Gross National Happiness
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Contents |
What Gross National Happiness is
Definition of Gross National Happiness
Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a global indicator of progress, which measures both sustainable economy and social development, while protecting the environment and culture.
In Bhutan, where GNH originated, it is based on four pillars:
- the promotion of sustainable development,
- preservation and promotion of cultural values,
- conservation of the natural environment,
- and establishment of good governance.
What Gross National Happiness is not
GNH is created after the need of going beyond GDP, Gross Domestic Product, which is based only on economic indicators (though it cannot measure differences on money distribution, for example).
GNH is not a quantitative measure. It has been criticized that, being a new non assessed concept, GNH can be defined (subjectively) to suit a political agenda.
History
In 1972, the King of Bhutan decided to move from Middle Ages to a sustainable, democratic country [1]. With the support of the United Nations Development Program, he put GNH into practice. In 1999, the Centre for Bhutan Studies was created, an independent research institute for studying and developing GNH. In 2008, a new Constitution, (inspired by the Spanish one) [2] was adopted by a democratic Parliament.
In 2006, Adrian White, a psychologist from the University of Leicester, published the World Map of Happiness. Bhutan ranked 8th, while USA was 23rd. Other large countries with low ranks included: China 82nd, India 125th, Russia 167th. Centre and Northern European countries were first (as Denmark, Switzerland or Austria). Data was collected from CIA, UNESCO, World Health Organization and other organizations.
Four GNH International Conferences have been held so far: 2004 in Bhutan, 2005 in Canada, 2007 in Thailand, last one being in november 2009 in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil [3]
How Gross National Happiness works
The survey in Bhutan
First survey started in late 2007 in Bhutan. 950 people across Bhutan were asked 180 questions grouped into the following nine dimensions:
- Psychological well-being: Assessed the degree of satisfaction and optimism in individual life. The indicators analyzed self-esteem, sense of competence, stress, spiritual activities, and the prevalence of positive and negative emotions.
- Health: Measured the effectiveness of health policies, with criteria such as self-rated health, disability, patterns of risk behavior, exercise, sleep, nutrition, etc.
- Use of time: The use of time is one of the most significant factors in quality of life, especially time for recreation and socializing with family and friends. A balanced management of time was evaluated, including time spent in traffic jams, at work, in educational activities, etc.
- Community vitality: Focused on relationships and interactions in communities. Examined the level of confidence, the sense of belonging, the vitality of affectionate relationships, safety at home and in the community, and the practice of giving and volunteering.
- Education: Took into account several factors such as participation in formal and informal education, development of skills and capabilities, involvement in children's education, values education, environmental education, etc.
- Culture: Evaluated local traditions, festivals, core values, participation in cultural events, opportunities to develop artistic skills, and discrimination due to religion, race or gender.
- Environment: Measured the perception of citizens about the quality of their water, air, soil, forest cover, biodiversity, etc. The indicators included access to green areas, system of waste management, etc.
- Governance: Assessed how the population views the government, the media, the judiciary, the electoral system, and the police, in terms of responsibility, honesty and transparency. It also measured involvement of citizens in community decisions and political processes.
- Standard of living: Evaluated individual and family income, financial security, the level of debt, employment security, the quality of housing, etc.
Some of the questions were:
- Would you define your life as: a) very stressed, b) somewhat stressed, c) not stressed, d) I don't know
- Have you lost your sleep due to your concerns?
- During the last year, have you perceived changes in Bhutan architectonic style new buildings?
Data has been compiling since 2007 is then calculated in accordance with various mathematical specifications[4]. Results are numbers, so in order to make sense of the measure, they were compared between districts, across time, decomposed by dimensions or indicators, like gender, occupation, age group, etc. This process revealed (and still reveals) which dimensions of life should be part of future policies.
Gross National Wellness (GNH)
The International Institute of Management proposed GNH to be called Gross National Wellness (GNW) or 2nd generation GNH. The 7 development areas to be a function index of average per capita were:
- Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
- Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
- Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses, overweight, etc.
- Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
- Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
- Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety ,divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
- Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts.
The world to measure happiness
In january 2008, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that his country was starting to measure happiness:
Following this statement, he promoted the creation of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, whose Chair is the Nobel Prize in Economy Joseph E. Stiglitz. The report [5], published on november 2009, stats that societies well-being should be measured.
Facebook has published an application on Gross National Happiness on the USA, with two metrics: positive and negative, depending on words used by Facebook users in their statuses.
See Also
- Happiness
- Comprehensive Indicators
- Statistics and Human Well-Being
- Bhutan
- Physical and mental health
- Gross_National_Happiness_USA
