I’m very skeptical of nearly all surveys, but global “happiness” surveys especially.
Not all cultures value happiness over other aspects of well-being
But while there may be benefits to moving past standard economic factors as markers of a country’s success, the definition of happiness isn’t necessarily standard around the globe.
Culture can influence how people in different countries respond to surveys of happiness, says macropsychologist Kuba Krys of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, who is not involved with the report. “We should be careful of … making big claims based on such comparisons.”
Moreover, the concept of happiness, as it’s currently defined and understood, may suffer from a Western bias, one common in societies that social scientists refer to as WEIRD — Western, educated, industrial, rich and democratic, Krys says.