No wonder we like it here!

Apparently we are all happy!

World "Happiest" Countries vs. Countries with the Highest Levels of "Subjective Well-Being"
The University of Michigan's World Values Surveys (WVS) has compiled data on the happiest countries in the world for over twenty years. Their results are considered the most authoritative by happiness researchers.WVS measures the happiness of individuals by two different means. The first is to simply ask them how "happy" they are. The second is to ask them how "happy" they are, and also how "satisfied" they are. The results are then combined to arrive at a measure of their "subjective well-being," a term generally considered synonymous with happiness. Because of these two different ways of measuring happiness, some confusion arises in determining which countries in the world are happiest. There is support for the the validity of both measures. For example, former president of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Martin Seligman, uses the "happiness only" measure in his book Authentic Happiness. However, Dr. Ron Inglehart, director of World Values Surveys, considers the "subjective well-being" measure a more accurate indicator of personal happiness.Therefore on this page I present the international rankings using both measures.

When individuals were asked:"Taking all things together, would you say you are: 1. Very happy, 2. Rather happy, 3. Not very happy, or 4. Not at all happy?" countries achieved the following rankings (Dr. Inglehart has not released the complete list):

Ranking of the World's Happiest Countries

1. Nigeria

2. Mexico

3. Venezuela

4. El Salvador

5. Puerto Rico

Ronald Inglehart et al. (eds.) HUMAN BELIEFS AND VALUES: A CROSS-CULTURAL SOURCEBOOK BASED ON THE 1999-2002 VALUES SURVEYS (Mexico City: Siglo XXI, 2004).

When individuals were asked the above "happiness" question and the results were combined with the following question: (On a scale of one to ten) "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?" a ranking of "subjective well-being" for the following countries was achieved.

Ranking of Countries by Level of "Subjective Well-Being"

1. Puerto Rico

2. Mexico

3. Denmark

4. Colombia

5. Ireland

6. Iceland

7. N. Ireland

8. Switzerland

9. Netherlands

10. Canada

Please note that not all of the world's countries are included in the survey.

Ronald Inglehart et al. (eds.) HUMAN BELIEFS AND VALUES: A CROSS-CULTURAL SOURCEBOOK BASED ON THE 1999-2002 VALUES SURVEYS (Mexico City: Siglo XXI, 2004).