SOUTH (AFRICA (190)CAMBODIA (187)ECUADOR (187)KENYA (187)LEBANON (187)MOROCCO (187)PERU (187)SENEGAL (187)BOLIVIA (183)HAITI (183)NEPAL (183)NIGERIA (183)TANZANIA (183)BENIN (180)BOTSWANA (180)GUINEA-BISSAU (180)INDIA (180)LAOS (180)MOZAMBIQUE (180)PALESTINE (180)SLOVAKIA (180)BURMA (177)MALI (177)MAURITANIA (177)TURKEY (177)ALGERIA (173)EQUATORIAL (GUINEA (173)ROMANIA (173)BOSNIA (& (HERZE (170)CAMEROON (170)ESTONIA (170)GUINEA (170)JORDAN (170)SYRIA (170)SIERRA (LEONE (167)AZERBAIJAN (163)CENTRAL (AFRICAN (RE (163)MACEDONIA (163)TOGO (163)ZAMBIA (163)ANGOLA (160)DJIBOUTI (160)EGYPT (160)BURKINA (FASO (157)ETHIOPIA (157)LATVIA (157)LITHUANIA (157)UGANDA (157)ALBANIA (153)MALAWI (153)CHAD (150)IVORY (COAST (150)NIGER (150)ERITREA (147)RWANDA (147)BULGARIA (143)LESOTHO (143)PAKISTAN (143)RUSSIA (143)SWAZILAND (140)GEORGIA (137)BELARUS (133)TURKMENISTAN (133)ARMENIA (123)SUDAN (120)UKRAINE (120)MOLDOVA (117)CONGO (DEMOCRATIC (110)ZIMBABWE (110)BURUNDI (100)_________White, A. (2007). A Global Projection of Subjective Well-being: A Challenge To Positive Psychology? Psychtalk 56, 17-20.
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It’s always the same wherever one goes – it’s not the most powerful rulers who have the happiest populations.- Graham Greene, The Quiet American
It would be really interesting to repeat the exercise for a single large city. You could start from the surrounding towns/villages and work inwards through the various suburbs and quarters and into the centre.Armed with such information you would stand a better chance of separating the various factors contributing to happiness and unhappiness, and decide where to concentrate your efforts for improvement.Money does not buy happiness – but you get a better quality of misery!