Growth, Development and Happiness 2.17
equality in the schools. This is in sharp correlated with observable brain functions, and to
contrast to the education reform strategy the characteristics of an individual and the society.
at work in the US, where the emphasis Asking people whether they are happy or satisfied
is to put on testing, measurement, and with their lives, offers important information
teacher pay according to student test about the society. It can signal underlying crises
performance. or hidden strengths. It can suggest the need for
change. Such is the idea of the emerging scientific
At the enD study of happiness, whether of individuals and the
The introspecting observations of the WHR choices they make, or of societies and the reports of
2012 simply concluded that there are enough the citizenry regarding life satisfaction—the WHR
reasons to believe that we need to re-think the 2012 summarises the fascinating and emerging
economic sources of well-being, more so even in story of these studies on two broad measurements
the rich countries than in the poor ones. High- of happiness:
income countries have largely ended the sources (i) the ups and downs of daily emotions and
of poverty, hunger and disease. Poor countries (ii) an individual’s overall evaluation of life
rightly yearn to do so. But after the end of poverty,
The former is sometimes called ‘affective
what comes next? What are the pathways to well-
happiness,’ and the latter ‘evaluative happiness’.
being when basic economic needs are no longer
the main drivers of social change? What will guide This is important to know that both kinds
humanity in the Anthropocene: advertising, of happiness have predictable causes that reflect
sustainability, community or something else? various facets of our human nature and our social
What is the path to happiness? life. Affective happiness captures the day-to-day
Most people agree that societies should foster joy of friendship, time with family and sex, or the
happiness of their citizens. The founding fathers downsides of long work commutes and sessions
of the US recognised the inalienable right to with one’s boss. Evaluative happiness measures
the pursuit of happiness. British philosophers very different dimensions of life, those that lead
talked about the greatest good for the greatest to overall satisfaction or frustration with one’s
number. Bhutan has famously adopted the goal place in society. Higher income, better health
of Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather of mind and body, and a high degree of trust in
than Gross National Product. China champions one’s community (‘social capital’) all contribute to
a harmonious society. Yet most people probably high life satisfaction; poverty, ill health and deep
believe that happiness is in the eye of the beholder, divisions in the community all contribute to low
an individual’s choice, something to be pursued life satisfaction.
individually rather than as a matter of national Happiness differs systematically across
policy. Happiness seems far too subjective, too societies and over time, for reasons that are
vague, to serve as a touchstone for a nation’s goals, identifiable, and even alterable through the ways in
much less its policy content. That indeed has been which public policies are designed and delivered.
the traditional view. Yet the evidence is rapidly It makes sense, in other words, to pursue policies
changing this view. to raise the public’s happiness as much as it does to
A generation of studies by psychologists, raise the public’s national income. Bhutan is on
economists, pollsters, sociologists and others have to something path breaking and deeply insightful.
shown that happiness, though indeed a subjective And the world is increasingly taking notice. A
experience, can be objectively measured, assessed, household’s income counts for life satisfaction,