14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist from the UK's University of Leicester, made a world map of happiness based on the responses of 80,000 people worldwide.
Denmark punched first, followed by Switzerland and Austria. US pointed 23rd and UK 41st out of 178 nations. The bottom of the classification was occupied by Zimbabwe and Burundi. In fact, Denmark has been ranked first for more than 30 years in European satisfaction surveys.
So what makes Danish so content with their lives, substantially exceeding the Swedes and Finns, which live very similar lives?
A nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels. Prosperity and education were the next strongest determinants of national happiness.
Many hypotheses were taken in account, from less plausible (hair color, genes, food and language) to the more plausible, such as family life, health and a prosperous economy. "When people are asked if they are happy with their lives, people in countries with good healthcare, a higher GDP [gross domestic product] per capita, and access to education were much more likely to report being happy", said White.
Another British analysis has found some explanatory factors. One could be winning the 1992 European Football Championship that put the Danes in such a state of euphoria that the country has not been the same since. If the Danes are currently very satisfied, their expectations for the future are rather low, while Italy and Greece, which rank relatively low on life satisfaction, rank high on expectations, like the Swedish and Finns do, too. "So the key to happiness may lie in the fact that if you lower your expectations enough you might feel a bit better next Christmas," conclude the British researchers.
The survey revealed very low happiness levels for Asian countries: China 82nd, Japan 90th and India 125th, a surprise, as these countries are regarded as having a strong sense of collective identity, which many researchers have associated with well-being. "It is also notable that many of the largest countries in terms of population do quite badly. The frustrations of modern life, and the anxieties of the age, seem to be much less significant compared to the health, financial and educational needs in other parts of the world", said White.
Previous parallel studies pointed the most populous African country, Nigeria, behind countries of "happy people" like Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico and Eastern European countries like Russia, Armenia, and Romania were reported to have the lowest percentage.
Why is it that poorer nations can be happier than healthier ones?
"Nigerian people are some of the happiest people I know simply because we have a strong cultural foundation. In Nigeria, it is more laidback and family oriented - they hold deeper values than in the U.S.", said pre-med student Eron Oronsaye.
"Nigerians are deeply rooted in tradition and family. You can see our values and culture all over the world, as we are the highest percentage of Africans both outside of Africa and on the continent. We tend to celebrate a lot of things; even in spite of problems, we have cause for some kind of celebration", added senior marketing major at School of Business Ugi Ugwuomo.
And, unlike many in developed countries, Nigerians seem to view happiness as something separated from the issues of the world around them. "Nigerians have been through so much that they can no longer let many issues faze them. As long as everything is fine within your family, you have no major problems. I think that it is our intense faith and spirituality that allows us not to feel trapped by material things and issues", said biologist Olu Okeanawi.
In developed countries, materialism controls the level of happiness. "So many people are so concerned with what kind of car they can drive and what designer their clothes are by, that they miss out on the simpler things in life that bring you happiness- family, friends and love", said Freshman English major and American Kathryn Hurley.