The causes of happiness and misery

Andrew Clark, Richard Layard and Claudia Senik ()
Additional contact information
Richard Layard: LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science
Claudia Senik: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne

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Abstract: Chapter 3 discusses the causes of happiness and misery, based on 30 years of research on the topic. Both external and personal features determine well-being. Some of the important external factors include income, work, community and governance, and values and religion. More "personal" factors include mental and physical health, family experience, education, gender, and age. Many of these factors have a two-way interaction with happiness – physical health may improve happiness, while happiness improves physical health. An analysis of all these factors strikingly shows that while absolute income is important in poor countries, in richer countries comparative income is probably the most important. Many other variables have a more powerful effect on happiness, including social trust, quality of work, and freedom of choice and political participation.

Keywords: Happiness; Causes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (58)

Published in John Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey Sachs. UN World Happiness Report, United Nations, pp.59-89, 2012, 978-0-9968513-0-5

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Working Paper: The causes of happiness and misery (2012)
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