Ipsos Global Poll: World Is Happier Place Than 2007

[General Havoc]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/10/ipsos-poll-world-happier-place_n_1268814.html

Despite economic woes, wars, conflicts and natural disasters the world is a happier place today than it was four years ago and Indonesians, Indians and Mexicans seem to be the most contented people on the planet.

More than three-quarters of people around the globe who were questioned in an international poll said they were happy with their lives and nearly a quarter described themselves as very happy.

"The world is a happier place today and we can actually measure it because we have been tracking it," said John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos Global, which has surveyed the happiness of more than 18,000 people in 24 countries since 2007.

But he added that expectations of why people are happy should be carefully weighed.

"It is not just about the economy and their well being. It is about a whole series of other factors that make them who they are today."

Brazil and Turkey rounded out the top five happiest nations, while Hungary, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Italy had the fewest number of happy people.

Perhaps proving that money can't buy happiness, residents of some of the world biggest economic powers, including the United States, Canada and Britain, fell in the middle of the happiness scale.

"There is a pattern that suggests that there are many other factors beyond the economy that make people happy, so it does provide one element but it is not the whole story," said Wright.

"Sometimes the greatest happiness is a cooked meal or a roof over your head," he explained. "Relationships remain the No. 1 reason around the world where people say they have invested happiness and maybe in those cultures family has a much greater degree of impact."

Regionally Latin America had the highest number of happy people, followed by North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Only 15 percent of Europeans said they were very happy.

On a more personal note married couples tended to be happier than singles but men seemed to be as content as women. Education and age also had an impact with more people under 35 saying they are very happy than 25-49 year olds. Higher education also equated with higher happiness.

[Charon]

Mexico? Really? Did not see that coming.

And I find it amusing that every other country on the list has people doing stuff they enjoy or meeting the queen or some such and America. We get a fucking McDonald's Happy meal. How much did you pay for that one McDonalds?

I'm not too surprised by Brazil and Turkey being high on that list. IIRC they came out of the recession pretty much smelling like roses.

[Josh]

Good to see. Despite all the gloomsaying and nihilism, life still goes on the way it always has. People learn to make the best of what life offers instead of wallowing in nihilism.

See Havoc, I can be positive.

[General Havoc]

See Havoc, I can be positive.

I live in shock :)

[Derek Thunder]

Clearly what we're looking at is the formation of a speculative "happiness bubble" being inflated through the trading of joy-based securities for the enrichment of a small clique of exceptionally wealthy bankers.

[Josh]

Clearly what we're looking at is the formation of a speculative "happiness bubble" being inflated through the trading of joy-based securities for the enrichment of a small clique of exceptionally wealthy bankers.

They are the joy-horders, and when the happiness bubble pops, they'll be swimming in the joy locked away in their glee vaults.