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U.S. hits new low in World Happiness Report

(www.axios.com)
219 points surprisetalk | 1 comments | 25 Sep 25 20:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.238s | source
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dang ◴[25 Sep 25 22:05 UTC] No.45379783[source]▶
I believe that these self-reported surveys are partly testing the cultural acceptability of complaining—that is, the more unacceptable it is to complain, the happier one comes out in the scoring. How well that corresponds to 'actual' happiness is, of course, a different question.

I base this on experience with some of the 'happy' cultures on the list. However, I would be interested in knowing whether HN members from Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands (to name the top 5) agree with this concept or not.

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1. Braxton1980 ◴[25 Sep 25 23:04 UTC] No.45380432[source]▶
Wouldn't the cultural factor of complaining not mean as much since it's a survey for scientific purposes?

For example, it's considered weird to talk about how many times I went to the bathroom this week but if asked by a doctor I would be more willing to provide the information