Of GNH, SWB, SWLS and HDI

How happy are you? Quite a difficult question to answer, right? You may argue that the answer depends on when and where you are asked the question. You can be happy one instant and not so happy the next. Fair enough. Happiness, therefore, is a very subjective, vague and abstract concept. Many great minds and thinkers have been dwelling on this subject for quite a while and rightly so, the subject has been very elusive. Bhutan too has not been spared. The concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) has been adopted by the Government in all its development activities. The underlying principle of GNH is that happiness is more important than wealth (measured by Gross Domestic Product or GDP) which is a very valid and cogent assumption. For example, a car accident or a war is good for the economy, isn’t it? More goods and services are demanded/traded leading to an increase in GDP. This should lead to more happiness, right? Not quite so. Does this mean that happiness is inversely proportional to wealth? The more wealth one has, the more unhappy one becomes. This may be an extreme case which, as evident, is not true. Anyways, the fact of the matter is that wealth and happiness are two issues that require a more in-depth understanding.

However, the interesting fact is that some psychologists use the concept of Subjective Well-being (SWB) as a proxy to happiness. Based on research, temporary mood states have only a marginal effect on SWB whilst long term changes and situational factors have a significant effect on SWB. SWB, therefore, is a good proxy to happiness and could be used as an indicator for Bhutan to pursue its goal of GNH . Accordingly, psychologists have formulated an index called the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) to measure SWB. I guess this is as close as we can get to measure happiness.

A survey was conducted on a global scale across 181 countries wherein countries were ranked based on their SWLS index. The results of the SWLS are interesting. Bhutan ranked eight on this list (Denmark was ranked first and Burundi the last). The results show that SWB correlated most strongly with health (0.7) closely followed by wealth (0.6) and access to basic education (0.6). Upon closer inspection of the correlation variables, one notices the fact that these variables are the very ones used for measuring Human Development index (HDI) of countries by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). HDI combines the three basic dimensions of life expectancy, literacy and standard of living (GDP per capita) to gauge the level of development of countries.

Health (of SWB) and life expectancy (of HDI) are synonymous. Better health leads to a longer and salubrious life and accordingly a higher life expectancy. Wealth (of SWB) and GDP per capita (of HDI) as well as basic education (of SWB) and literacy (of HDI) are also synonymous.

So there goes! HDI can be used as a proxy for happiness. Have a robust economic policy, provide more health facilities and better education infrastructure to ensure a happy nation.