How important is money for happiness?
I would not be so simple as to say money does not buy happiness. What I say is this: At levels of dire poverty, money can certainly matter. Our work in the slums of Calcutta, and among the homeless in the US, plus international comparisons, show that at levels of real poverty, increases in income do matter for happiness. But above a certain point, there are only small increases in well-being due to increase in money.
Like those who have $100 million?
The Forbes list was a slight bit happier than an average group of Americans; it is just that the difference was not large. The take-away message here is that above a level where one’s basic needs can be met, our research shows that further increases in income will only make a small difference. Therefore, one should not sacrifice social relationships and other things to make more money. Making money is fine; but being materialistic does not seem to work well.
Who are the happiest people, and where do Indians figure?
The happiest people tend to be northern Europeans—people from The Netherlands, Switzerland and wealthy nations such as that. The Americans and Canadians are behind them. The unhappiest used to be the poorest nations, such as India. But now as the economy grows, India is moving up. And with their economies in disarray, the former Soviet bloc nations have moved down. Even worse than being poor is to become poor. Those nations are now down to the level of some of the extremely poor African nations.
What role does local culture, ethos, history and politics play in influencing individual and collective happiness?
When one corrects happiness for income, a different picture emerges. In this case, Latin American societies such as Puerto Rico come out on top. They have a happy, approach-oriented culture. And Pacific Rim Asian nations, such as Japan, come out low, as they are concerned about avoiding errors and not offending others. While the Latin people are approach-oriented, the Confucian cultures are more avoidance-oriented.
Have you found any indication to suggest happiness may be in the genes?
We have twin data that indicates that inborn temperament is a strong factor. Other influences such as the person one marries, and whether one is divorced, unemployed, or widowed, can also matter. But a person’s temperament based on their genes is perhaps the biggest influence. We find that identical twins are very similar in their happiness.
What distinguishes happy people from the rest?
The happiest individuals are people who are characterised by: 1) a happy temperament and positive outlook, 2) goals and activities they care about, and the progress they are making toward their goals, 3) a philosophy that gives meaning to their lives, and 4) close and supportive social relationships. These factors alone do not guarantee continual bliss, but the person who has them is likely to be happy most of the time.
Which are the happiest and unhappiest groups?
We found several very unhappy groups in the US—street prostitutes (harsh conditions, drug addiction, etc), patients in a mental hospital, newly-imprisoned prisoners and the homeless. What is surprising is that it seems harder, leading to lower life satisfaction, in the US than in India. Why? It seems counter-intuitive as the homeless in the US had much better access to food. But they also suffer enormous stigma, and often have many personal problems.
