Happiness Around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires

by Carol Graham

For centuries the pursuit of happiness was the preserve of either the philosopher or the voluptuary and took second place to the basic need to survive on the one hand, and the pressure to conform to social conventions and morality on the other. More recently there is a burgeoning interest in the study of happiness, in the social sciences and in the media. Can we really answer the question what makes people happy? Is it really grounded in credible methods and data? Is there consistency in the determinants of happiness across countries and cultures? Are happiness levels innate to individuals or can policy and the environment make a difference? How is happiness affected by poverty? By economic progress? Is happiness a viable objective for policy? This book is an attempt to answer these questions, based on research on the determinants of happiness in countries around the world, ranging from Peru and Russia to the U.S. and Afghanistan.

The book reviews the theory and concepts of happiness, explaining how these concepts underpin a line of research which is both an attempt to understand the determinants of happiness and a tool for understanding the effects of a host of phenomena on human well being. The research finds surprising consistency in the determinants of happiness across levels of development. Yet there is still much debate over the relationship between happiness and income. The book explores the effects of many mediating factors in that relationship, ranging from macroeconomic trends and democracy to inequality and crime. It also reviews what we know about happiness and health and how that relationship varies according to income levels and health status. It concludes by discussing the potential--and the potential pitfalls--of using happiness surveys to contribute to better public policy.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last weekend when tidying behind my desk, I came across this book. And because I had left the amazon receipt in the book, I knew when I had ordered and had an idea why. And as soon I started reading it (again) and discovered my marginal notes, I understood why, despite my initial interest, I hadn't gotten past page 7.

So, I decided to give it another try and while I appreciated Carol Graham's diligence, I found the book incredibly dry, While she was able to establish the paradox which she defines in the subhead, that of "happy peasants and miserable millionaires," she only offered limited insight into why many poor people are happy and why some rich people are miserable.

And perhaps that was not the point of the book. She is after all a Professor of Public Policy and not a psychologist, anthropologist or philosopher.

She does at least provide numerous notions which allow the reader to think deeper on the topic, talking about how we "adapt" to different situations, making it possible for some to find happiness while living in crime-infested neighborhoods. And we learn that some "stigmata" are easier to bear if we are not the only ones bearing them. This gives new meaning to the old expression about misery loving company. That company often makes us less miserable as we are able to share our misfortunes with others similarly situated.

And then there is the issue of expectations. With rising expectations, we may become frustrated if we do not realize our goals. She also mentions uncertainty as a cause for unhappiness. People are less happy during economic crises than in period of stability and/or growth.

Graham devotes more time to discussing metrology that to illustrating the various concepts she addresses. Her books suffers from an absence of anecdote. She details the results of survey data, discussing this coefficient and that equation based on this "categorial variable," but never lets us hear what the citizens surveyed said, how they understood what happiness means.

To be sure, she does acknowledge the limitations of her exercise: "In a more complex conceptual sense, understanding the relative weights influence of different variables on reported well-being is part of the complex exercise of defining and measuring quality of life."

But, to truly understand happiness and the paradox in the subtitle which drew me to the book, we could all benefit from individual stories. I ordered this book in February 2010 when I was working on my doctoral dissertation --while blogging regularly. And I recall feeling very alive at that point in my life. I was happy.

Could it be then that there in a link between rewarding work and peace of mind? Perhaps that is the topic for another book. And perhaps it is not a public policy professional's place to address such things.

Sometimes it seems what we think might make us miserable may actually make us happy.

No wonder her subtitle drew me in. Just as we assume that lazing around might make us happy, we may also assume that wealth would have a similar effect. So, despite the plethora of statistics, charts and surveys referenced in this book, Carol Graham does raise some important issues about the nature of happiness. Poverty does not necessarily make you miserable, just as wealth does not necessarily make you happy.

And hard work, though many complain about it, may well also lead to happiness.

[Natalie Scherck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely not a page turner as it was mostly explaining different happiness studies and very academic (my library had to borrow it for me from the University of Portland library). But I did find the studies, conclusions, and insights interesting.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

An objective analysis of a subjective sentiment

Money can’t buy happiness, or so your parents used to say. But if money doesn’t make you joyful, what does? In her astute, rigorously researched book, public policy scholar Carol Graham evaluates the components of happiness across countries, socioeconomic groups and cultures to tease out what “well-being” means, at least statistically speaking. Using extensive surveys in Latin America, Central Asia and Afghanistan, and existing data on happiness in the developed world, Graham posits that, despite varying levels of wealth, people and nations share fundamentally similar characteristics when it comes to being content. She examines how happiness measures can guide policy makers and notes the pitfalls involved. Be prepared, though, to brush up on your statistics and get reacquainted with z-scores and Gini coefficients. The book relies heavily on statistical analysis and calculations, but Graham manages to surface from the data occasionally to provide conclusions in lay language. getAbstract finds her work of value to economists, psychologists, policy makers and all those who just want to get happy.

To learn more about this book, check out the following link: http://www.getabstract.com/summary/13...

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book suffers from an overly "academical" writing style: just about every sentence includes an unnecessary hedging clause (well, perhaps not every sentence but certainly a high percentage, high in the sense of more than in other books as opposed to close to 100). Despite this annoying hyper-pedantry, the author makes huge bloopers like mixing up the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title caught my attention , because i always think of this paradox which i see now and then , h lean to the concept about happiness that it's more than money , it has something to do with good education , wide knowledge , personality , nevertheless money to some extent ( certain point and level ) .

[Paiman Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

King Midas sought happiness in gold, and in the end, that pursuit made him reasonable.

[Arjun · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all those who want to find out how happiness plays out in different parts of the world, this book is a must-read!It is very analaytical and at times a real eye opener. One gets the impression that the author is an authority on this subject and has done a very thorough job.

[Hom Sack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too academic for my taste. But I understand why. The author is affiliated with the Brookings Institution. Personally, the book offers little insight. Even the paradox in the subtitle is not surprising nor new to me. The biggest failing here is to try linking the findings to public policy.

[Việt Phạm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who do you think is happier: a poor person in Chile or a poor person in Honduras? Logic would say Chile. Chile is a modern developed economy. But the reality is not fit with that logic. It's a paradox showed clearly in this book. What a good book.

[Stephen Cranney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review of the literature on the question of cross-national determinants of happiness.