Happiness surveys. How happy is the world, and how happy are you?   

Happiness Survey

How happy is the world? How happy am I? And how happy are you?

Hmm, intriguing questions indeed. Difficult to answer, too - well, when it comes to personal happiness anyway. I guess surveys on world happiness usually show us that it's not always the rich and famous amongst us who are the happiest, just as people living in the richest countries are not necessarily happier than those living in poor ones.

Ain't happiness contrary? :-)

To help us all find happiness, I've included links to happiness surveys from the BBC, as well as Gretchen Rubin's own happiness survey called The Happiness Project. And Gene Pinder (in his happiness survey article) presents a fascinating look at happiness and prosperity via a survey of 52,000 in 51 countries.

But before all that, I'd like to start my own happiness survey of visitors to the Self Help Collective: How happy are you, right now? Do let us know!

Happiness survey - what I say...

Rather than talk to you about Gene's article or Gretchen's Happiness Project I'm going to share with you a very personal happiness survey of one - my own! I'm going to tell you how happy I am right now, as of 11.14am on June 4th, 2008. It will be personal (I hope you don't mind) but instructional nevertheless, and it might encourage you to share your own happiness survey with the rest of us too! Hint hint! ;-)

Happiness Survey of Steve M Nash (that's me!)

Well, a bit about me, I guess.

1. I work for myself (at home) so I have no boss ordering me around and telling me to do stupid things; my ideas do not go un-listened to; and I don't have to commute to work, either. Still, working at home can be a bit lonely at times.
   
   
2. I'm not rich, but I'm not poor either. I don't have lots of gadgets or the most expensive sports car (I don't own a car, actually) but I do okay. I make a passive income from websites like TextMeFree.com, so I could take the whole week off and still get paid. (How? Google Adsense, that's how!)
   
   
3. I've just broken up from my girlfriend (of 5 months) which was a mutual decision but (I think) a wrong one. I'm trying to get back with her but am not hopeful (there's an email waiting for me that I'm sure is marked 'Dear John').
   
   
4. I'd like to be a father, and I'm wondering (at aged 43) whether that will ever happen for me now.
   
   
5. I'm fit and healthy and I have a reasonable social life, but I could do with breaking out of my social routine a little more.
   
   
6. I've finally got around to writing my first novel last year. Something I've been putting off for 20 years. But the book's a bit weird (and probably unpublishable), and the first rejection slip I received a few days ago will not be the last I'm sure. I'm going to start my second novel in August anyway.
   
   
7. I'm meeting a good friend this evening and we will be both be using our communication skills and having a laugh.
   
   
8. And I love where I live; the sun is shining too... :-)
   
   (Are the above reasons to make you happy?)

So how happy am I, a man aged 43, home-owner living in England, still single and with too many tendencies to choose to be negative?

My happiness rating is 95% - yes, I'm pretty darned happy! :-)

I love working (for myself) on this website; I love my family and friends; and I know that I can meet the challenges ahead of me, even if that means nursing a broken heart for a while! You know what, I've never been happier! Seriously.

Okay, that's me. Please share your own happiness survey now, even if you're not happy, but do think of some positive things happening in your life (as well as negative) - they will be there, if you look hard enough.

Happiness survey - what Jacqueline Johns says...

Despite Jacqueline being an Aussie (and therefore not a Pom) she is still able to feel positive and happy about life. So much so that Jacqueline thinks of herself as the happiest person she knows. Actually, she's so happy that she's created a whole website about happiness (now that is happy). And here it is - Happy Life Mentoring

And this is Jacqueline's happy story...

Of course I'm joking (about Aussies). And that's because, as we all know, scientists have shown that living upside down is actually quite good for you, once you get 'adjusted'. (Yes, I'm still joking. I'll stop there. Ahem.)

Okay, it's time for Gene Pinder (I wonder if he's a happy chappie)...

Happiness and Peaceful Nations

Happiness survey - what Gene Pinder has to say...

Does increasing happiness foster or sustain the conditions for peace?

Researchers explored that important question by reviewing the survey responses of 52,000 people in 51 countries.

They found several interesting correlations. First, they found that at the individual level self-described happy people tended to have more confidence in the government and armed forces, a greater emphasis on postmaterialist values, stronger support for democracy, less intolerance of immigrants and racial groups, and a greater willingness to fight for one's country. For example, researchers say participatory governments require individuals to trust that their fellow citizens will not abuse civil and political liberties that are a part. Thus, "by facilitating trust and cooperation, subjective well-being may have important implications for tolerance, as well as support for democracy and individual freedom."

But these positive attitudes can be greatly affected by the conditions at the national level. Thus, the level of the GNP, violence, inequality, and a country's overall well-being levels could dampen or diminish those attitudes at the personal level. For example, research suggests that when people perceive a threat or experience fear and anger, they are more likely to endorse punitive measures and are less politically tolerant.

The researchers (Ed Diener and William Tov) bring this all together by saying that while improving individual happiness looks to be a critical foundation for the building of lasting peace in a country, improving the political and economic foundations within a nation must be present as well. One without the other will not produce lasting peace, as the United States has so painfully discovered.

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Gene Pinder is the assistant director of an executive master's program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the author of The Psychology of Satisfaction and Happiness, a blog focusing on the current science and research of well-being. A journalist and marketer by training, Gene is also an artist of original oils and acrylic paintings.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gene_Pinder

More happiness surveys:

• Happiness Survey
  A new study of more than 65 countries suggests the happiest people live in Nigeria and the least happy in Romania.
  
  
• Happiness 'immune to life events' (BBC, July 14th, 2008)
  
  
• Denmark 'happiest' country in the world
  
  
• Happiness Survey
  The happiness survey is a worldwide investigation...
  
  
• How happy are you?
  Take this test designed (on the BBC website) by psychologist Professor Ed Diener and discover how happy you are. (Then let us know via the contact us form please!)
  

Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project

Happiness survey - what Gretchen Rubin has to say...

"I'm working on a book, THE HAPPINESS PROJECT--a memoir about the year I spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study I could find, whether from Aristotle or St. Therese or Martin Seligman or Oprah. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT will gather these rules for living and report on what works and what doesn't. On this daily blog, I recount some of my adventures and insights as I grapple with the challenge of being happier. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT will hit the shelves in late 2009"

Gretchen is kind of doing her own happiness survey, of herself, via her own happiness project, her own pursuit of happiness. And she asks us all to have our own happiness project, too - a great idea, if you ask me (that I will get round to, sooner or later). Here's an example of one of Gretchen's blog posts that may help you: YOUR Happiness Project: Acknowledge the reality of other people's feelings.

Whether you're interested in Gretchen's book or not, her look at happiness is utterly fascinating and I highly recommend that you sign-up for your FREE daily email at The Happiness Project (I have, and it's one of my favourite reads)

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How Did We Do?

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