精彩内容 The Pursuit of Happiness How are we supposed to find happiness? Through good works and helping people? Byfinding religion or discovering the joys of downshifting? Whatever strategy you choose,where you live might make a difference. The latest global analysis of happiness andsatisfaction levels shows that the most "satisfied" people tend to live in Latin America,Western Europe and North America, whereas Eastern Europeans are the least satisfied.It is not the first time such international league tables have been drawn up. What is newis how experts and politicians are taking such data increasingly seriously. Over the pastdecade, the study of happiness, formerly the preserve of philosophers, therapists and gurus,has become a bona fide discipline. It even has its own journal, the journal of happinessstudies. As a result, government policy advisers are getting interested, and politicians areusing the research as the basis for new strategies.
What above all else has made systematic study possible is data gathered from hundreds ofsurveys measuring happiness across different cultures, professions, religions, and socio-economic groups. Researchers can investigate the impact of money and inequality; theycou
d explore, for example, how much difference money makes to a person's happinessafter their basic material needs have been met, and whether inequality in wealth and statusis as important a source of dissatisfaction as we might think. "It is an exciting area," saysRuut Veenhoven, editor-in-chief of the journal of Happiness Studies. "We can now showwhich behaviours are risky as far as happiness goes, in the same way medical researchshows what is bad for our health. We should eventually be able to show what kind of lifestylesuits what kind of person." ……
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