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Funny, I remember hearing that research showed exactly the opposite, ie people in remote villages in New Guinea rated their happiness substantially the same as
by lutorm 18y ago
Funny, I remember hearing that research showed exactly the opposite, ie people in remote villages in New Guinea rated their happiness substantially the same as those in developed countries. But like you, I don't have the sources either. ;-)
You might be right, though, that relative wealth influences happiness. In other words, you don't want to be the poorest person in your community, even if objectively you are wealthier than those in other communitites.
- yummyfajitas 18y agoIt's difficult to tell how much of this is a calibration effect. The fundamental problem is measurement, which is usually some variant of: "On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you?" I have no clue what the difference between 3, 5 and 7 is. Neither do villagers in New Guinea. So I (and I suspect most people) look around me, assume the typical person is a 5, then rate myself accordingly (I don't have a Wii, therefore I'm a 4). You are really measuring a weird combination of happiness, and what the typical person thinks a "6 out of 10" actually means. Basically, most happiness research is BS.