Happiness day: What makes us happy

We all strive for happiness. And what makes us happy is different for everyone. But there are some commonalities. Such as the fact that money does not make us happy, but predominantly good human relationships. Every year, the "World Happiness Report" is published on the International Day of Happiness on March 20. And Finland is the "winner" of the happiest countries in the world for the sixth time.

"A characteristic feature of Finnish culture is that interpersonal relationships are emphasized. People are encouraged to build and maintain strong, healthy relationships with their families, friends and the community," explains Helena Schneider, lecturer at the International University of Management (IU) Munich, who is researching the differences between German and Finnish work culture. "This high level of subjective well-being leads to better health, longer life expectancy, better social relationships and more productivity at work - all in all a desirable overall state, which in turn makes people happy." And this strengthens basic trust and, as a result, the willingness to help.

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The key findings of the Happiness Report

A population will only experience a high level of general life satisfaction if people are also pro-social, healthy and prosperous. In other words, people must have a high level of what Aristotle called "eudaimonia". At the level of society, then, life satisfaction and eudaimonia go hand in hand.

On an individual level, however, they can diverge. It is well established that virtuous behavior generally increases the happiness of the virtuous actor (and also the beneficiary). However, there are a significant number of virtuous people, including some caregivers, who are not as satisfied with their lives.

The extent of the misery

When we evaluate a society, a situation or a policy, we should not only look at the average happiness they bring (also for future generations). Above all, we should look at the level of misery (i.e. low life satisfaction) that results. To prevent misery, governments and international organizations should establish rights as contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

They should also expand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to consider well-being and environmental dimensions together to ensure the happiness of future generations. These rights and goals are important tools to increase people's happiness and reduce misery now and in the future.

Happiness as a political goal for a well-functioning state

Once happiness is accepted as a government goal, this has further profound implications for institutional practice. Health, especially mental health, becomes even more important, as does the quality of work, family life and community.

There are also major challenges for researchers. All government policies should be evaluated against the touchstone of well-being (per dollar spent). And the promotion of virtue must become an important topic of research.

Do good and feel good

A person behaves altruistically when they help another person without expecting anything in return. Altruistic behaviors such as helping strangers, donating money, giving blood and volunteering are common, while others (such as donating a kidney) are less common.

There is a positive correlation between happiness and all of these altruistic behaviors. This is true both when comparing countries and when comparing individuals. But why?

Typically, people who receive altruistic help experience higher levels of well-being, which explains the correlation between countries. In addition, however, there is ample evidence (experimental and otherwise) that helping behavior increases the individual helper's well-being. This is especially true when the helping behavior is voluntary and motivated primarily by concern for the person being helped.

Experimental and other evidence shows that people can become more altruistic when their well-being increases. In particular, when people's well-being increases through the experience of altruistic help, they will be more willing to help others, which sets a virtuous spiral in motion.

Happiness and material prosperity

Both a study by Nobel Prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton and the UN have come to the conclusion that a basic material supply is important and makes us satisfied, but only happy to a limited extent. From an annual income of around 75,000 US dollars, the feeling of happiness no longer increases. "People think they would be happier with 20 percent more money - but that's not true, because a high income also means more work and stress," says cultural scientist Annegret Braun, who researches and writes on the subject of happiness.

Happiness is a bird ...

"There is no such thing as permanent happiness and claiming it is unrealistic," Braun continues. "Happiness is a contrasting experience - you can only experience happiness if you also allow the normal state and negative feelings. " And we must not forget the following: "The dissatisfied, critical and brooding bring about change. Human rights activists and conservationists are not particularly happy, but dissatisfied with a state of affairs. And imagine a world in which only the happy produce literature, art and music..."