INTROSPECTION
Well-being is far from universal. Here are four models to help you understand the world —and your own mind.
Everyone knows where the happiest people in the world live — for the past several years, Finland has been ranked No. 1. And since they’ve cracked the happiness code, many of the rest of us are tempted to mimic Nordic habits. Live like a Finn — take a short walk in the forest, go ice swimming and all will be well, right?
Not so fast. In order for the World Happiness Report and other international happiness indexes to compare self-reports of happiness, they have to assume that people around the world define happiness in roughly the same way. If this assumption does not hold, then happiness indexes are about as reliable as a ranking of music quality based on how much residents of each country say they like their local songs. This would indicate something about each country’s enthusiasm for their musical styles, but would provide little information about what music is objectively “best,” given differences in people’s traditions and tastes.
The research on how people around the world conceive of well-being, in fact, reveals some major differences among nations. Understanding these differences gives us a much richer picture of global happiness than any index can depict. But more important, it provides a suite of models for well-being that each of us can follow.
People worldwide said they found happiness in achieving “inner harmony.” Inner harmony might sound universal, but it can mean very different things in different places. For example, the Danes often described inner harmony in terms of hygge, which is something like coziness and comfortable conviviality. Meanwhile, Americans tend to define it in terms of their skills meeting their passions, usually in the context of work.
Writing in the International Journal of Wellbeing in 2012, two Japanese scholars surfaced an important cultural difference in the definition of happiness between Western and Asian cultures. In the West, they found happiness to be defined as “a high arousal state such as excitement and a sense of personal achievement.” Meanwhile, in Asia, “happiness is defined in terms of experiencing a low arousal state such as calmness.”
In large countries, even comparing people within the same borders can be difficult to accomplish accurately. Research shows that the United States is home to significant regional differences in personality characteristics. For example, people in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions tend to display more attachment anxiety (“When will you call?”), while the western states breed more attachment avoidance (“See you when I see you”).
Even the words we use to talk about happiness have different connotations in different tongues. In Germanic languages, happiness is rooted in words related to fortune or positive fate. In fact, happiness comes from the Middle English hap, which means “luck.” Meanwhile, in Latin-based languages, the term comes from felicitas, which referred in ancient Rome not just to good luck, but also to growth, fertility, and prosperity.
In sum, cultures vary widely in their definitions of happiness. Therefore, it is impossible to say that one country is happier than another in some absolute sense, and a single index of “the happiest countries in the world” is not instructive. Happiness can be defined and measured in a lot of different ways. Maybe Finland is the happiest country by one definition; it is almost certainly not by another. Countries should be classified more than compared.
A handy way to get started on that task is to distinguish between two ways of focusing on happiness. The first is an “inner” or “outer” focus on happiness — that is, on introspection versus interaction with others. The second is a “relation” or “task” focus — people-oriented versus doing-oriented. This gives us four major models for well-being, based on survey research from around the world.
1. Happiness comes from good relationships with the people you love.
This is a combination of the “outer” and “relation” foci. In this model, friends and family are who deliver the most happiness. A good example of a country that fits this model based on how the population tends to define happiness is the United States.
2. Happiness comes from a higher consciousness.
This is a combination of the “inner” and “relation” foci, and is the model for highly spiritual, philosophical, or religious people, especially those who place a special importance on coming together in community. Southern India has been found to be home to a lot of people who follow this model.
3. Happiness comes from doing what you love, usually with others.
This is a combination of the “outer” and “task” foci — that is, a dedication to work or leisure activities that are deeply fulfilling. This is your model if you tend to say “My work is my life” or “I love golfing with my friends.” Look for it in the Nordic countries and Central Europe.
4. Happiness comes from simply feeling good.
This is a combination of the “inner” and “task” foci. It is the model for people who prioritize experiences that give them positive feelings, whether alone or with others. It’s a good way to assess your well-being if, when you imagine being happy, you think of watching Netflix for instance. This model is most common in Latin America, the Mediterranean, and South Africa.
Indeed, your conception of happiness might be a mix of these models. However, they provide a starting point to understanding the numerous concepts of well-being around the world — and the ones inside your own head and heart.
Just as different places have different definitions of happiness, so do different people. Understanding that diversity can help you understand yourself — to see whether and why you are a misfit in your home, and what you might do about it, whether that’s moving, joining a new community, or simply making peace with your surroundings.