WHAT MAKES
US HAPPY?
capital. It is still too early to draw any definite
conclusions about the progress of these
measures. But by analysing the historical
data, we can identify many of the financial,
social and psychological factors that are
linked to emotional well-being, which might
explain the Easterlin paradox and could
inform future policies.
The first is economic inequality. It is now
well known that we tend to compare our
successes to those of others, creating an
unhealthy sense of competition that often
results in frustration and unhappiness. In
one memorable experiment, researchers
examined videos of Olympic athletes as they
received their medals. Whereas those receiving
the gold medal were positively beaming, the
silver medallists seemed to be in agony, as they
struggled to deal with the feeling of having
missed out on the top spot. The bronze
medallists seemed to be happier – perhaps
because of the sheer relief of reaching the
podium at all.
Further studies have demonstrated that
social comparisons can influence people’s well-
being in many diverse situations. We measure
our success relatively. When it comes to
economics, psychologists have shown that ourYou probably know the type:
those Pollyannas who seem
to have a relentlessly sunny
disposition. Are they simply
born happy? Is it the product of
their environment? Or does it
come from their life decisions?
If you are familiar with
genetics research, you will have
guessed that it is a combination
of all three. A 2018 study of
1516 Norwegian twins
suggests that around 30 per
cent of the variance in people’s
life satisfaction is inherited.
Much of this seems to be related
to personality traits, such as
neuroticism, which can leave
people more vulnerable to
anxiety and depression, and
extraversion, which encourages
more gregarious behaviour.
Both traits are known to be
influenced by a range of genes.
To put this in context, the
heritability of IQ is thought to
hover around 80 per cent, so
environmental factors clearly
play a role in our happiness.
These include our physical
health, the size and strength of
our social network, job
opportunities and income. The
effect of income, in particular, is
nuanced: it seems that the
absolute value of our salary
matters less than whether we
feel richer than those around us,
which may explain why the level
of inequality predicts happiness
better than GDP.
Interestingly, many important
life choices have only a fleeting
influence on our happiness.
Consider marriage. A 2019
study found that, on average,
life satisfaction does rise after
the wedding, but the feeling of
married bliss tends to fade over
middle age. Needless to say, this
depends on the quality of the
relationship: marriage’s impacton well-being is about twice as
large for people who see their
partner as their “best friend”.
Parenthood is even more
complex. For decades, social
scientists have found that
people with children at home
are significantly less happy
than those without. More recent
research, however, suggests
that there are important
regional differences. Jennifer
Glass at the University of Texas
in Austin and her colleagues
have shown that the “parent
gap” in well-being is larger in
the US and the UK than in most
European countries, and it is
non-existent in Finland,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Spain and France – where the
joys of parenthood outbalance
the stresses.
Glass’s analyses show that
these differences can be almost
completely explained by
variations in paid parental leave,
flexible working hours,
affordable childcare and holiday
leave, which together reduce
the potential for work-family
conflict. The effects of these
policies may play out across
generations. In addition to the
legacy of their genes, parents’
own emotional well-being will
influence the family dynamic,
which will, in turn, shape the
personality of their offspring.
Our life satisfaction, then, is a
complex tapestry shaped by our
genes, our health, our economic
prospects, our relationships and
the culture around us. While
many of these things may be
beyond your control, there is
now good evidence that certain
psychological strategies will
help you to respond to your
circumstances in the happiest
way possible (see “Can we learn
to be happy?”, page 44). DA
VIDGRAY
/REUT
ER
S/ALA
MY