Wealth does not automatically make people in Europe happier, according to a quality-of-life survey conducted in all 27 European Union member states. But it certainly plays an important role. The study, released on Wednesday, Nov. 19 shows that other factors, such as social environment and health, also contribute greatly to levels of satisfaction. The happiest Europeans are the Danes and Finns, according to the findings of a representative survey of 30,000 EU citizens. At the other end of the scale, Hungary and Bulgaria returned the lowest satisfaction rates. Germans, Czechs and Slovaks lie at what might be called the happy medium, while the French, British and Spanish reported above-average satisfaction with their lot in life. In Poland, Austria and especially in Italy, people had more to grumble about. "Countries with high incomes do very well in terms of satisfaction in life," said Branislav Mikulic of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
The study, released on Wednesday, Nov. 19 shows that other factors, such as social environment and health, also contribute greatly to levels of satisfaction.
The happiest Europeans are the Danes and Finns, according to the findings of a representative survey of 30,000 EU citizens. At the other end of the scale, Hungary and Bulgaria returned the lowest satisfaction rates.
Germans, Czechs and Slovaks lie at what might be called the happy medium, while the French, British and Spanish reported above-average satisfaction with their lot in life. In Poland, Austria and especially in Italy, people had more to grumble about.
"Countries with high incomes do very well in terms of satisfaction in life," said Branislav Mikulic of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgarians, the EU's newest members, are also by far the bloc's unhappiest citizens, a new EU survey showed on Wednesday (19 November). Bulgarians gave their satisfaction with life a rank of five out of 10, and their happiness a rank of 5.8, which is well lower than the average rank given by Europeans of seven and 7.5, respectively. On average, Europeans rate their level of happiness a 7.5 out of 10 For their part, Romanians, who joined the EU together with Bulgarians in 2007, have a more positive outlook, putting their life satisfaction at 6.5 and their happiness at seven, according to the European Quality of Life Survey carried by Dublin-based EU research agency Eurofound. The survey - which covers all 27 EU states, as well as Norway and EU candidates Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia - also ranks Nordic people among the happiest in Europe, with Danes leading the list, followed by Swedes and Finns. Of the member states that joined the EU in 2004, only the Maltese have ranked themselves among the 10 happiest peoples in Europe, while Portuguese are the unhappiest of the 15 "old" EU countries, preceded by Italy and Greece.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgarians, the EU's newest members, are also by far the bloc's unhappiest citizens, a new EU survey showed on Wednesday (19 November).
Bulgarians gave their satisfaction with life a rank of five out of 10, and their happiness a rank of 5.8, which is well lower than the average rank given by Europeans of seven and 7.5, respectively.
On average, Europeans rate their level of happiness a 7.5 out of 10
For their part, Romanians, who joined the EU together with Bulgarians in 2007, have a more positive outlook, putting their life satisfaction at 6.5 and their happiness at seven, according to the European Quality of Life Survey carried by Dublin-based EU research agency Eurofound.
The survey - which covers all 27 EU states, as well as Norway and EU candidates Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia - also ranks Nordic people among the happiest in Europe, with Danes leading the list, followed by Swedes and Finns.
Of the member states that joined the EU in 2004, only the Maltese have ranked themselves among the 10 happiest peoples in Europe, while Portuguese are the unhappiest of the 15 "old" EU countries, preceded by Italy and Greece.
"We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were more happy," Dr. Robinson said. "TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less." But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. "I don't know that turning off the TV will make you more happy," Dr. Robinson said.Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.Since the major predictor of how much time is spent watching television is whether someone works or not, Dr. Robinson added, it's possible that rising unemployment will lead to more TV time.
"We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were more happy," Dr. Robinson said. "TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less."
But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. "I don't know that turning off the TV will make you more happy," Dr. Robinson said.
Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.
Since the major predictor of how much time is spent watching television is whether someone works or not, Dr. Robinson added, it's possible that rising unemployment will lead to more TV time.
what's the data on internet (over)use? ;-)
