America: we’re all about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We’re just not as happy as we used to be. That’s what a Gallup Survey of people from all over the world found after asking people to rate the quality of their lives on a scale of 1 to 10.
The United Nations World Happiness Report shows Americans scored life on average as 6.8, down 0.315 points from a previous survey taken almost ten years ago.
The five happiest countries were mostly from northern Europe. Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland each averaged more than 7.5.
“We do a lot of comparative happiness in America because of that ‘pursuit of happiness,’ where sometimes happiness is just being a little more mindful to the moment we’re in, and I think some cultures focus on that a little more than we do in America, ” says Pamela Gail Johnson, the founder of the Secret Society of Happy People.
The focus in the study this time (the last was done ten years ago) included a look at how happy migrants are in their new homes. They largely found that newcomers tend to find themselves on par with the locals, dependent on how accepting the locals are of the newcomers.
They also found the trail of what’s known as the Easterlin Paradox – per capita income in the U.S. has been rising while levels of reported happiness are in decline. Johnson says we tend to focus on differences more than similarities in American culture. “When you’re watching the news, or you’re watching TV, or maybe having conversation with friends, or following social media feeds, there is a lot of emphasis on where we have different opinions, different ideas or different experiences,” she says.
The variables applied in the survey to measure happiness include income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.