Fiji tops poll on happiness

from w
Here are some copy and paste bits on the Happiness poll. My view, for what it's worth, is that in Fiji many men and women will say yes to the main question because they perceive that this is the answer wanted. And who's going to report on them if they say they are unhappy! If someone asked me I would say 'Sometimes' - it depends on the time of day, what kind of food I'm eating, the context, what is currently happening in my life. There's no definite answer yes or no! What was the cross-section of people interviewed in Fiji - only urban, what age, what ethnic group, etc. Did they ask the lady begging outside the curry shop I wonder!
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19 Fiji 1020 0.0 89 yes 4 no 7 not sure 0 85%
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Fiji Tim Wilson tim@tebbuttresearch.com Tebbutt Research Face to face Urban Yes 1000 Dec 16-Dec20 Global ‘happiness index’ ranks Fiji at helm
December 31, 2011 04:11:17 PM
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• chop_chop2012/01/01
at 3:08 PM ETAnother absolutley ridiculous survey that tells us absolutely nothing when you take in all the variables. Without doing that it pretty renders this obsurd. You can not compare 1 country's feeling of happiness with another. Perspective is completely subjective. Nice waste of time CBC! But i guess it accomplishes some hidden agenda you have.
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From Fijilive

Fiji is the happiest country and home to the happiest people, according to the Global Barometer of Happiness.

The “happiness barometer’ is based on responses of nearly 53,000 people in 58 countries who were asked to state whether they perceived themselves as "happy" or "unhappy" in 2011.

The global survey, conducted on the eve of every new year since 1977, was carried out by Canadian pollsters Leger Marketing and its partners, the world’s largest independent network of opinion pollsters, the WIN Association.

And, in a surprise to the people who conducted the polls, Afghanistan recorded higher happiness numbers of 35 per cent than the United States at 33 per cent.

The top five countries for happiness, besides Fiji are Nigeria (84 per cent net happiness), the Netherlands (77 per cent), Switzerland (76 per cent) and Ghana (72 per cent).

The Global Barometer of Happiness has a margin of error of plus or minus three to five per cent. People were surveyed face-to-face and over the phone.
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PERCEPTIONS ON HAPPINESS IN 2012

Question: So far as you are concerned, do you personally feel happy, unhappy or neither
happy nor un-happy about your life? (Reference Q# 3 of the EOY: 2011 Questionnaire, see Methods Section)
Percent of Respondents
Global Average* 52287 100.0 53 13 31 2 40
S # Countries in alphabetical order Sample Size Happy Unhappy Neither
Happy nor
Unhappy
Don’t know/
no response
Net
Happiness
Unweighted
Count
Col%
1 Afghanistan 1031 0.4 52 17 29 1 35
2 Argentina 1002 0.5 67 6 27 0 61
3 Armenia 500 0.1 70 10 18 2 60
4 Australia 1040 0.6 55 17 27 1 38
5 Austria 1003 0.3 59 7 32 2 53
6 Azerbaijan 510 0.1 58 4 36 2 54
7 Belgium 528 0.3 53 7 37 2 46
8 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1000 0.1 53 17 29 1 36
9 Brazil 2002 4.7 76 13 10 0 63
10 Bulgaria 997 0.2 36 7 51 6 29
11 Cameroon 504 0.1 51 9 38 1 42
12 Canada 1003 0.9 60 13 26 2 47
13 China 500 17.0 41 17 41 1 25
14 Colombia 606 0.5 74 3 22 1 71
15 Czech Republic 1000 0.3 41 12 46 1 28
16 Denmark 506 0.2 73 8 18 1 64
17 Ecuador 400 0.1 63 6 30 1 57
18 Egypt 1000 1.4 36 36 20 7 0
19 Fiji 1020 0.0 89 4 7 0 85
20 Finland 984 0.2 72 1 27 0 70
21 France 1671 1.9 48 8 43 0 40
22 Georgia 1000 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
23 Germany 502 2.6 72 4 23 1 68
24 Ghana 1505 0.5 82 10 5 3 72
25 Hong Kong 500 0.2 41 11 48 0 30
26 Iceland 852 0.0 73 7 19 1 66
27 India 1091 28.6 51 14 34 1 37
28 Iraq 1000 0.4 47 28 23 1 19
29 Ireland 1001 0.1 45 25 30 0 20
30 Italy 987 1.9 35 10 53 2 25
31 Japan 1200 3.8 49 2 40 9 47
32 Kenya 1000 0.8 46 26 26 1 20
33 Korea, Rep (South) 1524 1.4 52 8 38 1 44
34 Lebanon 500 0.1 54 31 15 0 24
35 Lithuania 1025 0.1 35 26 37 1 9
36 Macedonia 1209 0.1 48 9 41 1 39
37 Malaysia 520 0.6 65 3 30 3 62
38 Moldova 1086 0.1 43 14 36 7 28
39 Netherlands 505 0.5 81 4 15 0 77
40 Nigeria 1049 2.7 89 6 4 1 84
41 Pakistan 2705 3.0 40 10 46 4 31
42 Palestine 626 0.1 31 25 43 1 7
43 Peru 1207 0.7 63 7 30 1 56
44 Romania 1050 0.8 28 39 30 3 -10
45 Russian Federation 1000 2.6 39 8 42 11 31
46 Saudi Arabia 502 0.5 70 10 20 1 60Global Barometer of
HAPPINESS FOR 2011
The World’s First Global Barometer
1977-2011
Page 8 of 25
47 Serbia 1037 0.2 28 20 47 4 8
48 South Africa 200 0.4 57 23 19 2 35
49 South Sudan 1020 0.2 62 15 21 2 46
50 Spain 1146 1.2 68 13 18 1 55
51 Sweden 501 0.3 58 4 36 2 54
52 Switzerland 507 0.2 81 5 14 1 76
53 Tunisia 503 0.3 58 12 29 1 47
54 Turkey 1031 1.8 44 18 37 1 26
55 Ukraine 1013 1.4 43 14 37 6 30
56 United States 1002 8.7 53 20 26 2 33
57 Uzbekistan 500 0.8 65 3 25 7 62
58 Vietnam 500 2.2 56 19 25 0 37
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We top global joy survey
January 1, 2012 | Filed under: Fiji News | Posted by: newsroom
Source: CBC News
An annual “happiness barometer” ranked Fiji the happiest nation in the world in the lead-up to the New Year.
The survey asked participants to state whether they perceived themselves as “happy” or “unhappy” in 2011.
Fiji was the happiest, according to the Global Barometer of Happiness, with a net happiness of 85 per cent.
A total of 1020 people in Fiji were surveyed.
In the region, Australia had a net happiness score of only 38 per cent. The top five nations for happiness levels were:
1. Fiji 85 per cent
2. Nigeria 84 per cent
3. Netherlands 77 per cent
4. Switzerland 76 per cent
5. Ghana 72 per cent

Amongst the least happy countries were Romania (-10 per cent), Egypt (0 per cent), Palestine (7 per cent) and Serbia (8 per cent).

The global survey was carried out by Canadian pollsters Leger Marketing and its partners, the world’s largest independent network of opinion pollsters, the WIN Association in 58 countries (52,913 interviews). It covered the vast majority of world population.

In one major surprise, Afghanistan, which had a net happiness score of 35 per cent, beat the United States, at 33 per cent.

“That was one that stood out for us,” Leger Marketing said.

“And a big part of it is what’s changed in Afghanistan. In the United States, not much has changed over the past year. The de-escalation of the Afghanistan conflict doesn’t affect the United States the way it does Afghanistan.”

People were surveyed face-to-face and over the phone.

The network has conducted this annual poll on the eve of New Year since 1977. The global poll which had earlier focused on prospects for the economy added a question this year on ‘Happiness’.

The findings turned out to be quite revealing. The attainment of Happiness is aided by economic hopefulness; but often ‘happiness’ refuses to be subdued by economic gloom.

The survey finds that nations which are struggling hard to move up the global economic ladder produce a lot of ‘unhappy’ people. Thus net happiness in China is nearly half of global average and stands at 25 per cent.

In contrast the economically-pressured Spaniards score 55 per cent net happiness. Perhaps the feeling to ‘be happy’ is also a cultural trait!