The world affairs have changed a lot in the last year or so. However, even with Covid the happiness levels around the world have remained largely unchanged as per a survey from Ipsos. The Global Happiness 2020 survey shows that 63% of the people around the world are happy compared to 63% last year. Here’s a look at what makes people happy.
The Global Happiness survey was conducted in 27 countries and 19,516 adults participated in it. Each country had over 1,000 participants. Overall, happiness levels do not show significant changes, but there are countries which showed a decline of more than eight percent like Peru, Mexico, India, Chile and the US. There are also countries which showed an increase of more than eight percent namely China, Russia, Malaysia & Argentina.
The participants were asked these questions – Taking all things together, would you say you are: very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not happy at all. Next, they were asked about things that made them happy. For e.g. Having more money: Does or could give me greatest happiness, does or could give me some happiness, doesn’t or couldn’t make me happy or happier, does not apply to me.
63% adults around the globe reported being happy, 11% of them reported being very happy and 52% rather so. Among the 27 countries surveyed, China with 93% had the highest percentage of happy adults. The Netherlands was second with 87% people who were happy, followed by Saudi Arabia at 80%.
France & Canada were fourth and the fifth on the list with each having 78% happy people. Countries with the highest percentage of adults considering themselves as very happy were Saudi Arabia 30%, India 22%, and the Netherlands 20%.
Least Happy
The countries which had the highest percentage of people who were not happy were Peru with 68%, Chile with 66% & Spain with 62% adults. They were at the bottom with least happy people in the countries surveyed.
Only six countries had less than 50% people who were happy. Compared to the global average of 63% who reported being happy, Peru, Chile & Spain, only had 32%, 34% & 38% happy adults respectively. Argentina, Hungry & Mexico were the other three countries with 43%, 45% & 46% happy people.
Sources of Happiness
Most people around the world derive joy from simple things like physical well being, relationships with spouse, family & children. It is not material riches or wealth, but health and physical well being that is rated as the greatest source of happiness by most people. Relationships, health and safety were rated as the major factors that made people happy in the Covid affected world.
Having more money was ranked tenth on the source of happiness for people. The top ten sources of happiness for people are as follows:
Money & Happiness
Does money buy happiness? Well, 40% of the individuals rated money as the source of their greatest happiness. While 85% of people said money made them happier. Money and financial situations do affect the happiness of people, but only upto a point. When the basic necessities and needs of people are met, money does not have a major impact on their happiness.
An interesting study by the Nobel Laureate, Kahneman & Deaton in 2010 revealed,“money can only buy happiness up to about $75,000 – after that, it has no significant effect on our emotional well-being.”
In the survey, South Africa is the place where maximum people (58%) rated money as their greatest source of happiness. Brazil (56%) & Saudi Arabia (53%) were the second and third respectively.
Time on Social Media
According to emarketer research, an average adult in the US spends 1 hour, 22 minutes every day on social media. People all over the world spend a fairly notable amount of time on social media. Does Social Media make people happy? The study had some interesting insights. More than 55% of the people said, social media does not make them happy.
The global average of people who derived happiness from social media was 45%. China has been home to some of the most popular social media and gaming platforms in the world. No surprise that 84% of Chinese people were happy using social media, followed by 73% in Malaysia and 70% in Turkey.
Meaning in Life
Beyond personal safety and security, meaning in life is one of the greatest sources of happiness for people. 43% of the people rated feeling in control of their lives as their greatest happiness factor. 43% considered having a meaningful job or employment as the source of their joy. The satisfaction with the direction of how life is going was rated by 40% as a prime happiness factor.
Human beings are driven by meaning and our day to day experiences contribute to our happiness. Beyond a certain level, it is not money but meaningful involvement in something that drives human happiness. A research by Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade in 2005 confirms, “Most of our happiness is not determined by our genetics, but by our experiences and our day-to-day lives.”
Decline in Happiness
The study also indicated declining levels of happiness since 2011. While the global happiness average was pegged at 77% in 2011, it has declined to 63% in 2020. The number of people who said they were happy has diminished by 14% globally.
Mexico & Turkey have seen a drop of 32% & 30% respectively in happiness levels according to the survey. While several other countries have seen a decline of over 20% since 2011 in the happiness survey.
South Africa, Spain, Argentina and India are some of the other countries where happiness levels have dropped by over 20%. China is the only country where people have reported being happier than 2011. Infact, 78% of Chinese people reported being happy in 2011 compared to 93% in 2020.
