Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the seventh time in a row. But why?
What is happiness? And how is it measured?
This episode of Thinking in English discusses the Cantril Ladder, why the World Happiness Report might not accurately test happiness, and why Finland keeps coming top of the rankings!
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Vocabulary
- Cantril Ladder (Noun): A method used to measure life satisfaction and happiness by asking individuals to rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10.
- Participants in the study were asked to climb the Cantril Ladder to indicate their current level of happiness.
- Metaphor (Noun): A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
- The Cantril Ladder employs the metaphor of climbing steps to represent different levels of life satisfaction.
- Ranking (Noun): The action of arranging items or individuals in a particular order based on specific criteria.
- Finland’s high ranking in the World Happiness Report reflects its citizens’ overall well-being and satisfaction with life.
- Subjective (Adjective): Based on personal opinions, feelings, or experiences rather than objective facts.
- Happiness is often subjective.
- Wealth (Noun): Ownership of valuable possessions or resources, typically in the form of money or assets.
- Although wealth can contribute to happiness, it is not everything.
- Contentment (Noun): A state of satisfaction and ease with one’s circumstances or situation.
- Feelings of joy, contentment, and satisfaction are part of happiness.
- Well-being (Noun): The state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy.
- Regular exercise and a balanced diet are essential for maintaining overall well-being.
The Cantril Ladder
Let’s start this episode with a question. I want you all to concentrate, think about my words, and then answer the question.
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
The Cantril Ladder
Personally, I think I’m somewhere around a step 6. I can think of a few really simple ways my life could be much better, but I definitely don’t have a bad life at all.
How about you? Which step did you choose?
The World Happiness Report, the subject of today’s episode, uses the Cantril Ladder to rank the happiest countries in the world. They ask at least 100,000 people, across 130 countries, the same question I asked you – to rank your life using a ladder metaphor.
The results are then collected and processed, and each year a ranking is released. They also consider six other factors: GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and freedom of corruption.
They take into consideration the Cantril Ladder scores from the three previous years, meaning that the 2024 results are based on data from 2021, 2022, and 2023. And the World Happiness Report is a collaboration between international polling company Gallup, Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
So, let’s take a look at the 2024 results!
Results of the 2024 World Happiness Report
As you can probably guess from the title of this episode, Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world.
This is not the first time Finland has been at the top of the World Happiness Report. In fact, it is the seventh time in a row!
In the 2024 rankings, Finland was given a score of 7.741 out of 10.
If we look at the top 10 happiest countries in the world, you’ll notice a strong northern European presence. Following Finland, and in order, the happiest countries are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia.
The only two non-Europeans countries are Israel and Australia, and Scandinavia does especially well with all Scandinavian countries being ranked in the top 10. Actually, this is the same top 10 as last year.
There were a few other interesting results.
Lithuania, for example, was ranked the 19th happiest country. However, if you just look at the rankings for people under the age of 30, Lithuania was the happiest in the world! Lithuania’s older people, on the other hand, were far less satisfied with their lives.
The opposite is true in North America. For people under 30, the USA was ranked as number 62 and Canada was ranked as number 58. For people over 60, the USA was ranked as number 10 and Canada was ranked number 8.
Young people were far less happy with their lives than their parents’ generation!
At the bottom of the ranking, with the lowest happiness rating, is Afghanistan. Other countries at the bottom include Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, and Congo.
What is Happiness?
I’m sure you are all eager to find out why Finland is constantly ranked as the happiest country in the world. And I will get to this in a few minutes. But first, I want to talk about happiness and why the Cantril ladder might not be a perfect measure of happiness.
What is happiness? What is satisfaction?
I have no idea. I know, or at least I think I know, what being happy feels like… but it is really hard to pin down a definition.
I’m happy when I get a new Patreon subscriber. I was happy when I got married. I’m happy when it is a sunny day. I’m happy when my life is going smoothly. I was happy when I received a nice present for my birthday.
All of these things made me happy, but in different ways and to different extents.
So, in search of a defintion of happiness, I did what all people in the 21st century do. I asked ChatGPT. Afterall, what understands human happiness better than artificial intelligence?
Of course, that was sarcasm… but I did actually ask ChatGPT the question “what is happiness?” and told it to give me answers from different perspectives.
Here are the results. According to ChatGPT…
From a psychological perspective, happiness can be defined as a subjective emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, contentment, and overall well-being.
From a hedonistic philosophical perspective, happiness is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.
From a utilitarian perspective, happiness is defined as the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
From a spiritual perspective, happiness may be seen as a state of inner peace, harmony, and spiritual fulfilment.
And from a sociological perspective, happiness may be seen as a social construct influenced by cultural norms, values, and social relationships.
ChatGPT
In other words, there are many different definitions of happiness. When we judge the happiest country in the world, it is difficult to judge across all different perspectives. Different people, different cultures, different societies, and different religions all have different ways of seeing happiness and satisfaction.
So, what version of happiness does the World Happiness Report and the Cantril Ladder question test?
Happiness and the Cantril Ladder
How Does the Cantril Ladder View Happiness?
At the beginning of this episode, I asked you all to rank your lives on a ladder – seeing how close you are to the best possible life or worst possible life.
What does this mean to you?
When you think about the situation of your life, using the metaphor of a ladder, what do you think about?
Are you thinking about your family? Are you thinking about your job and finances? Are you thinking about your health and your safety? Are you thinking about hobbies, ambitions, and goals?
Let me try to explain.
They asked one group the Cantril ladder question. They asked another group the same question but replaced the ladder metaphor with a “scale” metaphor. And they asked other groups similar questions but replaced the phrase “best possible life” with “happiest life” or “most harmonious life.”
The group asked to rank their lives and happiness on a ladder tended to view their happiness in terms of wealth and power, and thought less of their family, friends, and health.
The group asked to use the scale metaphor, thought more about “financial security” than they did about being wealthy or successful or rich.
The groups asked the questions using phrases like “happiest life” or “most harmonious life” thought about topics like relationships, mental health, and work life balance.
Think about your answer. Would you rank your life differently if I told you to think about your happiness rather than the “best possible life.”
I know I would. I immediately thought of my financial stresses when ranking myself of the ladder. How about you?
How Happy Do You Want to Be?
The research group also found more interesting results.
For example, let me ask you this question.
Imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. Which step of the ladder would you LIKE to be at? Where would you want to stand, if you could?
When I hear this question, I immediately think I want to be an 8 or 9 on the ladder… and I’m sure many of you thought the same. But why? 10 is the best possible life… why don’t we want the best possible life?
The researchers found that the majority of people didn’t want to be a 10 on the ladder and people typically wanted to be an 8.
They suggested that this could be because “The ladder metaphor made people think more of power and wealth at the expense of relationships, mental health and work-life balance – and made people want a lower score”.
Implications for the World Happiness Report (and Finland)
This obviously has implications for the World Happiness Report and can make us cautious about completely trusting the rankings as an accurate survey of happiness.
First, it seems like the Cantril Ladder pushes people to think about wealth, power, and financial success.
Interestingly, this doesn’t really correlate to most people’s views of happiness. If I asked you what makes you happy, I’m sure the majority of you wouldn’t say “money” directly – you might say family, friends, a relaxing walk in the park, reading a good book, achieving your goals, or something else.
Of course, money is important, but it tends to not be the main factor in happiness. One research paper from the Social Science & Medicine journal (linked in the transcript) suggests that social connections are actually the most important factor in “subjective well-being” (the academic term for happiness).
And if you remember, social connections like family and friends were exactly the factors considered less important by people asked the Cantril Ladder question.
Second, people don’t want to be a 10 on the scale. While the ranking is 1-10, it seems like most people would rather be an 8…. This makes Finland’s score of 7.741 even more impressive!
When we hear Finland is the happiest country in the world, the real meaning is that based on a specific view of happiness (based on wealth and power) Finnish people rank themselves highly. Finland could also be happy in other ways, but this is not tested by the World Happiness Report and the Cantril Ladder!
If you truly want to know how happy someone is, you need to ask them what they define as being happy. We can’t assume that everyone’s defintion is the same!
Why is Finland So Happy?
As I promised earlier in the episode, I will end with a short discussion on why Finland is so happy. As we’ve discussed, Finland’s place at the top of rankings is based on the Cantril Ladder and a view of happiness that may be more wealth and power focused.
So let’s think of why Finland is so happy.
First, Finland boasts lower income inequality compared to other countries, with a smaller gap between the highest and lowest paid individuals. Research shows that when income inequality is high, happiness is lower.
Second, Finland provides strong social support systems, contributing to a sense of community and well-being.
Third, Finland has a high level of freedom and people have control over their own lives.
Fourth, Finland has relatively low levels of corruption.
And fifth, Finland has publicly funded healthcare, reliable public transport, and efficient social services.
Hopefully you can see how these factors allow Finland to consistently be ranked highly in happiness.
I actually saw a good quote from someone, I can’t remember where I saw it though, which basically said the results don’t mean Finland has the happiest people. Instead, Finland probably has the fewest number of unhappy people.
Final Thought
Finland has once again been named the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report.
This episode has looked beyond the simple results and rankings, and tried to talk about a much deeper topic. What is happiness? And how can we measure it?
The Cantril Ladder is the way that many surveys, including the World Happiness Report, try to measure life satisfaction and “happiness”. And it does this… it definitely offers a helpful way to measure how satisfied people feel with their lives.
However, it’s important to remember that this method might make us focus too much on money and success, and not enough on things like relationships and mental health.
While it’s interesting to see Finland ranked as the happiest country, we need see these rankings in the context of the Cantril Ladder. Finland’s high ranking is likely due to factors like fairer income distribution, strong community support, and personal freedoms.
But happiness is a complex thing, and what makes one person happy might not make another person happy.
What do you think? What makes you happy? What was your answer to the Cantril Ladder? Which step of the ladder are you currently on?
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