1. Happiness is not dependent or proportional to income. It’s a recorded fact that 37% of people on Forbes’ list are less happy than the average American. From past studies, it has resulted that happiness only varies with income till a certain threshold is reached (approximately average income and quality of life). Beyond that it doesn’t really make a difference.
2. Social conditions such as civic rights and individual freedom are a prerequisite of happiness but not completely necessary. The more a country has civic liberty and just laws, the more its inhabitants tend to be happy. But a lot of exceptions can be found, at least on an individual level if not on a collective one. There are volumes of stories of people who have found happiness and meaning in life in the midst of terrible hardships and injustice.
3. Dan Gilbert, who has researched happiness extensively, tells how lack of choice sometimes begets happiness. In one experiment, people were asked to choose a painting from a set which they could take home for free. Half of them were given the choice to return it and exchange it for another after a given time if they were not happy with it. The others were not given this choice at all. It turned out that those which were not given any choice were most happy with their original choice unlike those which hadn’t.
4. Happiness is more a question of inner predisposition than external factors. In fact several studies have shown that external factors are only 10% responsible for happiness. Inner predisposition such as attitude, relationships and outlook on life make up 50% of this contribution.
source: http://www.lifescapeartists.com/14-facts-you-must-know-about-happiness/
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