Study: World Gets Happier

Despite the anxieties of these times, happiness has been on the rise around the world in recent years, a new survey finds.

ADVERTISEMENT
function pr_swfver(){var osf,osfd,i,axo=1,v=0,nv=navigator;if(nv.plugins&&nv.mimeTypes.length){osf=nv.plugins["Shockwave Flash"];if(osf&&osf.description){osfd=osf.description;v=parseInt(osfd.substring(osfd.indexOf(".")-2))}}else{try{for(i=5;axo!=null;i++){axo=new ActiveXObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash."+i);v=i}}catch(e){}}return v;}var pr_redir="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=14una89ea/M=632116.12218077.13089875.1414694/D=news/S=97631923:LREC/_ylt=AleYb3TvQskakRrCBYRYYiOzvtEF/Y=YAHOO/EX P=1214955749/L=slI6QEWTUeiNulTAR9LmoQrpRjgefEhqpMUABZ1U/B=k0OQGdGDJGE-/J=12 14948549383957/A=5410232/R=0/*$CTURL$";var pr_s="ads.pointroll.com/PortalServe/?pid=628702W25220080624165111&flash="+pr_swfver()+"&redir=" +pr_redir+"&r="+Math.random();document.write("");

  if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['k0OQGdGDJGE-']='&U=13fojcahq%2fN%3dk0OQGdGDJGE-%2fC%3d632116.12218077.13089875.1414694%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d5410232%2fV%3d1';

The upbeat outlookis attributed to economic growth in previously poor countries,democratization of others, and rising social tolerance for women andminority groups.

"It's a surprising finding," said University ofMichigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, who headed up the survey. "It's widely believedthat it's almost impossible to raise an entire country's happinesslevel."

Denmark is the happiest nation and Zimbabwe the the most glum, he found. (Zimbabwe's longtime ruler Robert Mugabe was sworn in as presidentfor a sixth term Sunday after a widely discredited runoff in which hewas the only candidate. Observerssaid the runoff was marred by violence and intimidation.)

The United States ranks 16th.

The results of the survey, going back an average of 17 years in 52 countries andinvolving 350,000 people, will be published in the July 2008 issue ofthe journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.Researchers have asked the same two questions over the years: "Takingall things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy,not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, howsatisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"

A Happiness Index created from the answers rose in 40 countries between 1981 and 2007, and it fell in the other 12.

Scientists had thought happiness is stable over time when looking atentire societies. "Most previous research suggests that people andnations are stuck on a 'hedonic treadmill,'" Inglehart said. "Thebelief has been that no matter what happens or what we do, basichappiness levels are stable and don't really change."

So Inglehart's team was surprised that happiness "rosesubstantially." They speculate reasons for the sunny outlooks includesocietal shifts in recent decades: Low-income countries such as Indiaand China have experienced unprecedented rates of economic growth;dozens of medium-income countries have democratized; and there has beena sharp rise of gender equality and tolerance of ethnic minorities andgays and lesbians in developed societies.

Previous research has found that happiness is partly inherited and that money doesn't buy much of it.

Yet the new survey finds people of rich countries tend to be happierthan those of poor countries. And controlling for economic factors,certain types of societies are much happier than others.

"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those thatallow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehartsaid.

A survey released last week found one reason America doesn't top the list: Baby Boomers are generally miserablecompared to other generations. Further, a public opinion poll releasedby the Pew Research Center in April found that 81 percent of Americanssay they believe the country is on the "wrong track." The response isthe most negative in the 25 years pollsters have asked the question.

The World Values Surveys, led by Inglehart, was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Swedish and NetherlandsForeign Ministries, and other institutions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.