yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

How to Measure Happiness Around the World | National Geographic


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Can you measure happiness? It's not an easy task, but every year the Gallup World Poll tries to estimate how happy people are in a hundred and forty countries around the world. Where do they even start? Frequency of smiley face emojis? Number of hugs given per day?

We actually start by asking a few simple questions. First, researchers ask people to rate their lives on a scale of zero to ten, zero being the pits and ten being the happiest possible. If you rate your lives on a seven or higher, you're considered to be thriving. Way to go!

What stands out when you dig deeper into these poll results? One thing is clear: different cultures have different ideas of what it means to thrive. For example, Latin Americans tend to place an especially high value on positive emotions, including laughter, and consistently score highest in the daily positive experiences.

So it's no surprise that in Costa Rica, healthy and green living means happiness. Investments in health care, education, sustainability, and biodiversity have helped Costa Ricans flourish. The beautiful natural landscape also leads to a limited-stress lifestyle.

Across the pond, Danes ranked among the happiest countries in the poll. They believe they have a right to health care, education, and a financial safety net. At least half of Danes are thriving when it comes to financial well-being and community engagement.

Meanwhile, Singapore is rooted in traditional Asian values of harmony, respect, and hard work. That's why, over the last decade, it has led Southeast Asia in happiness and overall satisfaction with life.

So how can we increase happiness? Well, the data just isn't there yet. More research is needed to truly understand what makes people feel good across cultures. We know that physical health and vitality are the most important metrics for well-being.

But in the short term, a good place to start is to find happiness in everyday life. Go to a park with a friend, play with a puppy, find a hobby. Mostly, just stay healthy and discover what's important to you.

So how do you measure happiness, and what makes you happy? [Music]

More Articles

View All
Le Chȃtelier’s principle: Changing volume | Equilibrium | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy
The Chatelier’s principle says that if a stress is applied to a reaction mixture at equilibrium, the net reaction goes in the direction that relieves the stress. One possible stress that we could do is to change the volume on a reaction at equilibrium. L…
What if?
[Music] Foreign Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were on an official visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As they traveled and inspected the land, Cabrillo Princip, a 19-year-old Serbian nationalist, shot the royal couple at p…
Is This the End of Cathie Wood? | ARKK Fund Collapsing
One of the new stars in the investment world over the past few years has been Kathy Wood. She has had a successful and established career on Wall Street but really became a household name relatively recently with the company she founded, Arkhanvest, and i…
How To Count Past Infinity
Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. What is the biggest number you can think of? A Google? A Google Plex? A million oplex? Well, in reality, the biggest number is 40. Covering more than 12,000 square meters of Earth, this 40, made out of strategically planted tree…
Investigating Shadiness | Water & Power: A California Heist
[background noises] [music playing] [printer printing] [music playing] Some people gave a tip to Public Citizen, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization, about what appeared to be some shady water deals going on in Central Valley of California. T…
Bitcoin nears $10k: Why I’m NOT investing in Bitcoin (The Truth)
What’s up you guys? It’s Graham here. So, as you’re watching this right now, just know I am safe and sound in a bunker somewhere in the middle of nowhere, safe from all of the inevitable dislikes and extreme comments I’m gonna get on this video. Because e…