Why So Serious? The Case for National and Individual American Happiness - Colson Combs LANG 120 Problems and Solutions Project 4/20/2022

It’s no secret that the United States is far from among the happiest countries in the world. As the fields of Positive Psychology and Happiness Research have grown in recent years, so too has our awareness of our own dissatisfaction, despite our status as one of the most prosperous nations in the world. The disconnect between our apparent success as a country and the reported happiness of American citizens is causing many to question measuring American wellbeing in terms of GDP and other cold, mechanical indicators (Ingraham).

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The World Happiness Report, published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network since 2012, analyzes Gallup poll data from around the world every year and summarizes it in a series of papers discussing various prominent factors in the state of happiness. In its 2022 issue, the report found that Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden and Norway ranked as the top eight happiest nations in the world from 2019 to 2021, followed by Israel, New Zealand, Austria and Australia (Helliwell et al). The United States came in at a dismaying sixteenth place, sandwiched between Canada and the United Kingdom.

In 2021 the NASDAQ reported the United States as the fifth wealthiest nation in the world by GDP per capita behind Luxembourg, Switzerland, Ireland and Norway (Bajpai). American culture has historically equated wealth with well-being, making it all-the-more-alarming to see the disconnect between financial success and happiness in the US.

What’s more, the United States is getting less happy with time (Enten). Though Americans experienced an upsurge in happiness with lifted pandemic restrictions in 2021, the overall trend of American Happiness has been negative. The General Social Survey, published since the 70’s, has recorded a 5% increase in unhappiness from 1990 to 2018 (Ingraham). The 2018 World Happiness Report found that “overall life satisfaction fell by 6% in the United States between 2007 and 2018 (Ingraham)” and that “Even as the United States economy improved after the end of the Great Recession in 2009, happiness among adults did not rebound to the higher levels of the 1990s, continuing a slow decline ongoing since at least 2000 in the General Social Survey (Twenge).”

These statistics beg the question: what are other nations doing to be more fulfilled, how can we integrate those attributes into our culture, and what can we do as individuals to pursue a higher quality of life?

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The happiness of the Nordic countries has sparked curiosity in many. Why do they consistently rank as the happiest nations in the world? Nysom has suggested a number of possible reasons for their anomalous positivity; the Nordics (as the Norse nations are called by the Nordic Council of Ministers) might be finding their high quality of living in foundational cultural structures such as “well-functioning democracy, free education and healthcare, and a high priority of life balance (Nysom).” Or, alternatively, she suggests that the gloomy and sometimes difficult weather in Norse countries might force people to come closer together and create better communities than they would in other climates (Nysom). According to Nysom, “A high level of trust in other people, institutions, businesses, and the government is a general characteristic of the Nordic region (Nysom).” Perhaps that trust has led Norse people to a greater sense of security. Finally, Nysom suggests that it’s important to bear in mind that differences between cultures could play a role in answering why Nordic countries’ happiness outpaces the rest of the world’s (Nysom).

Happiness is lagging in the United States and other countries are demonstrating how we can and should increase American contentment, but how can regular people improve their happiness on an individual scale?

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In her advice on living a happier life, Parker-Pope effectively suggests that a person’s happiness is dependent on a combination of their choices and environment (Parker-Pope). In order to engender happiness, she gives recommendations in a number of areas including mental health, home life, relationships, career and prosperity and lifestyle (Parker-Pope). Among her suggestions are examining and countering negative thinking, creating a rich living environment, developing fulfilling friendships and social networks, creating meaning at work, and living generously (Parker-Pope).

Davis recommends that individuals change their behaviors in a number of subtle ways to increase feelings of happiness (Davis). Her advice includes reducing digital media use, engaging in introspection in order to cultivate a positive mind and realizing rich and fulfilling lives by being active (Davis).

The means by which people may find happiness are many and varied and can be found in every domain of human experience. Whether seeking to increase happiness on an individual or national scale, we have a multitude of tools at our disposal to increase our positivity, enjoy our lives more and cultivate greater happiness and healthiness in the United States.

Works Cited

Bajpai, Prableen. “World’s 5 Richest Nations By GDP Per Capita.” Nasdaq, Nasdaq, Inc., 5/20/2021, https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/worlds-5-richest-nations-by-gdp-per-capita-2021-05-20.

Davis, Tchiki. “How to Be Happy: 23 Ways to Be Happier The complete guide to boosting happiness, according to science.” Psychology Today, Reviewed by Lybi Ma, Sussex Publishers, LLC, 1/1/2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/201801/how-be-happy-23-ways-be-happier.

Enten, Harry. “American happiness hits record lows.” CNN Politics, Warner Media, 2/2/2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/politics/unhappiness-americans-gallup-analysis/index.html.

Helliwell, John F. et. al. “Happiness, benevolence, and trust during COVID-19 and beyond.” World Happiness Report, 26 people, WHR 2022, Chapter 2, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 3/18/2022, https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-and-trust-during-covid-19-and-beyond/.

Ingraham, Christopher. “Americans are becoming less happy, and there’s research to prove it.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3/23/2019, https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-americans-less-happy-20190323-story.html.

Nysom, Ida Lautrup. “What’s the Secret Behind Nordic Happiness?” The Nordics, janiecbros, Nordic Council of Ministers, https://www.thenordics.com/trace/whats-secret-behind-nordic-happiness.

Parker-Pope, Tara. “How to Be Happy.” The New York Times Well, Illustrations by Esther Aarts, The New York Times Company, https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-be-happy.

Twenge, Jean M. “The Sad State of Happiness in the United States and the Role of Digital Media.” World Happiness Report 2019, Chapter 5, Sustainable Development Solutions Project, 3/20/2019, https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2019/the-sad-state-of-happiness-in-the-united-states-and-the-role-of-digital-media/.