World Database of Happiness

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The World Database of Happiness is a web-based archive of research findings on subjective appreciation of life, based in the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization of the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. [1] The database contains both an overview of scientific publications on happiness and a digest of research findings. [2] Happiness is defined as the degree to which an individual judges the quality of his or her life as a whole favorably. Two 'components' of happiness are distinguished: hedonic level of affect (the degree to which pleasant affect dominates) and contentment (perceived realization of wants).

Contents

Aims

The World Database of Happiness is a tool to quickly acquire an overview on the ever-growing stream of research findings on happiness Medio 2023 the database covered some 16,000 scientific publications on happiness, from which were extracted 23,000 distributional findings (on how happy people are) and another 24,000 correlational findings (on factors associated with more and less happiness). [1] The first findings date from 1915.

Technique

The World Database of Happiness is a ‘findings archive’, which consists of electronic ‘finding pages’ on which separate research results are described in a standard format and terminology. These finding pages can be selected on various characteristics, such as population studies, the measure of happiness used and observed co-variates. All finding-pages have a specific internet address to which links can be made in scientific review papers or policy recommendations. This allows a concise presentation of many findings in a table, while providing readers with access to detail. [2]

Scientific use

The Database has been cited in 254 scientific papers, [3] for example to access under what conditions economic growth enhances average happiness [4] or to show that rising mean happiness at first raises happiness inequality, but further rise will diminish these differences, [5] or that healthy eating is associated with more happiness, even after controlling for the effect on health [6] Another finding is that relative simple happiness training techniques raise happiness by some 5% [7]

The World Database of Happiness is often used by popular media to make lists of the happiest countries around the globe. [8] An example is the Happy Planet Index, which aims to chart sustainable happiness all over the world by combining data on longevity, happiness and the size of the ecological footprint of citizens. [9]

Strengths and weaknesses

The database has a clear conceptual focus, it includes only research findings on subjective enjoyment of one's life as a whole. Thereby it evades the Babel that has haunted the study of happiness for ages. The other side of that coin is that much interesting research is left out. The findings are reported with technical details about measurement and statistical analysis. This detail is welcomed by scholars, but makes the information difficult to digest for lay-persons. Still another limitation is that the determinants of happiness appear to vary considerably across persons and situations, which make it hard to draw general conclusions about the causes of happiness. What is clear is that poor health, separation, unemployment and lack of social contact are all strongly negatively associated with happiness. [10] Another problem for the World database of happiness is that the studies on happiness increase with such a high rate that it gets increasingly difficult to offer a complete overview of all research findings. A further concern is that the Database of Happiness is exclusively focused on hedonic happiness (feeling good) and not on mature happiness that might exist in the face of suffering [11]

Related Research Articles

Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Kahneman</span> Israeli-American psychologist

Daniel Kahneman is an Israeli-American author, psychologist and economist notable for his work on hedonic psychology, psychology of judgment and decision-making. He is also known for his work in behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. His empirical findings challenge the assumption of human rationality prevailing in modern economic theory.

Pleasure refers to experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find pleasure enjoyable, positive or worthy of seeking. A great variety of activities may be experienced as pleasurable, like eating, having sex, listening to music or playing games. Pleasure is part of various other mental states such as ecstasy, euphoria and flow. Happiness and well-being are closely related to pleasure but not identical with it. There is no general agreement as to whether pleasure should be understood as a sensation, a quality of experiences, an attitude to experiences or otherwise. Pleasure plays a central role in the family of philosophical theories known as hedonism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happiness</span> Mental state, noted for pleasant emotions

Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts, but sometimes it may arise from no obvious cause. The level of happiness for longer periods of time is more strongly correlated with levels of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. In common usage, the word happy can be an appraisal of those measures themselves or as a shorthand for a "source" of happiness. As with any emotion, the precise definition of happiness has been a perennial debate in philosophy.

Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."

The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satisfaction with Life Index</span> Index that attempts to show life satisfaction in different nations

The Satisfaction with Life Index was created in 2007 by Adrian G. White, an analytic social psychologist at the University of Leicester, using data from a metastudy. It is an attempt to show life satisfaction in different nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy Planet Index</span> Index of human well-being and environmental impact

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation in 2006. Each country's HPI value is a function of its average subjective life satisfaction, life expectancy at birth, and ecological footprint per capita. The exact function is a little more complex, but conceptually it approximates multiplying life satisfaction and life expectancy and dividing that by the ecological footprint. The index is weighted to give progressively higher scores to nations with lower ecological footprints.

The economics of happiness or happiness economics is the theoretical, qualitative and quantitative study of happiness and quality of life, including positive and negative affects, well-being, life satisfaction and related concepts – typically tying economics more closely than usual with other social sciences, like sociology and psychology, as well as physical health. It typically treats subjective happiness-related measures, as well as more objective quality of life indices, rather than wealth, income or profit, as something to be maximized.

The Easterlin paradox is a finding in happiness economics formulated in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, then professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the first economist to study happiness data. The paradox states that at a point in time happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow: while people on higher incomes are typically happier than their lower-income counterparts at a given point in time, higher incomes don't produce greater happiness over time. One explanation is that my happiness depends on a comparison between my income and my perceptions of the average standard of living. If everyone's income increases, my increased income gives a short boost to my happiness, since I do not realize that the average standard of living has gone up. Some time later, I realize that the average standard of living has also gone up, so the happiness boost produced by my increased income disappears. It is the contradiction between the point-of-time and time series findings that is the root of the paradox: while there is a correlation at a fixed point, there is no trend over multiple points. That is, in the short run, everyone perceives increases in income to be correlated with happiness and tries to increase their incomes. However, in the long run, this proves to be an illusion, since everyone's efforts to raise standards of living lead to increasing averages, leaving everyone in the same place in terms of relative income. Various theories have been advanced to explain the Paradox, but the Paradox itself is solely an empirical generalization. The existence of the paradox has been strongly disputed by other researchers.

Contentment is a state of being where one is satisfied with their current situation, and the state of affairs in one’s life as they presently are. If one is content, they are pleased with their situation and how the elements in one’s life are situated. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to be content with one’s life regardless of the circumstance, regardless of whether things are going as one expected or not.

Edward Francis Diener was an American psychologist and author. Diener was a professor of psychology at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, as well as a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. He is noted for his research over the past thirty years on happiness, including work on temperament and personality influences on well-being, theories of well-being, income and well-being, cultural influences on well-being, and the measurement of well-being. As shown on Google Scholar as of April 2021, Diener's publications have been cited over 257,000 times.

Global Happiness Organization (GHO) is an international non-profit organization, founded under the name "Charity International". It is dedicated to the promotion of utilitarian ethics. It was founded in 2007 by a team of Swedish academics, philosophers and animal welfare activists led by Ludvig Lindström. The purpose of the organization is to increase net happiness worldwide and to get a happiness agenda into mainstream politics. Its goal is to have politicians base their policy-making decisions on conclusions drawn from the latest scientific studies in order to create better conditions for a happier society and a happier world.

Despite a large body of positive psychological research into the relationship between happiness and productivity, happiness at work has traditionally been seen as a potential by-product of positive outcomes at work, rather than a pathway to business success. Happiness in the workplace is usually dependent on the work environment. During the past two decades, maintaining a level of happiness at work has become more significant and relevant due to the intensification of work caused by economic uncertainty and increase in competition. Nowadays, happiness is viewed by a growing number of scholars and senior executives as one of the major sources of positive outcomes in the workplace. In fact, companies with higher than average employee happiness exhibit better financial performance and customer satisfaction. It is thus beneficial for companies to create and maintain positive work environments and leadership that will contribute to the happiness of their employees.

Life satisfaction is the evaluation of a person's quality of life. It is assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards one's life—rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree of education, experiences, residence, and other factors.

Subjective well-being (SWB) is a self-reported measure of well-being, typically obtained by questionnaire.

Ruut Veenhoven is a Dutch sociologist and a pioneer on the scientific study of happiness, in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. His work on the social conditions for human happiness at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands has contributed to a renewed interest in happiness as an aim for public policy. He has shown that happiness can be used a reliable measure to assess progress in societies which was one of the sources of inspiration for the United Nations to adopt happiness measures as a holistic approach to development. Veenhoven is the founding director of the World Database of Happiness and a founding editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies. He has been described as "the godfather of happiness studies", and "a leading authority on worldwide levels of happiness from country to country", whose work "earned him international acclaim".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Happiness Report</span> Publication ranking national happiness based on respondent ratings of their lives

The World Happiness Report is a publication that contains articles and rankings of national happiness, based on respondent ratings of their own lives, which the report also correlates with various life factors. As of March 2023, Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world six times in a row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan-Emmanuel De Neve</span> Belgian economist and professor

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve is a Belgian economist and professor at the University of Oxford where he directs the Wellbeing Research Centre. De Neve is also the KSI Fellow and Vice-Principal of Harris Manchester College. He is best known for his research on the economics of wellbeing which has led to new insights into the relationship between wellbeing and income, productivity, firm performance, and economic growth. De Neve is also an editor of the World Happiness Report and co-founder of the World Wellbeing Movement.

The Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary scientific journal covering the study of happiness and well-being. It was established in 2000 by founding editors Ed Diener, Alex Michalos, and Ruut Veenhoven. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media, and is affiliated with the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS). The editor-in-chief is Antonella Delle Fave. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 3.852.

References

  1. 1 2 Ehero. "WORLD DATABASE OF HAPPINESS ARCHIVE OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ON SUBJECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE". worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl. Erasmus University Rotterdam. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 Veenhoven, Ruut; Buijt, Ivonne; Burger, Martijn (May 2021). "ONLINE 'FINDINGS-ARCHIVE': A NEW TOOL FOR RESEARCH SYNTHESIS". International Journal of Innovation Scientific Research and Review. 04 (5): 2774–2784.
  3. ↑ "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Oishi, Shigehiro; Kesebir, Selin (3 September 2015). "Income Inequality Explains Why Economic Growth Does Not Always Translate to an Increase in Happiness". Psychological Science. 26 (10): 1630–1638. doi:10.1177/0956797615596713. PMID   26338882. S2CID   11719800 . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Ram, Rati (November 2017). "Kuznets curve in happiness: A cross-country exploration". Economic Modelling. 66: 272–278. doi:10.1016/j.econmod.2017.06.006.
  6. ↑ Veenhoven, Ruut (2021). "Will healthy eating make you happier? A research synthesis using an on-line findings-archive". Applied Research in Quality of Life. 16: 221–240. doi: 10.1007/s11482-019-09748-7 . S2CID   255278068 . Retrieved 5 July 2023.Veenhoven, R. (2018). .
  7. ↑ Bergsma, Ad; Buijt, Ivonne; Veenhoven, Ruut (17 November 2020). "Will Happiness-Trainings Make Us Happier? A Research Synthesis Using an Online Findings-Archive". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 1953. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01953 . PMC   7707103 . PMID   33312145.
  8. ↑ "The Happiest Countries In The World". Global Finance Magazine. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Happy planet Index". happyplanetindex.org. Hot or Cool Institute.
  10. ↑ Dolan, Paul; Peasgood, Tessa; White, Mathew (February 2008). "Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being". Journal of Economic Psychology. 29: 94–122. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2007.09.001 . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  11. ↑ Wong, Paul (16 May 2017). "Courage, faith, meaning, and mature happiness". ositive Living Newsletter (Mailing list). Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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