There is a significant correlation between feeling in control of one's own life and happiness levels.
A study conducted at the University of Zurich suggested that democracy and federalism bring well-being to individuals.[20] It concluded that the more direct political participation possibilities available to citizens raises their subjective well-being.[20] Two reasons were given for this finding. First, a more active role for citizens enables better monitoring of professional politicians by citizens, which leads to greater satisfaction with government output.[20] Second, the ability for citizens to get involved in and have control over the political process, independently increases well-being.[20]
According to a free market think tank Cato Institute, higher economic freedom, as measured by both the Heritage and the Fraser indices, correlates strongly with higher self-reported happiness.[5][7]
The amount of spare time people have, as well as their control over how much spare time they have, correlates with happiness.[21]
Whereas leisure pursuits increase happiness, watching television is an anomaly, as it seems to correlate with lower happiness. This may be because people who watch a lot of television are lacking in better sources of happiness, such as relationships and other leisure pursuits; that is, people watch television if they don't have anything better to do.
Happiness appears to be inversely related to levels of stress, allergy, asthma and other chronic conditions.
The idea that happiness is important to a society is not new. Thomas Jefferson put the “pursuit of happiness” on the same level as life and liberty in the United States[22] Jeremy Bentham believed that public policy should attempt to maximize happiness, and he even attempted to estimate a "hedonic calculus".[3] Many other prominent economists and philosophers throughout history, including Aristotle, incorporated happiness into their work.[2]
The Satisfaction with Life Index is an attempt to show the average self-reported happiness in different nations. This is an example of a recent trend to use direct measures of happiness, such as surveys asking people how happy they are, as an alternative to traditional measures of policy success such as GDP or GNP. Some studies suggest that happiness can be measured effectively.[23][24] The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), published in November 2008 a major study on happiness economics in Latin America and the Caribbean ("Beyond Facts: Measuring Quality of Life", idbdocs/1776308.pdf).
There are also several examples of measures that includes self-reported happiness as one variable. Happy Life Years, a concept brought by Dutch sociologist Ruut Veenhoven, combines self-reported happiness with life expectancy. The Happy Planet Index combines it with life expectancy and ecological footprint.
Gross national happiness (GNH) is a concept introduced by the King of Bhutan in 1972 as an alternative to GDP. Several countries have already developed or are in the process of developing such an index.[3][25] Bhutan’s index has led that country to limit the amount of deforestation it will allow and to require that all tourists to its nation must spend US$200[3] Allegedly, extensive tourism and deforestation lead to unhappiness.[3]
After the military coup of 2006, Thailand also instituted an index.[3] The stated promise of the new Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont is to make the Thai people not only richer but happier as well.[3] Much like GDP results, Thailand releases monthly GNH data.[26] The Thai GNH index is based on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the most happy.[26] As of May 13, 2007, the Thai GNH measured 5.1 points.[26] The index uses poll data from the population surveying various satisfaction factors such as, security, public utilities, good governance, trade, social justice, allocation of resources, education and community problems.[26]
Australia, Canada,[25] China, France[27] and the United Kingdom[28] are also coming up with indexes to measure national happiness.[3] North Korea also announced an international Happiness Index in 2011 through Korean Central Television. North Korea itself came in second, behind #1 China.[29]
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