In our previous research, we have dedicated much of our time to studying the determinants of wellbeing at the individual level. We used the main findings from this research to build the Exploring Happiness Index, that allows individuals to track their wellbeing over time. We are now turning our attentions to wellbeing on a national level. That is, we are looking to identify what exactly it is that causes citizens in one country to be happier than another.
The best source of data regarding countries wellbeing is the Gallup World Poll and these data are summarised each year in the World Happiness Report. In the survey, Gallup asks people to imagine a ladder, with the lowest rung representing the worst possible life and the highest rung representing the best possible life. The scale of this ladder is from 0- 10. The results show a large amount of variation across countries.
Through data analysis, it is possible to identify a range of factors that explain a significant proportion of the variance in average wellbeing across countries. The World Happiness Report identifies six factors, which when taken together, explain 76 per cent of the variation in average wellbeing across countries. Those six factors are as follows:
Trust: which can be measured in a number of different but typically by using measures of perceptions of corruption. See full definition.
Generosity: the proportion of people who have donated money in the present month.
Social support: the proportion of people who have relatives or friends they can count on to help them whenever they need them.
Freedom: the proportion of people who are satisfied with their freedom to choose what they want to do with their life.
Health: years of healthy life expectancy.
Income: GDP per capita.
The findings from this research tend to be supported by other empirical analyses that consider the main determinants of national wellbeing (e.g. OECD (2012). However, this topic is much less well researched than the topic of wellbeing at the individual level. There remains scope for additional empirical analyses that test whether additional variables or different groups of variables could be more effective at explaining the variation in national wellbeing.
In this research article we also discuss wellbeing inequality. We reiterate that progress should be measured against the goal of both a high average level of wellbeing within a country and a low level of variation around this mean.
We conclude the article by discussing two areas where further research would prove useful. The first is the extent to which cultural factors play an important role in determining national wellbeing. As shown in the chart above, Latin American and Caribbean countries have a high level of wellbeing, given their income level. This may be due to cultural factors but further research is necessary to confirm this hypothesis.
The second is the relationship between environmental quality and wellbeing. The implications of climate change are likely to increasingly impact our daily lives and therefore we could expect this to become an increasingly important factor in determining national wellbeing in the future. This remains speculative for now, but will be an important area of research in the years ahead.