Humans are an extremely prosocial species.
May 29, 2019 10:15 AM Subscribe
The world is a rapidly changing place. Among the fastest changing aspects are those relating to how people communicate and interact with each other, whether in their schools and workplaces, their neighbourhoods, or in far-flung parts of the world. This year, we deal with three sets of factors: the links between government and happiness, the power of prosocial behaviour, and changes in information technology. This is the 7th World Happiness Report.
The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The report is produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the Ernesto Illy Foundation.
By chapter:
The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The report is produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the Ernesto Illy Foundation.
By chapter:
Looks like the winning combination for happiness is a nice cool/cold climate, a love of books, and social democracy.
And... listening to music is bad for your happiness? We need to get these kids some better music.
posted by Foosnark at 10:28 AM on May 29, 2019 [7 favorites]
And... listening to music is bad for your happiness? We need to get these kids some better music.
posted by Foosnark at 10:28 AM on May 29, 2019 [7 favorites]
listening to music on your phone is bad for your happiness, and since I read the AirPods thread, I buy that
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:29 AM on May 29, 2019
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:29 AM on May 29, 2019
I'm just gonna stare at Figure 5.5 for a while, and possibly get it tattooed on my forehead or painted on my daughter's ceiling
They need to clean up the article text for that (green = non-phone, red=phone) since it is opposite of what the figure is doing. Past that, I'm surprised that using a device to listen to music is bad for happiness; I love having particular playlists or songs at my fingertips.
posted by nubs at 10:31 AM on May 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
They need to clean up the article text for that (green = non-phone, red=phone) since it is opposite of what the figure is doing. Past that, I'm surprised that using a device to listen to music is bad for happiness; I love having particular playlists or songs at my fingertips.
posted by nubs at 10:31 AM on May 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
And the juxtaposition of this thread and the one immediately below it is quite amusing to me.
posted by nubs at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2019
posted by nubs at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2019
My only theory to explain that result is that kids who are already unhappy listen to a lot of music (and the way kids listen to music these days is mostly streaming on their phone).
posted by sallybrown at 10:36 AM on May 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 10:36 AM on May 29, 2019 [4 favorites]
Well, headphone music is inward-facing, isolating. No matter how good the music is, you're listening to it alone, in a manner that can auditorily cut you off from human contact.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:39 AM on May 29, 2019
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:39 AM on May 29, 2019
But...that's exactly what makes me happy!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2019 [9 favorites]
(and I'm not entirely joking)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, maybe it's important to remember this survey is on teenagers; as a parent of one teen and one pre-teen sometimes my happiness is related to my ability to not hear them (also not entirely joking).
But I think some clarification on that point might be in order, because I also see my kids frequently using their devices to share music that they like with their friends. The takeaway looks to be that using our phones & devices to isolate ourselves is not a use that is good for our well-being, but that then makes me curious about the use of our devices in ways that connects/as part of face-to-face interaction and what that does.
I need to spend some more time with this to see if they answer that
posted by nubs at 10:50 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
But I think some clarification on that point might be in order, because I also see my kids frequently using their devices to share music that they like with their friends. The takeaway looks to be that using our phones & devices to isolate ourselves is not a use that is good for our well-being, but that then makes me curious about the use of our devices in ways that connects/as part of face-to-face interaction and what that does.
I need to spend some more time with this to see if they answer that
posted by nubs at 10:50 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
On Metafilter last month, Why Do People With Depression Like Listening To Sad Music?
posted by little onion at 12:11 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by little onion at 12:11 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
And... listening to music is bad for your happiness? We need to get these kids some better music.
It's possible the causal arrow points more the other way. Possibly:
Happy people have more energy to get stuff done and get themselves organized so they go to bed earlier, plan and attend social exercises, get out and do stuff.
Sad people have less ability to do those things, are sad because they have fewer social connections, and so end up spending more time doing stuff alone on their phone. Really sad people need lots of music to cope.
They site some studies suggesting it works the other way: studies that predicted future unhappiness based on current phone use and improvements in happiness that followed interventions to reduce phone use. But I think everybody would expect that causation can flow both ways and I don't think those studies are able to show the magnitude of causation either way--whether, for instance, listening to lots of music mostly causes sadness or is mostly caused by sadness.
posted by straight at 12:13 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's possible the causal arrow points more the other way. Possibly:
Happy people have more energy to get stuff done and get themselves organized so they go to bed earlier, plan and attend social exercises, get out and do stuff.
Sad people have less ability to do those things, are sad because they have fewer social connections, and so end up spending more time doing stuff alone on their phone. Really sad people need lots of music to cope.
They site some studies suggesting it works the other way: studies that predicted future unhappiness based on current phone use and improvements in happiness that followed interventions to reduce phone use. But I think everybody would expect that causation can flow both ways and I don't think those studies are able to show the magnitude of causation either way--whether, for instance, listening to lots of music mostly causes sadness or is mostly caused by sadness.
posted by straight at 12:13 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm a little suspicious that "working" falls exactly in the middle between happiness and sadness, with "homework" being a little happier and "watching TV" a little sadder.
posted by straight at 12:17 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 12:17 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
The fact that the 6 "happiest" countries are all from one small, relatively homogeneous region of the world sure makes you wonder how much of what they are measuring is cultural differences in how people think and talk about their own happiness.
posted by straight at 12:28 PM on May 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by straight at 12:28 PM on May 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
It is extremely common for people to derive enjoyment and fulfillment from their work. When I hear people say "wouldn't it be great if nobody ever had to work and we all could engage in leisure activities all day" my brain shits itself a little. Don't @ me.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:29 PM on May 29, 2019
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:29 PM on May 29, 2019
It's also common for people to derive stress and anxiety from their work.
"Nobody ever had to" does not mean "everybody was prohibited from".
posted by fnerg at 12:35 PM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
"Nobody ever had to" does not mean "everybody was prohibited from".
posted by fnerg at 12:35 PM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]
It is extremely common for people to derive enjoyment and fulfillment from their work.
I think how "extremely common" that notion is really depends on what kind of work the answerer does. For many jobs I'm willing to bet the only "fulfillment" workers derive is a paycheck.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think how "extremely common" that notion is really depends on what kind of work the answerer does. For many jobs I'm willing to bet the only "fulfillment" workers derive is a paycheck.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
thus in their wisdom, the happiness tabulators were like "fuck it, work is True Neutral"
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:53 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:53 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
My personal viewpoint is that that's not universally true.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:05 PM on May 29, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:05 PM on May 29, 2019
The violent crime rate is low, as is the unemployment rate. Income per capita has steadily grown over the last few decades. This is the Easterlin paradox: As the standard of living improves, so should happiness – but it has not.
This statement has some strange takes in it. It says standard of living has improved but doesn't provide evidence. Ok so unemployment is low and the average income is higher. But IRL the money isn't being distributed on average, it's going to a couple of folks and everyone else is working very hard for not enough to get by. It's no paradox if you ignore averages and look at what's really going on.
posted by bleep at 2:40 PM on May 29, 2019
This statement has some strange takes in it. It says standard of living has improved but doesn't provide evidence. Ok so unemployment is low and the average income is higher. But IRL the money isn't being distributed on average, it's going to a couple of folks and everyone else is working very hard for not enough to get by. It's no paradox if you ignore averages and look at what's really going on.
posted by bleep at 2:40 PM on May 29, 2019
Surely, agency and self-determination in the way you do your work is what makes all the difference?
Just from my personal experience, I used to write book reports for a publisher and had to read books for pay. It was not the worst job in the world but ridiculously underpaid and I had a hard time staying motivated.
In my free time, I now like to read the exact same type of book. I don’t have motivation problems. Often I’ll even write notes that are very similar to the reports I used to do, just for myself. The difference is startling - one is drudgery, the other makes me feel accomplished and stimulated.
(Also: insert every thing about alienated labor ever written)
posted by The Toad at 2:42 PM on May 29, 2019
Just from my personal experience, I used to write book reports for a publisher and had to read books for pay. It was not the worst job in the world but ridiculously underpaid and I had a hard time staying motivated.
In my free time, I now like to read the exact same type of book. I don’t have motivation problems. Often I’ll even write notes that are very similar to the reports I used to do, just for myself. The difference is startling - one is drudgery, the other makes me feel accomplished and stimulated.
(Also: insert every thing about alienated labor ever written)
posted by The Toad at 2:42 PM on May 29, 2019
I've never been to any of the three, but I find it extremely hard to believe that the UEA, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are really happier that Italy. Just thinking about the existence of places that combine brutal religious fundamentalism with toxic petrocapitalism in a climate where the mean annual temperature for the last forty years is 80 degrees makes me unhappy.
posted by sy at 6:01 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by sy at 6:01 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'll be honest. Moving from the US to Finland 10 years ago did wonders for my mental wellbeing. I feel stable, secure, sane, and therefore probably happy. Here are some of the systemic differences not usually captured by reports and rankings:
1. Nature and forests are extremely important, so much so that even in the center of Helsinki the landscaping is more likely to be the original wildflowers and a rock with moss than anything artificially designed to look good. The city has an entire (not visible from the car roads) system of navigation for bicyclists and foot travelers, and much of it goes through trees and forest and parks and meadows. Here's a map. The rest of the country is even less urbanized. I'm in the midst of trees and chirping birds within 5 mins of walking from my building.
2. The intangible environment is not a cacophony of marketing and promotion and advertising. The constant threat of "falling behind/not keeping up/deserving to buy/insert trending insecurity served by consumption" is not blaring at you nonstop from every crevice, nook, and cranny. A huge relief. Especially since its not pushing youth and thin at you non stop. It takes a while to pick it up but the message I pick up in my daily life is that its okay to be you, whoever you are, whatever shape you are, however old you are... rather than the messaging telling you to change/buy/strive. I'd say this provides a subtle measure of contentment with our selves and our lives that we may not tangibly recognize in a survey or whatnot.
3. The system respects me, as an immigrant, and a foreigner. This was my biggest surprise as I'd been through the US immigration system for 10 years prior to coming here just after I qualified for a US passport. The last time I went for an immigration interview, the official ended it with a deep bow joining the palms of his hands together.
enough said.
posted by hugbucket at 11:54 PM on May 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
1. Nature and forests are extremely important, so much so that even in the center of Helsinki the landscaping is more likely to be the original wildflowers and a rock with moss than anything artificially designed to look good. The city has an entire (not visible from the car roads) system of navigation for bicyclists and foot travelers, and much of it goes through trees and forest and parks and meadows. Here's a map. The rest of the country is even less urbanized. I'm in the midst of trees and chirping birds within 5 mins of walking from my building.
2. The intangible environment is not a cacophony of marketing and promotion and advertising. The constant threat of "falling behind/not keeping up/deserving to buy/insert trending insecurity served by consumption" is not blaring at you nonstop from every crevice, nook, and cranny. A huge relief. Especially since its not pushing youth and thin at you non stop. It takes a while to pick it up but the message I pick up in my daily life is that its okay to be you, whoever you are, whatever shape you are, however old you are... rather than the messaging telling you to change/buy/strive. I'd say this provides a subtle measure of contentment with our selves and our lives that we may not tangibly recognize in a survey or whatnot.
3. The system respects me, as an immigrant, and a foreigner. This was my biggest surprise as I'd been through the US immigration system for 10 years prior to coming here just after I qualified for a US passport. The last time I went for an immigration interview, the official ended it with a deep bow joining the palms of his hands together.
enough said.
posted by hugbucket at 11:54 PM on May 29, 2019 [12 favorites]
The violent crime rate is low, as is the unemployment rate. Income per capita has steadily grown over the last few decades. This is the Easterlin paradox: As the standard of living improves, so should happiness – but it has not.
Well I mean they're just blithely using the wrong metrics - low unemployment and rising per capita income are all fine and good, but that doesn't matter a damn to people's happiness when real wages have barely budged for decades. "More money" doesn't help when I can't buy more or better food, shelter, health care, clothing, whatever with it. Of course we're goddamn unhappy, because we're still fucked on a personal individual level no matter what kind of "recovery" from various recessions we've had.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:19 AM on May 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Well I mean they're just blithely using the wrong metrics - low unemployment and rising per capita income are all fine and good, but that doesn't matter a damn to people's happiness when real wages have barely budged for decades. "More money" doesn't help when I can't buy more or better food, shelter, health care, clothing, whatever with it. Of course we're goddamn unhappy, because we're still fucked on a personal individual level no matter what kind of "recovery" from various recessions we've had.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:19 AM on May 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
But if you live in such a place and you're relentlessly getting told how lucky you are to live there, it can be kind of insidious - we even have it here in the West to some degree. Surely it skews the answers to these surveys.
posted by winterhill
Hoo-boy... Yes, yes we have it here in the West to some degree. As a Canadian I can maybe see the stuff that is designed for Americans better than Americans can. It's so damn pervasive that I avoid a lot of your media - tv for example, and magazines, and plenty of websites - and yet still I constantly run up against it in so many different places - a study on nutrition, a history book about the Anglo-Saxon era, on article on textile arts that was posted on line...
The one that just flattens me every time is when I encounter the tenet of faith that America is the best and happiest country because we have Freedom. After suffering perplexity about the word Freedom for many years I have finally concluded that freedom with a small f means civil rights, and Freedom with a capital F means a variable set of different restrictive cultural practices.
But I also used to wince when I kept tripping over similar "Greatest Country in the World!'' propaganda in British Media - there is a lot less of it now than there used to be, and now it is closer to "Leave us bloody well alone to sulk, I know we suck, but leave us alone anyway." And there is plenty of it in the Canadian media also, which to me, often looks and sounds like the speaker is unaware they are actually in Canada and are under the impression they are actually in the States because they slip into saying, "Greatest country in the world because Ford trucks!" or other baffling statements.
But that brings us back to the suggestion in the report that more media = less happiness, and the fact that media has to tell us we are happy makes that declaration look like a standard marketing untruth of the kind explosively vomited out as far as possible in hope of making sales.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:44 AM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by winterhill
Hoo-boy... Yes, yes we have it here in the West to some degree. As a Canadian I can maybe see the stuff that is designed for Americans better than Americans can. It's so damn pervasive that I avoid a lot of your media - tv for example, and magazines, and plenty of websites - and yet still I constantly run up against it in so many different places - a study on nutrition, a history book about the Anglo-Saxon era, on article on textile arts that was posted on line...
The one that just flattens me every time is when I encounter the tenet of faith that America is the best and happiest country because we have Freedom. After suffering perplexity about the word Freedom for many years I have finally concluded that freedom with a small f means civil rights, and Freedom with a capital F means a variable set of different restrictive cultural practices.
But I also used to wince when I kept tripping over similar "Greatest Country in the World!'' propaganda in British Media - there is a lot less of it now than there used to be, and now it is closer to "Leave us bloody well alone to sulk, I know we suck, but leave us alone anyway." And there is plenty of it in the Canadian media also, which to me, often looks and sounds like the speaker is unaware they are actually in Canada and are under the impression they are actually in the States because they slip into saying, "Greatest country in the world because Ford trucks!" or other baffling statements.
But that brings us back to the suggestion in the report that more media = less happiness, and the fact that media has to tell us we are happy makes that declaration look like a standard marketing untruth of the kind explosively vomited out as far as possible in hope of making sales.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:44 AM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, exactly, Jane the Brown.
posted by hugbucket at 5:39 AM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hugbucket at 5:39 AM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
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I'm just gonna stare at Figure 5.5 for a while, and possibly get it tattooed on my forehead or painted on my daughter's ceiling
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:22 AM on May 29, 2019 [4 favorites]