Norwegian scientists have revealed that genetic factors, their own social environment and the common life in their country of citizenship are effective in people’s individual happiness.
Professor Espen Roysamb and his team from the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo investigated why happiness varies from country to country in their global study.
It covers the world, not just one country
The research, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Sage Journals in June, is not the first study to examine individual happiness.
Stating that many previous studies were good but not sufficient, Roysamb said, “Those studies covered a limited number of people from a single country. We wanted to find an answer that would cover the entire population of the world.”
Scientists have revealed three factors that affect the quality of life of all people in the world:
Genetics: The genes a person has can partially explain the quality of life. According to researchers, when all people in the world are considered as a whole, this corresponds to 31-32 percent of the quality of life.
Personal environment: Another determining factor in the measure of well-being is the story, family, friends and workplace that each person has. The study reported that the environment affects 50 percent of the quality of life.
Common life: The third factor is the common life shared by the citizens of each country. About 20 percent of individuals’ happiness may be linked to the country they live in, Roysamb and colleagues said.
Country conditions and happiness level
The World Happiness Report, published by the United Nations (UN) since 2012, is based on a survey in which a thousand people from 157 countries rate their lives from 1 to 10.
The report takes into account the criteria that countries provide on issues such as income, purchasing power, corruption record, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom and trust.
Scientists stated that they calculated what contributes to happiness by using this and similar research and studies on twin pairs in various countries.
For example, according to the 2023 World Happiness Report, Finland, with a score of 7.8, has been at the top of the list for the last 6 years, followed by Denmark, Israel, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
On the other hand, at the bottom of the unhappiness ranking were Afghanistan with a score of 1.9 and Lebanon with a score of 2.4.
According to researchers, approximately 20 percent of people’s happiness is linked to the conditions in the country they live in.
“We can see how factors such as poverty, war and corruption reduce people’s quality of life,” Roysamb said.
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