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(Release
at 1800 GMT, Wednesday, Oct 1)
LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) -
It's difficult to quantify and differs between cultures,
professions and religions but people in Latin America,
Western Europe and North America are happier than their
counterparts in Eastern Europe and Russia.
An analysis of levels of
happiness in more than 65 countries by the World Values
Survey shows Nigeria has the
highest percentage of happy people followed by
Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while
Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest.
``New Zealand ranked 15 for
overall satisfaction, the U.S. 16th, Australia 20th and
Britain 24th -- though Australia beats the other three for
day-to-day happiness,'' New Scientist magazine, which
published the results, said on Wednesday.
But the weekly magazine said
that factors that make people happy vary. Personal
success, self-expression, pride, and a high sense of
self-esteem are important in the United States.
``In Japan, on the other
hand, it comes from fulfilling the expectations of your
family, meeting your social responsibilities,
self-discipline, cooperation and friendliness,'' according
to the magazine.
The survey is a worldwide
investigation of sociocultural and political change
conducted about every four years by an international
network of social scientists. It includes questions about
how happy people are and how satisfied they are with their
lives.
It showed that average
happiness has remained virtually the same in
industrialised countries since World War Two, although
incomes have risen.
The exception is Denmark,
where people have become more satisfied with life over the
last three decades.
Researchers believe the
unchanging trend is linked to consumerism.
``Survey after survey has
shown that the desire for material goods, which has
increased hand in hand with average income, is a happiness
suppressant,'' the magazine added.
Reut13:23 10-01-03
REULBviaNewsEDGE
KEYWORDS: LIFE-HAPPINESS
(EMBARGOED)
Copyright (c) 2003 Reuters
Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 01/10/2003 1:29 PM
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