Reading Time: 2 minutes Comparing rates of happiness across countries can be tricky, given cultural, economic and social differences that testing may not capture. However, while some “outliers” defy the idea that wealthier nations are happier – Nigeria is very happy; Japan, not so much – other factors, such as age, marriage and jobs, regularly show up in happiness […]
Money Makes the World Go Round, or Does It? Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Economics may be a great science for understanding numbers, but it does a poor job of predicting wellbeing. “When income exceeds a certain threshold, it no longer brings more happiness,” according to the “Easterlin paradox.” Within a country, the rich are generally happier than the poor, but that’s not true over time or in comparisons
Is Money the Root of Happiness? Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Health and Happiness Worldwide, health is the major variable that influences joy, even more than money. Contented people are healthier, and healthy people are more content. In the developed nations of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), the higher the blood pressure, the lower the happiness level, and vice versa, indicating a “virtuous
Love, Health and Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Happiness matters greatly in both philosophy and economics. Aristotle said that happiness is the supreme good, the end to which everything else is a means. However, he defined happiness quite differently than economists do today. In Aristotle’s view, happiness was not a matter of pleasure but a matter of morality. The moral person was happy.
The Weight of Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our environmental impact might not be at the forefront of our minds during the rush of the festive season and many of us are more concerned about just getting through it. However, the lead up to the end of the year is the perfect time for us to reflect on our habits and excesses. Christmas
A sustainable festive season Read More »
Reading Time: < 1 minute “People who have at least three or four very close friendships are healthier, have higher well-being and are more engaged in their jobs.” Most people do not realize how much their social connections mean to their emotional and physical health and wellbeing. Those with friends, family and significant others derive great benefit from their
The Importance of Social Networks Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Our wellbeing actually recovers more rapidly from the death of a spouse than it does from a sustained period of unemployment.” Do you like what you do each day? The essence of career wellbeing is attaining joy from your daily activities. Most adults spend much of the day at work. When you are there, can
Your Career and Your Identity Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Every day you make numerous choices about what to eat and drink. They are either positive (fruits, vegetables, plenty of water) or negative (junk food, candy, caloric drinks), or both. Good choices (“salmon with a side of broccoli”) make you feel better during the day (short-term) and reduce potentially negative physical consequences, such as cancer
Reading Time: 2 minutes Happiness is a foundation stone of economic science. People make economic choices – what salary to accept, what product to buy, whether to invest – in order to become happy. The pursuit of happiness clearly matters in economics, even though economists usually speak of it in jargon, substituting such words as “utility” for “happiness.” The
Objective vs. Subjective Reasons for Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes “The single biggest threat to our own well-being tends to be ourselves.” Do you experience a strong sense of well-being every day? Such contentment depends on more than just financial security, physical health or some other beneficial attribute. If you work to improve in one or two areas, but ignore the others, you will not
The Secret to Happiness Read More »
