Rohan Week 10: The Power of Hapiness
At any given point in our lives, there is no doubt that we have heard an age-old question: does money buy happiness?
While the answer to this question is incredibly complex and can not be answered concisely, we can, however, examine which countries are the happiest in relation to wealth and other factors. Today, I reviewed the World Happiness Report from 2022. In this blog, I will share my findings and what it means for us.
First, it is important to understand what metrics the organization that puts this report together uses to arrive at its findings. While hundreds of factors are used, the six most important ones are dystopia rate, perceptions of corruption, generosity, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancy, social support, and GDP per capita. Obviously, the GDP per capita metric screams out and highlights that this report uses wealth to determine happiness. And this is true. But it is also important to consider that access to wealth can help with certain things that promote happiness: entertainment, access to health care, a healthy diet, and lack of wage anxiety are all directly correlated to having a suitable income.
As per the findings of this report, eight of the top ten happiest nations are western and northern European nations that are typically recognized for their high levels of social spending. Then the next twelve countries on the list are also countries that most would consider wealthy.
The World Happiness Report makes it evident that wealth, at least to some extent results in happiness. Maybe it is the freedom that comes with financial flexibility. Or it could be the ability to access opportunities that are only available for those with considerable wealth.
Whatever this “factor” may be, it is also important to recognize that there are many more ways to rank happiness than what the World Happiness Report decided on.
The power of happiness in our world is paramount. It means so many different things to so many people. If one asks different people around the world what it means to be happy, it is likely that one will get as many distinct responses as the amount of people one asks.
But regardless, no matter what it means to us, as humans it is always in our best interest to seek out things that make us happy, whether that is spending massive sums of money or spending time—which is free—with the people that matter the most.
While the answer to this question is incredibly complex and can not be answered concisely, we can, however, examine which countries are the happiest in relation to wealth and other factors. Today, I reviewed the World Happiness Report from 2022. In this blog, I will share my findings and what it means for us.
First, it is important to understand what metrics the organization that puts this report together uses to arrive at its findings. While hundreds of factors are used, the six most important ones are dystopia rate, perceptions of corruption, generosity, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancy, social support, and GDP per capita. Obviously, the GDP per capita metric screams out and highlights that this report uses wealth to determine happiness. And this is true. But it is also important to consider that access to wealth can help with certain things that promote happiness: entertainment, access to health care, a healthy diet, and lack of wage anxiety are all directly correlated to having a suitable income.
As per the findings of this report, eight of the top ten happiest nations are western and northern European nations that are typically recognized for their high levels of social spending. Then the next twelve countries on the list are also countries that most would consider wealthy.
The World Happiness Report makes it evident that wealth, at least to some extent results in happiness. Maybe it is the freedom that comes with financial flexibility. Or it could be the ability to access opportunities that are only available for those with considerable wealth.
Whatever this “factor” may be, it is also important to recognize that there are many more ways to rank happiness than what the World Happiness Report decided on.
The power of happiness in our world is paramount. It means so many different things to so many people. If one asks different people around the world what it means to be happy, it is likely that one will get as many distinct responses as the amount of people one asks.
But regardless, no matter what it means to us, as humans it is always in our best interest to seek out things that make us happy, whether that is spending massive sums of money or spending time—which is free—with the people that matter the most.
Hi Rohan! I really enjoyed reading your discussion of the correlation between wealth and happiness. I appreciate the speculative tone you utilized to clarify the definitions and measures, as it validates the statistical evidence of your sources. You also highlight which variables are the most emphasized in investigating this question, which further strengthens the credibility of your discussion. Rather than defending one claim, I like the way you explore the nuances of the situation. Various factors can both impact and define the “happiness” in our world. To be honest, I went into your blog expecting the happiest nations to be revealed as small, relatively unknown countries. Many forms of media push the idea that people’s connection to nature, self, and others is enhanced in these remote locations, thus making them more happy. I also expected to be faced with a passage villainizing the role of money in our society, in which true happiness is found in something independent of our materialistic society. Finding out that some of the wealthier countries enjoyed higher levels of “happiness” ended up subverting my expectations. I think it is great how you address the caveat of the statistical evidence provided, mentioning how definitions of happiness vary. Even though this topic is difficult to quantify, its importance in our daily lives warrants the attempt to further the average happiness in any way possible.
ReplyDeleteHey Rohan! Your engaging blog made me reflect back on a lesson I learned in elementary school about wants and needs, specifically Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I remember learning about how a person could not physically advance into the next category of living without fulfilling the one prior to it for the first time, which was eye-opening for me as a kid. To realize that someone who is unable to meet the standards of the second level, safety needs, is unable to obtain the third level, love and belonging, made me reflect back on my own life and how much I already had compared to other people living in this world. Relating back to your blog, I feel like this speaks volumes about the relationship between wealth and happiness—it's parallel. On Maslow’s pyramid, the very first level is physiological needs, including air, shelter, and water; people without any money would unarguably have a much harder time obtaining those items than someone who can afford to have a house with a lasting source of running water. Therefore, it's clear that someone struggling to meet physiological needs will find it exceedingly difficult to reach higher levels such as love and belonging, let alone esteem and self-actualization. Nevertheless, this is a widely discussed topic and has been for ages, which is why it is evident that happiness from wealth does plateau eventually and other factors play just as important a role in people’s happiness.
ReplyDeleteMoney is such a materialistic item that isn’t guaranteed forever, but love, most friendships, and other less tangible things actually are. Treading into philosophical grounds, this makes me think about the age-old question: Would you rather be rich and sad or poor and happy? That question likely exceeds the world's hardest math problem because it is almost unanswerable. Happiness is subjective, and although many researchers throughout history have attempted to gather data via factors like generosity and life expectancy, I feel like true happiness is immeasurable and cannot be ranked on a chart.
Hi Rohan,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how inclusive your analysis on whether money can truly buy happiness or not is. This has certainly been a question of a lot of debate and I think it’s very important to acknowledge the fact that there is no definitive answer to this. I couldn’t agree more with you when you state that “happiness in our world is paramount” and that happiness “means so many different things to so many people.” Every individual person has different beliefs and values for what happiness truly is and these diverse beliefs will bring a vast range of answers to such a broad question. I also liked how you introduced statistics from the World Happiness Report as it certainly gives the audience a better understanding of what happiness means to the general public. It is understandable that wealth to some extent can prompt happiness. We gain happiness by having the freedom to do what we love and what we want. As you state in your blog, we get a sense of “freedom that comes with financial flexibility.” When we have the wealth and money we need to promote our happiness in things like “entertainment, access to health care, a healthy diet, and lack of wage anxiety,” we have the stability to do and enjoy anything and everything we want to do. Overall I really enjoyed reading about your insightful analysis on whether or not money buys happiness and how ultimately, it is always the most important to seek happiness, whether by becoming wealthy or by other means.