Motivation and emotion/Book/2025/World happiness

Scenario What if happiness had a recipe? Would some countries be better chefs than others? Consider: while the average citizen of Finland is sipping coffee after a stress-free bike ride to work past beautiful landscapes, someone else across the world might be stuck in busy traffic, late for a meeting, struggling with poverty, and hoping for a different life. World happiness isn’t evenly distributed. So what’s the recipe? Is it money, social connections, freedom, or something else? Let’s dive into the global determinants of happiness. See Figure 1 for who does it best.

The World Happiness Report (2025) is a thorough representation of global happiness and its determinants. It provides useful statistics and information for understanding what global environmental, social, and economic factors contribute to happiness in populations.

This chapter considers the key factors of the global determinants of happiness: social support, income, health, freedom and personal agency, and trust in and perception of corruption. These are measurable determinants of what may promote happiness within a country. Income alone will not always enhance likelihood for happiness; multiple factors are involved. Thus, this chapter considers the degree to which each of these factors contributes to happiness.

Happiness is a complex emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, or engaging in enjoyable activities. Global concepts of the emotion happiness tend to be alike. It is recognised as one of the basic and fundamental emotions.

Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model involves Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement. According to Sutton (2016) applying positive psychology principles can improve mental health, resilience & overall life satisfaction.

Raypole (2025) describes that hormones are chemicals produced by different glands within the body. They travel through the bloodstream, acting as messengers and playing a part in bodily processes. Of which includes mood regulation. Certain particular hormones are known to aid in promoting positive feelings, including happiness.

These happiness hormones include:

• Dopamine

• Serotonin
• Oxytocin
• Endorphins

Raypole (2025) writes in article How to Hack Your Hormones for a Better Mood; in which they provide methods for mood increasing. The article, and happy hormone promoting methods are medically reviewed by Helen Chen. Methods of which include the following categories and examples can be seen in Table 1.

On nutrition, Selhub (2022) states that what you eat will directly affect the structure and function of your brain and mood. Further, considering how around 95% of serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, which is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, it makes sense that the complex system doesn't just help you digest food, but also guide your emotions.

Key points strongly correlated with higher national happiness levels across countries according to the World Happiness Report (2025):

1. Social support
2. Trust in institutions (Corruption)
3. Income (GDP per capita)
4. Healthy life expectancy
5. Freedom
6. Generosity

In the 2025 World Happiness Report, there was a focus on the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness. The effect of both the benefits to the recipients of caring behaviour and the benefits to those who care for others was investigated. There is a focus on social support as a means for happiness, however it is the complex dynamic between the six key factors that make up the global determinants for happiness.

Review time! According to the World Happiness Report, which of the following factors are most strongly correlated with higher national happiness levels? Climate and geography Natural resource wealth Social support and trust in institutions Number of entertainment options

Chapter six of the World Happiness Report (2025), supporting others: How prosocial behaviour reduces deaths of despair, explains how vital prosocial behaviour is. Broadly the report considers how investing in conditions that foster prosocial behaviour helps to create societies where people are more "supportive, cooperative, and trusting, and where deaths of despair are lower" (World Happiness Report, 2025).

More contributing factors of social support:

• Friends
• Family
• Work life balance
• Social Media
• Community engagement (Community service, religion)

Feeling a sense of love and belonging is a key factor within one's psychological wellness. A concept in which this is described is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Mcleod, 2025). Belongingness and love needs: such as intimate relationships, friendships are considered essential on top of physiological needs: (food, water, warmth, rest) and safety needs (security, safety) on the Maslow's pyramid of how individuals can achieve their full potential. Further supporting the importance of social needs In research, it is consistently proven that social support and engagement are an essential aspect of happiness (Xin et al., 2025). Social connection is considered a pillar of lifestyle medicine (Martino et al., 2015). Social activity and support have positive impacts on health, people who were the most socially active had 70% less cognitive decline. Further, being social protects us against loneliness and isolation, which have been associated with chronic disease and premature death (Goodman, 2023).

Hedonic vs. Eudaimonic Happiness

Hedonic happiness regards to pleasure and positive emotions, linked to hormones such as dopamine and serotonin. Eudaimonic happiness regards to more purpose and personal growth (linked to Maslow’s self-actualisation and transcendence). The concept provides insight to how engaging in purposeful activities enhances long-term wellbeing & personal growth (Schaffner, 2023).

Table 2. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs with relevant global factors

Clearly having connections with peers, friends and family is essential to the well-being of individuals and populations. There are other factors contributing to large scale social influence to consider include work life balance and how this can be socially isolating if workers are mistreated. Further social media is larger than ever used by 63.9% of the world's population (Chaffey, 2025). The reach and impact of social media has large implications for the future of social connectedness already developing the way friends and family are able to communicate, allowing for fast world-wide communication. Another consideration for how social support is widely reached is through community engagement, including participation in community service and religious practices.

Satici et al. (2016) found that social connectedness is positively and directly related to subjective happiness. Also claiming that social connection is essential for humans mental and physical health. The research further indicated that loneliness is the most significant predictor of psychological distress. This article essentially highlights the value of social support on happiness, as it is a key predictor.

Table 3. Psychological theory on social support

GDP per capita is a contributing factor to reported happiness across countries. Richer countries tend to be happier. Yet, several Latin American countries are seen to be outperforming the expectations based on income alone. Residents of Costa Rica report higher life satisfaction than North Americans (and Mexican life satisfaction is very close to that of the US), despite having less than half the income (Barbe, 2025).

But why? When considering cultural values and social norms it can be deducted that due to Latin American community closeness their strong social support networks protect against economic stressors. In the social and economic realms, friends are highly relevant, for Latin Americans, to themes such as poverty and social vulnerability (Garcia et al., 2016). Rich cultural traditions of music, festivals, celebrations and religious and spiritual engagement contribute to the community's ability to persevere with happiness against economic barriers.

Countries with higher tax rates can often provide better healthcare and social resources because those funds are redirected into public services that improve citizens’ quality of life. This has been displayed within countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway as they maintain relatively high tax rates. Supporting healthcare, affordable education, welfare systems, and parental leave policies (Bunn et al., 2023).

Lyubomirsky (2012) discusses the psychological concept of Hedonic Adaptation In which it is suggested that "the joys of loves and triumphs and the sorrows of losses and humiliations fade with time". In short it proposes the idea that people can adapt and find comfort across situations over time.

For example of this concept, Brickman et al., (1978) explain how winning the lottery typically produces a temporary surge in happiness, but their longitudinal studies show that after about a year, majority of winners will return to their original levels of life satisfaction. Similarly, people who experience have experienced serious injuries or losses will report lower well-being initially, but many will recover to their baseline "happiness" over time. This phenomenon highlights the resilience of people and the human emotional system.

These ideas further perpetuate the idea that Money can't buy happiness. Novotney (2021) reports on research outlining how even extremely wealthy people also have their own set of concerns: anxiety about their children, uncertainty over their relationships and fears of isolation.

The article outlines how wealth provides freedom and security, it also brings unique challenges such as:

• Isolation
• Anxiety about children’s motivations and relationships.
• Confusion over how to use one’s time and resources meaningfully.
• Worry that money undermines their children’s drive and sense of identity.
• Feelings of disconnection despite financial privilege.

Findings showed how people consistently said that their greatest aspiration in life was to be a good parent. This idea is especially prevalent when applied to individuals, rather than a nation. When considered on a national level GDP per capita can be seen as a contributing factor to reported happiness across countries.

Country wide wealth provides a level of security safety and resource availability that allows for a country to have higher levels of happiness. This can be seen in the data provided by the world happiness report in figure 6 and in more depth through their interactive map.

Quiz 1 Which of the following is not one of the six core variables in the World Happiness Report? Generosity Access to clean water Social support Freedom and Trust 2 Why do countries like Sweden and Denmark score highly in happiness despite high taxes? They have lower GDP per capita than most nations Taxes are reinvested into strong welfare, healthcare, and education systems Citizens are less materialistic than the global average

Gimenez et al. (2021) found that within a study of Chilean Senior Citizens, it was revealed that happiness was the most important determinant of seniors’ subjective life expectancy. They comment that both happiness and unhappiness have a significant impact. Determinants of quantitative impacts align similarly with this research with this paper which has been heavily influenced by the writings within the World Happiness Report (2024, 2025). Further, happiness life-expectancy scores have been seen to be systematically higher within nations that are most affluent, free, educated, and tolerant (Veenhoven, 1996). This leads to this consideration for how knowledge and resources leading to better health outcomes could interact for greater national happiness outcomes.

People who describe their average mood as "happy" often experience fewer health problems, a lowered risk of depression and longer lives (Solan 2021). There is an interaction between physical health and happiness; as mental health supports overall wellbeing which in turn promotes life expectancy. At a national scale, access to healthcare resources is highly significant in happiness outcomes.

Some social influences can have a negative impact on the connection between health (life expectancy) and happiness. Social drinking, smoking, vaping, tanning, and some aspects of extreme diet/fitness culture can be taken too far and have an adverse impact on happiness. Research by Bobo and Husten (2024) indicated that sociocultural factors often have influence on the initiation and continued use of alcohol and tobacco among adolescents and adults. These behaviours demonstrate how cultural norms and social expectations can have influence on healthcare, reducing or promoting well-being.

Freedom is commonly defined by the freedom to make life choices. It has also been consistently identified as a significant predictor of happiness across nations. The World Happiness Report (2024) includes perceived freedom as one of the foundational variables accounting for cross-country variation in life satisfaction alongside income (GDP), health (life expectancy), social support, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. It is valuable to consider freedom when assessing the happiness reports per country. The WHR (2024) findings suggest that when individuals feel empowered to make choices with freedom, they tend to report higher levels of well-being.

Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2012) is a theory of human motivation and personality and how social contexts differentiate motivation in terms of being autonomous and controlled this psychological concept can provide further understanding to how autonomy, competence, and relatedness are essential to psychological well-being.

Perceptions of corruption and institutional trust significantly affect happiness and well-being. Higher perceived levels of corruption is linked to lower rated well-being globally (Rothstein, 2010). Additionally, Rothstein (2010) indicates that countries with large and mostly universal welfare state programs also have low levels of corruption, a high degree of social trust, and high levels of happiness and social well-being, whereas, countries with smaller welfare systems tend to be higher on corruption. These findings show how integrity and trust in institutions uplift societal well‑being.

Chapter 7 of the World Happiness Report (WHR, 2025), Trusting others: How unhappiness and social distrust explain populism, discusses key factors of how trust and perception of corruption influence happiness.

As reported by the WHR 2025 there has been a decline in trust in government and institutions. This issue of social trust in Europe and the United States has led to a rise of polarisation of political values and anti-system voting. This trend can be seen in figure 11.

Further points considered by the chapter include how attitudes of trust and life satisfaction have great impact with shaping voting behaviours and political values. People who are unhappy or have less trust in their governments may be attracted to more extreme end of the political spectrum. The report states that Low-trust people are found more often on the far right, and high-trust people are more inclined to vote for the far left. The value of trust and community on happiness is highlighted and the political implications are considered. The fall seen in statistical life satisfaction cannot be explained by economic growth alone. As GDP per capita has been on the rise in the US and Western Europe since the mid-2000s. Rather, it could be blamed on the feelings of financial insecurity and loneliness (WHR, 2025).

Generosity, donating, volunteering, and helping others is positively correlated with global happiness. The World Happiness Report emphasises that beliefs in others' kindness and small communal rituals (like sharing meals) are stronger predictors of well-being than previously recognised (Helliwell, 2024).

World Happiness Report (2025) chapter 8 focuses on what nearly everyone does or has the capacity to do: give to charity. They report that each year, over a billion people donate more than $500 billion to charity, driven in large part by a desire to help others.

Further, from a global and historical perspective, you are likely much wealthier than you realise. There are more resources accessible publicly in many countries today than ever before. The difference individuals can make to global happiness is also probably far greater than understood. The WHR (2025) emphasises that there is a great deal that we can do from an individual level to help promote happiness in others by using personal privilege and wealth and distributing through charity to help those in need.

Happiness is not a result of any one single factor, but the outcome of the interaction of many. Social support, trust in institutions (Corruption), GDP per capita, health (life expectancy), freedom and generosity all contribute to world happiness. While GDP per capita and health provide some essential foundation for meeting basic needed required, their impact is magnified when combined with freedom, and social connections, trust in institutions and generosity. These six factors work together, wealth provides resources which creates opportunities, whilst social trust and connection allow those opportunities translate into well-being.

The key message is that happiness is explained by the balance of security and social connection and trust not just wealth. Countries that are less wealth, such as discussed with Latin Americas example, are seen to out do their expectations. This is due to their cultural values of family, celebration and expression, which are more valuable than material factors in providing happiness. Additionally, even in wealthy nations, if there is a lack of trust in institutions or lack of social connection, there may be struggles to match happiness expectations.

Overall, this chapter highlights the significance and value of government and institutional policies that value not only the essentials (i.e., recourses, healthcare, education) but also social capital (i.e., trust, connection, support). Promoting healthy lifestyles and social bonds will foster environments in which people are able to shape their lives in favour of well-being.

• Happiness (Wikipedia)
• Philosophy of happiness
• List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita (Wikipedia)
• World Happiness Report (Wikipedia)

• World Happiness Report (2025)
• World Happiness Report (2024)
• How to increase your happiness (Ted-Ed, 2024)
• Happiness and Life Satisfaction (Our World in Data, 2017)
• Happiest Countries in the World 2025 (World population Review, 2025)
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Simply Psychology, 2025)