Happiness is an emotional state of joy and contentment that emanates from fulfilling the conditions required for a better life; it is characterised by the culmination of positive feelings, satisfaction, and a sense of achievement. Overall, happiness is a perception human beings form when their basic economic, social, and psychological expectations are met. Happiness is not a concrete object; it is an abstract notion which can be approached, understood and analysed only as a subjective socio-psychological factor to measure the level of contentment of individual members of society.
In modern times, there is a practice of measuring happiness globally and publishing the findings as the World Happiness Report. However, its contribution in enhancing society's quality of life is still not convincingly established. The concept of happiness as an index of human development is said to have emerged in the 1970s. Economist Richard Easterlin and psychologist Ed Diener are credited with having popularised the notion of "happiness economics" as a subjective area of economic research. The economic principle developed by Esterline is known as the "Easterlin Paradox," which says that richer people are generally happier than poorer people but average happiness does not increase with the overall increase in the income of the society.
Average happiness
In most developed countries, the average happiness of the society is not found to align with per capita economic growth. The experience of many developed countries, namely the USA, Japan, Israel and Singapore, shows that the happiness level of the society has remained much lower despite the sharp increase in the economic prosperity of their societies. The general concept of happiness is mostly linked with economic prosperity, societal peace, family union, social recognition and spiritual solace. However, the human stories of rich and prosperous countries of the world are not the same. According to World Happiness Index reports, the Nordic countries, Switzerland and Denmark top the list of the happiest countries of the world, while the level of happiness does not appear to be the same in other highly developed countries despite scoring high economic Growth.
On a global scale, the criteria for measuring the happiness index and human development index are also different. Some researchers say that happiness plays a role in expediting economic development, while others consider unhappiness as a driving factor for economic development. In a talk programme organised by Bloomberg podcast recently, its editor-at-large Mishal Hussain asked an uncomfortable question to former foreign minister of Singapore George Yeo. The question was why Singapore was one of the 20 unhappiest countries despite being one of the wealthiest 20 countries in the world and whether it bothered him.
Answering that question, Yeo said: "Lee Kuan Yew had reminded us not to promise happiness. We can promise economic development, infrastructure, education, whatever, but never promise happiness. When I was in the trade ministry and foreign ministry, public service conducted a survey on which ministries had the best work-life balance. Both MTI and MFA had terrible work- life balance but we had the highest morale. Sometimes unhappiness could be a precondition to achievement.
Historically, societies prioritising contentment and comfort of the citizens are found to be bad at adapting to change, while dissatisfaction and unhappiness have driven innovation and socio-economic reform in the country. This shows that happiness can expedite progress if the distribution of happiness is based on the democratic principles of equality, inclusion and justice. On the contrary, if the people are forced to wear a happy face under the pressure of power, it will impede the progress of the country and the cognitive judgment of the people.
Bhutan is the first country in the world to use happiness as an index of human development. Its former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck coined the phrase Gross National Happiness (GNH) in 1972. Since then, it has continuously used it to project human development. In 2012, the United Nations also launched its World Happiness Report after passing a resolution in July 2011 inviting member countries to measure the happiness index as a guide for public policy.
Individual progress
In the United States, the happiness index has not found a respectful response either from the government or from society. Americans believe in individual progress, class differences and emphasise state security. They are on the race for becoming 'great again,' accumulate the highest GDP and staying on top of international power hierarchy. In most of the developing world, happiness is a cultural trait and a spiritual aura of social personality. People live in a cultural cocoon which provides them safety, identity, pride and contentment. It is not a gateway to success but a goal in itself, which is achieved through economic sufficiency, physical security, and democratic freedom, access to health, education and spirituality. The happiness index sounds attractive but the means to achieve this is what makes all the difference.
Pursuit of happiness is the goal of an individual. It requires a combination of diverse factors to achieve it. Most important of them are economic sufficiency, access to health services, quality education, political freedom, religious tolerance, cultural identity and recognition. Happiness reflects human development only if it blossoms spontaneously in the collective conscience of the people. Repressive silence, imposed conformity and coercive peace cannot create happiness in the minds of the people. A true measure of a nation's happiness lies on ensuring the well-being of the people. Only a genuine happiness emanating from continuous improvement in the human condition will truly reflect society's human development.
(Dr. Bharadwaj is a former ambassador and former chairperson of Gorkhapatra Corporation. bharadwajnarad@gmail.com)
How did you feel after reading this news?