Poverty Does Not Mean Unhappiness
Jul 2, 2010
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (Inside Costa Rica)
Poverty Does Not Mean Unhappiness
Money boosts life satisfaction, but not necessarily positive feelings, study finds. A list of rankings of selected nations on types of prosperity, Costa Rica placed 4th in "positive feelings" while placing 41st in GDP/Capita.
In contrast countries like the United States, Italy and Japan, who ranked 1st, 18th and 14th, respectively in GDP/Capita, ranked 26th, 67th and 44th, respectively, in positive feelings.
An analysis of the findings from a study of 136.000 people in 132 countries suggests there is no single prescription for happiness, which depends on many factors, including local culture and expectations.
The findings from the data, gathered in the first Gallup World Poll, are published in the July issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“The public always wonders: Does money make you happy?” Ed Diener, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Illinois and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization, says in a news release. “This study shows that it all depends on how you define happiness, because if you look at life satisfaction, how you evaluate your life as a whole, you see a pretty strong correlation around the world between income and happiness.”
The pollsters asked people questions on a wide range of topics, including whether their basic needs were met, what kinds of conveniences they owned, and whether their psychological needs were met.
Participants were also asked about positive and negative emotions experienced the previous day, whether they felt respected, had family and friends they could count on in an emergency, and how free they felt to choose their daily activities.
Diener says positive feelings are much more associated with factors such as whether they feel respected, have autonomy, and if their jobs are fulfilling.
“Everybody has been looking at just life satisfaction and income,” he says. “And while it is true that getting richer will make you more satisfied with your life, it may not have the big impact we thought on enjoying life.”
Among findings:
* The United States had the highest income but ranked 16th in life satisfaction and 26th on positive feelings.
* Some nations such as Costa Rica and New Zealand are happier than their income levels would suggest. Costa Rica ranks 41st in income but fourth in positive feelings, while New Zealand ranks 22nd in incomes but first in positive feelings.
* Some mid-level countries such as Costa Rica do well and some like South Korea less well “in part because of the quality of social relationships,” Diener says in emailed responses to questions from WebMD.
* Denmark ranks high across categories. The country ranked No. 1 on life satisfaction, seventh on positive feelings, and fifth in income.
* Extremely impoverished countries in Africa generally scored low on various categories, but no nation came in lowest in all types of happiness.
* Self-esteem is more important to happiness in the U.S. than in “traditional” cultures.
Also, factors that influence feelings of well-being vary from country to country, Deiner says, adding that the study “clearly shows” that there is no single prescription for happiness.
Money, he says, no more guarantees happiness than cigarette smoking guarantees cancer, but they increase the chances.
In studies of poor people, researchers find that some are happy, in part because their needs are met.
“We have interviewed happy people in the slums of Calcutta and they can be relatively happy, although dissatisfied with their poverty, because they are rich in family and friends,” he says.
Money makes a bigger difference to happiness among poor people, but it takes a lot more additional money to change the happiness of a person who is well-off, Diener says.
Source: http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/july/02/costarica10070205.htm