It's not about who feels the happiest, but who lives a life that is most "flourishing", i.e., a meaningful, complete, and thriving life.
In contrast to earlier studies, the "The global flourishing study" has tried to capture many more aspects of happiness.
The result is that countries like Sweden, which usually rank high when looking at happiness, now rank in the middle, says Tyler VanderWeele, professor at Harvard University in the USA and one of the researchers behind the project.
Rich is not the same as flourishing
When 200,000 people in 22 countries have had their say, Indonesia ranks highest overall, followed by Mexico and the Philippines, and Japan ranks lowest. Overall, participants in high-income countries like Sweden and the USA rate themselves higher on areas related to material security. People in middle-income countries rate themselves higher on aspects related to social connections and close relationships.
One thing that surprised the researchers was that the classic U-shaped curve, where people are most satisfied with life as young and old, but with a dip in middle age, no longer applies.
We see that in many countries, it's more common for young people to be less satisfied and happy, and for well-being to increase with age, says Tyler VanderWeele.
Two countries that stand out are Poland and Tanzania. There, the curve only goes downward with age, and people experience the worst quality of life after 60. In Mexico and Australia, the connection to well-being is very weak.
Religion seems important
One conclusion is that people in high-income countries rank quite low when it comes to "meaning in life". Generally, people who belong to religious communities or participate in religious activities rank higher on several of the indicators. Sweden, for example, ranks 19th out of 22 when it comes to meaningfulness.
Overall, it's quite even between the sexes, except in certain countries. In Brazil, men experience a more thriving life, while in Japan, women rank higher.
The researchers write that it's good to know what makes people feel like they're thriving and have complete lives, as it can provide clues to factors that need to be addressed.
Petra Hedbom/TT
Facts: The whole list
TT
1. Indonesia
2. Israel
3. The Philippines
4. Mexico
5. Poland
6. Nigeria
7. Egypt
8. Kenya
9. Tanzania
10. Argentina
11. Hong Kong
12. USA
13. Sweden
14. South Africa
15. Brazil
16. Australia
17. Germany
18. Spain
19. India
20. United Kingdom
21. Turkey
22. Japan
Source: Global Flourishing Study
In total, around 200,000 people over 18 years old are included in the study. They are distributed across 22 countries and Hong Kong. The participants have answered questionnaires annually for several years.
"Flourishing" was measured through questions that concern areas: happiness, health, meaningfulness, character, relationships, and economic security.
The questions, which are to be rated between 1 and 10, can be read on Harvard's website.
The study, which is published in the journal Nature, consists of several articles and is one of the most comprehensive of its kind, but the authors also highlight weaknesses. One is that it is primarily high- and middle-income countries that are represented.
