Study Says Happiness Comes From Freedom

Happiness is not mainly about wealth, it is about the freedom to make choices, that’s according to a study by Inglehart, Foa, Peterson and Welzel at the World Values Survey.

World Values Survey: Economic development leads to a shift in survival strategies

This from Robert Foa at the Financial Times (highlight mine)

``How is it that the world is getting happier? In the words of Thucydides, the secret of happiness is freedom. In each survey respondents were also asked to rate their sense of free choice in life…

``The world in which we live today is unquestionably a free one. For the first time in history, most of the world is governed democratically, the rights of women and minorities are widely acknowledged, and people, ideas and investment can cross borders. Since the study began in 1981, dozens of middle-income countries have democratised, relieving many from fear of repression: every country making a transition from authoritarian rule to democracy shows a rising sense of free choice…

World Values Survey: Socioeconomic change, growing freedom, and rising happiness: The human development path.

Implications?

Again from Mr. Roa,

``First, that the expansion of political and social freedoms over the past quarter of a century is vindicated. The open world in which we live is a fundamentally happier one. This may not surprise those who have argued in favour of a liberal global order. It will undoubtedly cause puzzlement and consternation among those who yearn for the false certainties of an earlier era.

``Second, the results may engender caution towards attempts to engineer happiness through public policy. The happy countries include social democracies such as Sweden and Denmark, and more laisser faire economies such as Australia and the US. What they have in common are not their policies but institutions: democracy, rule of law and social tolerance. People are largely capable of engineering their own happiness when given the means to do so.

``Third, the link from free choice to rising happiness suggests that the appropriate benchmark of development is not income per capita, but individual freedoms and capabilities. This is the human development perspective associated with Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate. While income and well-being are closely correlated at early stages of development, once the threat of starvation recedes, social and political freedom appears to be as important.”

If the study is anywhere near accurate what it means for us is- we can’t be "free" unless we can decide what is best for ourselves- financially, economically socially and politically.