The Importance and Benefits of Happiness Studies
Happiness is commonly considered as an ultimate goal of life because everybody wants to be happy (Abdel-Khalek, 2005; Frey & Stutzer, 2002; Veenhoven, 1994). Research documents that being happy are more important than the pursuit of material achievements for the majority of the people (Van Boven, 2005; Larsen & Eid, 2008; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005).
An understanding of the determinants of human happiness is important because a happier person can live longer (Bekhet, Zauszniewski, & Nakhla, 2008; Diener, 2012; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005); be more generous (Boenigk & Mayr, 2016); more productive and creative (Di Tella, Macculloch, & Oswald, 2003; Diener & Seligman, 2004; Diener, …show more content…
Happiness ranking produced by this report uses Cantril ladder as a primary measure of life evaluation. Life evaluation, “happiness” and “subjective well-being” are used interchangeably in this report. There are six key variables to take into account in the individual life’s evaluation, each representing a different aspect of life. These six factors are GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity of donations, perceived corruption of government and business. Taking in all together, these six key variables explain almost three-quarter of the variation in national annual average ladder scores among countries, using data from the year 2005 to 2016. The summary of world happiness ranking and score for each country for the period 2012-2014 and 2014-2016 are represented by the following Table 1.1 …show more content…
The empirical results which have provided by Cheah & Tang (2013) reveal that Chinese have a 7.07 percent lower probability of feeling very happy as compared to their Indian/others counterparts. Especially for Chinese females, they are 8.77 percent more likely to feel unhappy or very unhappy. Similarly, the Chinese females also have a 15.57 percent lower probability of feeling very happy. Moreover, statistics from National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM), reveal that ethnic Chinese carries the highest proportional of suicidal cases at 47.5 percent (of a total 328 recorded cases) in the year 2009, followed by Malays 21.3 percent and Indians 13.4 percent. Besides, the Forensic Pathology Unit in Universiti Malaya has also indicated that the incidents of suicide are very prevalent among Chinese youth, with the highest number of cases reported in the 21-30 year category (Free Malaysia Today, 2012). These Chinese youth face tremendous pressure and stress early in life which always leads to anxiety, depression and even suicide. This phenomenon may due to lack of religious practices among Malaysian Chinese and more emphasis is given to material or economic achievement in the Chinese community. For instance, the tendency for people to define success in terms of material possessions is exemplified
Happiness is commonly considered as an ultimate goal of life because everybody wants to be happy (Abdel-Khalek, 2005; Frey & Stutzer, 2002; Veenhoven, 1994). Research documents that being happy are more important than the pursuit of material achievements for the majority of the people (Van Boven, 2005; Larsen & Eid, 2008; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005).
An understanding of the determinants of human happiness is important because a happier person can live longer (Bekhet, Zauszniewski, & Nakhla, 2008; Diener, 2012; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005); be more generous (Boenigk & Mayr, 2016); more productive and creative (Di Tella, Macculloch, & Oswald, 2003; Diener & Seligman, 2004; Diener, …show more content…
Happiness ranking produced by this report uses Cantril ladder as a primary measure of life evaluation. Life evaluation, “happiness” and “subjective well-being” are used interchangeably in this report. There are six key variables to take into account in the individual life’s evaluation, each representing a different aspect of life. These six factors are GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity of donations, perceived corruption of government and business. Taking in all together, these six key variables explain almost three-quarter of the variation in national annual average ladder scores among countries, using data from the year 2005 to 2016. The summary of world happiness ranking and score for each country for the period 2012-2014 and 2014-2016 are represented by the following Table 1.1 …show more content…
The empirical results which have provided by Cheah & Tang (2013) reveal that Chinese have a 7.07 percent lower probability of feeling very happy as compared to their Indian/others counterparts. Especially for Chinese females, they are 8.77 percent more likely to feel unhappy or very unhappy. Similarly, the Chinese females also have a 15.57 percent lower probability of feeling very happy. Moreover, statistics from National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM), reveal that ethnic Chinese carries the highest proportional of suicidal cases at 47.5 percent (of a total 328 recorded cases) in the year 2009, followed by Malays 21.3 percent and Indians 13.4 percent. Besides, the Forensic Pathology Unit in Universiti Malaya has also indicated that the incidents of suicide are very prevalent among Chinese youth, with the highest number of cases reported in the 21-30 year category (Free Malaysia Today, 2012). These Chinese youth face tremendous pressure and stress early in life which always leads to anxiety, depression and even suicide. This phenomenon may due to lack of religious practices among Malaysian Chinese and more emphasis is given to material or economic achievement in the Chinese community. For instance, the tendency for people to define success in terms of material possessions is exemplified