Do aspirations kill happiness?
The latest World Happiness Report ranks India 116 out of 140 nations. This seems odd for a fast-growing nation, where the poverty rates are going down, and prosperity levels are up. India’s global image is on the rise, despite the American rants, China’s successful one-upmanship, and attempts by neighbours to denigrate Indians. Smaller nations, with fewer resources, and those whose material successes are way better than India, are ranked higher in terms of happiness. This indicates that happiness is a state of mind, and not a state of economy, which is driven by data, figures, metrics, and quantitative models.
Let us begin with how the report evaluates happiness. It single-mindedly pursues a single question, which pertains to how the people, rather than respondents in a global survey, assess and appraise their own lives. It is subjective, qualitative, and involves self-observation. In the Cantril Ladder approach, the people are asked to imagine a ladder, and the steps are numbered from 0 to 10, from bottom to top. The respondents imagine where they stand on this ladder. Hence, the people themselves judge their level of happiness, and not external observers, and these conclusions are not based on data but feelings.
Of course, the simple and straightforward responses are not that simple. More than 1,00,000 people across 140 nations are rigorously interviewed via phone calls, or face-to-face interactions to enable the surveyors to get an objective snapshot of a subjective question related to how people perceive their lives. “As a result, the rankings aim to capture how people feel about their lives as a whole, rather than how they feel on any given day. Over time, these responses provide clarity on how different societies perceive their quality of life, and why some countries consistently rank higher,” explains a media report.
For example, let us take the case of Finland, which remains at the top, and has held the position for nine out of the past 10 years. Its ranking is reflective of the fact that residents feel that the nation provides strong social support, has low corruption, and includes a reliable social net. Top-notch education and healthcare give the citizens a sense of security. Thus, it is not about incomes, ability to spend, access material assets, or whether they are able to jump the socio-economic hierarchies. Happiness, as it is, is about the feeling of comfort, safety, and security.
Iceland surprisingly pipped Denmark from the second spot this year, the first time since 2014. Yet again, this is because the former ranked at the top in terms of social support, and this was aided by factors such as healthy life expectancy, generosity, apart from high per-capita GDP. Consider the crucial role of generosity in happiness. People are happy if they have enough, or at least have the mindset, to help others, as well as if they have the confidence that others will help them. Despite Adam Smith’s individualism, altruism makes people happier.
Like Finland, Denmark, the third ranked, scores high on issues such as social support, and low corruption, although “happiness here is often described as quiet and understated.” Costa Rica, which shockingly entered the top five this year, up from 23 in 2023, provides better insights into why India is ranked low. The former does not have the GDP size or growth to match India, or even the Nordic nations. But its happiness culture is shored up by a sense of rising freedom, and close community support. In this case, the feeling of being free is enough to make people happy. It does not matter if they exercise the choices.
Sweden, which is ranked 5, is praised “for a balance between progressive urban life, and access to nature, healthy life expectancy, and low perceived corruption." A clearer pattern emerges. Low corruption, or a feeling that it exists minimally, is important. This is not the case with India. Community support, and social support are critical, which are limited in India. Education and healthcare are crucial, and India, despite modern systems and facilities, and far-reaching welfare schemes, cannot consider itself ahead of most nations. Freedom, or a feeling of it, is something that cannot be neglected.
Now, let us look at the flip side. That is, how India’s positives and successes may impede happiness. It is the fastest-growing among major economies, which implies that the competitiveness, hustle-and-bustle, race to tap emerging opportunities, become richer and wealthier, and acquire an acquisition mindset contribute to stress and instability. No person can be happy in such an environment, which ultimately pushes an individual’s ambitions and aspirations, and makes life better later. During the transition, life is a blur, with no time to breathe. One is consumed by madness and craziness, and happiness is the last thought.
Rising aspirations, according to experts, results in “constant social comparison, and financial pressures (despite rising incomes) often create a feeling that one must keep achieving more.” As lifestyles improve, so do the stress levels. The comparison among parents leads to buying a bigger house, two cars, and the latest smartphone. Among the children, there is a feeling to travel abroad, seek expensive education, and buy the latest fashion accessories. The list seems unexhaustive, and continues to grow, even as a family acquires more assets. It is an unquenchable thirst, and the hunger grows till it bursts.
Migration, bigger urban cities, nuclear families, and fast-paced lives involve minimum interactions with the locals, communities, and societies. People live, as if in a relationship bubble, where the maximum one connects with the others is casually or aggressively in offices, or rarely with friends and families. There is no sense of “belonging to a neighbourhood or communities.” In many cases, residents in apartment blocks do not know their neighbours, or are
not interested, until there is a crisis. Neighbours, who once offered food and beverages, when new people moved in, stay away, and seem apprehensive.
Hence, people need to move from successes to acceptances, from the desire to get more to one where the urges remain but there seems to be satisfaction and appreciation of the existing achievements. Subjective things become more important than quantitative ones. Thus, one feels better if one can relax on weekends, and spend quality and entertaining time with family and friends. One thinks it is better to work seriously for 10 hours, and get back home, minus road-rage situations, to relax, and have a nice sleep. The pull factors remain, but the pushes vanish. One moves at one’s pace, irrespective of the others.
