Finland is again the happiest country in the world
Happiness|Finland's difference to second -place Denmark has grown slightly compared to last year.
Finnish According to the UN -sponsored The World Happiness report, the happiest country in the world is once again in the world. The difference to second -ranked Denmark has grown slightly compared to last year.
Finland has ranked first in the first place in the poll, which is experienced in eight years.
The top ten are also other Nordic Iceland, Sweden and Norway. The final place is Afghanistan, where the extremist organization Taliban took over again in 2021.
Costa Rica And Mexico is both among the top ten for the first time. The United States, on the other hand, received its worst earnings and is ranked 24th.
According to the report, the continuous rising trends of Lithuania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, which are the most happiest country, according to the report, emphasizes that the levels of happiness of Eastern, Central and Western Europe are approaching.
Happiness Based on a three -year average of a survey conducted in different countries. In the survey, the respondents themselves evaluate the degree of happiness.
The Cantril Ladder meter is used to measure happiness. In it, respondents must give their own current life a grade on a scale of 0-10, where 10 is the best possible and 0 of the worst possible life.
The report examines the results of the survey through different variables. These include GDP per capita, expectation of healthy years, social support, freedom, generosity and the level of corruption.
Helsinki university researcher Jennifer de Paolan It is not surprising that Finland is one year after year in the first place of happiness report.
« Satisfaction with life depends on many factors, such as confidence in institutions, equality and social security of society. It makes sense that Finns are happy with their lives, » says De Paola, an Italian-based Italian background.
According to de Paola, the investment in Finland is also explained by the flexibility of society and people.
« Finnish society is very flexible, for example as far as life changes, such as studying in adulthood, or even hierarchies in working life. »
De Paolan However, the report should not talk about happiness at all.
« Rather, the survey is asking about satisfaction. The results do not tell you anything about the feeling of happiness, how often people experience positive and negative feelings, » he says.
« I believe that the word happiness is also chosen for the survey because it is a kind of magic word that can attract people's attention. »
According to De Paola, studies show that satisfaction with life correlates somewhat with the prevalence of positive feelings.
« Using the word » happiness « confuses people. It is often wondering how Finns can be the most happiest when they don't even smile. »
Also happiness researcher Markku Ojanen Using the concept of happiness is a bit misleading.
« Yes, this study is probably a bit of happiness now, but I find it a bit amusing that there is happiness in the name of the project when there is no direct question about happiness, » Ojanen tells STT.
Costarican economist Mariano Rojani According to the term happiness is used in the Happiness Report as a top concept. Rojas has been writing this year's report.
« It should be noted that in the survey, the term happiness does not refer to the feeling of happiness, but to the estimate that people make about their lives, » Rojas explains.
Can happiness – or satisfaction – even measured on the same meter around the world?
According to De Paola, the question of the questionnaire is expected to be interpreted in a slightly different way in different countries.
« Already a scale of 0-10 can mean different things in different countries. »
According to De Paola, it would be necessary to use not only the survey but also qualitative interviews asking people to explain their answers.
According to Ojanen, a more reliable picture of the happiness of respondents could be obtained by measuring well -being. Such a survey could ask many well -being issues, such as meaningfulness, hopefulness, security and experience in life control.
