13 May Trusting societies are overall happier – a happiness expert explains why
Too often we think about happiness as an individual experience.
And to some extent it is.
Happiness is partially, a positive emotion that each of us is partially responsible for cultivating.
But, just as importantly, happiness is a collective experience; something determined and influenced by politics and culture and …
via The Conversation by Benjamin Radcliff
Human beings are social animals. This means, almost as a matter of logical necessity, that humans’ quality of life is largely decided by the quality of their societies.
Trust is one key factor that helps shape societies – specifically, if individuals feel a basic level of trust in others, outside of their immediate friends and family, they are happier.
People lead better, happier and more satisfying lives when people in their communities share high levels of trust.
Finland is the the happiest country in the world, for the fifth year in a row, according to the latest annual United Nations World Happiness Report, released in April 2022. The report uses data from Gallup world polls and measures the way people feel about their lives. It is not a coincidence that Finland also has one of the world’s highest levels of trust among people, known as interpersonal trust.
“Research has linked trust with economic growth, democracy, tolerance, charity, community, health, and happiness,” Lane Kenworthy, a political scientist and sociologist, writes.
As a scholar of happiness, I have written extensively about the nature and causes of happiness. My work, and research by others, confirms the general idea that greater levels of trust among people lead to more happiness.
There are specific reasons trust and happiness are so deeply connected…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE
