National Happiness Research Articles

The Recent Dangers for European Happiness: Is Homeostatic Resilience Sufficient?

In the literature on life satisfaction the author came across the hypothesis that happiness oscillates around a set point given by nurture and nature. This assumption implicitly supposes a homeostatic mechanism, which implies resilience against unhappiness. The present paper aims at the exploration and quantitative description of this resilience at the national level, which may be challenged by military conflicts, pandemics, energy crises, etc. In particular, the researcher would like to know, for which European countries the postulated resilience really exists, where the related national set points are, and whether there are limits of unhappiness below which the homeostatic set points cannot be reached anymore. In order to tackle these research questions, country-specific time series of annual happiness between 2007 and 2019 are analyzed by linear and quadratic regressions, where the current national happiness is the independent and the related following level of happiness the dependent variable. By analyzing the resulting regression equations, it is possible to identify and analyze its mathematical fixed points. Depending on whether they are stable or not, they are either homeostatic set points (equilibria) or critical limits, where homeostasis is destroyed. The present empirical analysis reveals that more than 50% of the analyzed European countries have no homeostasis of happiness. Consequently, these countries are psychologically vulnerable with regard to depressing developments like energy crises or pandemics. The remaining cases do often not display the classical form of homeostasis: they have either a shifting set point or only a narrow range, within which the homeostasis of happiness is maintained. Thus, there are only a few European countries with unlimited resilience against unhappiness and a set point that is stable over time.

Economic development, intergenerational mobility, and health in South Korea

A growing number of studies reported the association between social mobility and health. However, few studies investigated whether the association varies by age group. Drawing on the economic environment that facilitated social mobility in South Korea, we postulate each age group had a different extent of social mobility, which would vary with the extent of economic growth and affect the association between social mobility and health. We used data from KDI National Happiness Survey 2018 and measured perceived mobility using respondents’ perceived social position and their parents’ social position. We examined whether social mobility was associated with self-rated health and psychological well-being. The upwardly mobile individuals were more likely than the stable ones to report ‘happy’. Such a positive association between upward mobility and happiness was consistently found when the sample was restricted to the ages 30–59 and 40–49. For self-rated health, the downwardly mobile individuals were less likely to report good health. However, no significant difference in self-rated health was found after the youngest and oldest age groups were excluded. We found that perceived social mobility was strongly associated with psychological well-being rather than self-rated health. Moreover, we found a stronger association between upward mobility and happiness among the aged 40–49, who had the largest proportion of upwardly mobile individuals and spent their adolescence during rapid economic growth. The findings underscore the importance of the economic and social context in which individuals perceive their social position and shape their well-being.

Incomprehensible Concepts and Contexts: Teaching The Duchess of Malfi in Bhutan

Teaching a Jacobean British text such as The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster to the Bhutanese students was a real challenge as the text deals with a world of class and gender hierarchy. Living in a Buddhist country, where even the killing of animals for food is prohibited and the Gross National Happiness is prioritized, the psychological trauma and the violent and gory events portrayed in the play appalled the students. The students could not imagine a world of female subjugation, gory, and bloodshed. Therefore, the teacher takes caste and community-based honor killing contemporary examples from their neighboring country, India, to explicate the world of the Duchess. Thus, they could understand a culturally different text via examples from India.

Healthcare in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan: Lessons for the United States and other western healthcare systems.

Bhutan has demonstrated a trajectory of advances in healthcare, while still remaining true to its culture and traditional forms of medicine. Most recently, Bhutan gained international attention when it implemented a strategic Covid-19 vaccination programme that protected a greater percentage of its population than observed in Western industrialised nations. This accomplishment supports the idea that there are lessons from Bhutan to be shared with the rest of the world. In this work, we delineate our observations of the Bhutanese healthcare system, based on field observations in several Bhutanese cities, and results from surveys of Bhutanese physicians. We identify a number of unique practices that influence patient compliance, health education, and access to care in the Bhutanese system, that may be of particular interest and applicability to other healthcare systems. These include housing multiple health services at one location, fully funded medical visits, using non-physician teachers for health education and use of Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures in care.

Tourist walkability and sustainable community-based tourism: conceptual framework and strategic model

PurposeThis paper aims to determine the significance of tourist walkability on three community-based tourism sustainability indicators, namely, the economic, social and environmental benefits and costs impacting community’s quality of life through the lens of the triple bottom line approach with the institutional theory.Design/methodology/approachThis study views institutions as either enabling or restricting the sustainable community-based tourism because institutions influence resource integration and value assessment by the beneficiary. Moreover, institutions also lead the co-creation of sustainable community-based tourism among various stakeholders. Drawing on this conceptualisation, the notion of sustainable community-based tourism is filtered through the lens of institutional theory. Thus, this work approaches sustainable community-based tourism as a dynamic process of co-creating a tourist destination formed by different actors’ and institutions within the ecosystem of the tourist destination. Meanwhile, the triple bottom line benefits and costs experienced by the overall community would produce net effects on the residents’ perceptions of sustainable tourism.FindingsThis paper classifies both tangible and intangible costs and benefits because of tourist walkability and its triple bottom line trade-offs experienced by tourists and residents. This paper penetrates new grounds by reviewing the triple bottom line impacts of tourist walkability on residents’ quality of life. Government policies as mediating variable and national culture and individual personalities of tourists and residents as moderating variables were discussed. A conceptual framework named Tourist Walkability Sustainable Tourism Impact on Residents (TWSTIR) is proposed. Finally, a Sustainable Community-based Tourism Strategic (SCBTS) model which is based on the two dimensions of intensity of tourist walkability and residents’ quality of life is proposed.Research limitations/implicationsResearch limitations may include a lack of assessment on political, technological and legal issues, and therefore, future research is warranted in these three areas. Some emotions and attitudes of the residents may not be captured since the Gross National Index (Gross National Happiness) may have its inherent blind spots.Practical implicationsThis paper would be of interest to the scholarly world, as its original idea and concluding research agenda are burrowing into a new sub-field of tourism research. In view of growth and degrowth of sustaining community-based tourism, the SCBTS model is presented to provide directions for tourism policymakers and entrepreneurs to formulate and implement appropriate strategy for the tourist walkability activity per se and investment in the accompanying infrastructure.Social implicationsThis paper also presents the sacrifices and inequities in the communities and the relevance of government policies, national culture and individual personalities of tourists and residents, in which the attention of tourism policymakers and the communities that thrive on the travel and tourism industry should not be neglected.Originality/valueThe idea and discussion of this paper is original. This paper burrows into a new sub-field of tourism research. Tourist walkability needs more attention from the scholars, as this tourist activity can have positive and negative effects on residents’ quality of life. The TWSTIR framework is developed to discuss the relationships of tourist walkability, triple bottom line concept and residents’ quality of life within the sustainable community-based tourism scope. The SCBTS model is presented for tourism policymakers and entrepreneurs to perform appropriate strategy for the tourist walkability activity and investment in the accompanying infrastructure.

The impacts of environmental science on Bhutanese students’ environmental sustainability competences

AbstractThe subject of environmental science (ES) was introduced into Bhutanese schools to educate students about sustainable environmental conservation. This study aims to answer the research question: What are the impacts of studying ES on Bhutanese students for environmental sustainability? The study employed mixed methods to draw data from interviews with six principals, 14 teachers and 189 students, and surveys with 14 teachers and 563 students from six secondary schools. Participants indicated the development of students’ Gross National Happiness value of sustainable environmental and socioeconomic development. However, an anthropocentric perspective appeared to be dominant among participants, suggesting a need to develop ecocentric worldviews to support sustainability. Most students noted their changed behaviours, development of optimism, stewardship and agency towards ecological sustainability from studying ES. To prepare students to take action to address sustainability issues, teachers could leverage students’ optimism, agency and stewardship through action-oriented approaches to teaching ES.

Why Bhutan needs a policy push on person-centred care.

Delivering quality healthcare services to people has become a core issue for the Bhutanese healthcare system. There are considerable challenges for healthcare policymakers to recognise and implement an appropriate healthcare model to enhance quality healthcare services in the Bhutanese healthcare system. Actions to improve quality healthcare services in Bhutan requires careful analysis of the healthcare model in the context of the Bhutanese socio-political and healthcare environment. This article provides a brief concept analysis of person-centred care in the context of the Bhutanese socio-political and healthcare environment and describes why it is important to integrate person-centred care into the healthcare system. The article argues that person-centred care is important and relevant to the Bhutanese healthcare system to achieve quality healthcare services and Gross National Happiness.

Architectural Insights and City Profile of Phuentsholing Bhutan

Phuentsholing, the second largest city known as the economic gateway of the country, is located at the southwestern foothills of Bhutan. It is proximal to the Indian town Jaigaon of West Bengal. With the rapid pace of urbanisation, the series of spatial planning and infrastructure development have been carried out since 1968 and could not serve its citizens as envisaged in the noble vision of Gross National Happiness (GNH). However, the developing trend of the urban landscape reflects the city's commitment and challenges to maintain the identity of the place through preservation of traditional Bhutanese architectural features in buildings and other structures. This paper outlines the profile of historical development of the city with vagaries of spatial planning activities, city governance, economic and infrastructure development, housing provision, other critical issues and its mitigation strategies in conjunction with urban planning and development. In line to this, exclusive discussions are presented to highlight urban and economic development as well as critical issues with an appropriate sustainable strategy for future development. The discussions and questionnaires were deliberated with city heads, policy makers, engineers and planners to extract the ideas and futuristic view of the city. This paper also discusses the three main urban development plans, its implementation challenges due to extensive rural – urban migration and future developmental strategies of today's Phuentsholing city. Therefore, it deliberates exclusive framework and accentuates essential elements of transformation for future researchers to tackle the city management and resources distribution for any urban planning stage.

Bhutan's Living Buddhist Traditions: Past, Present, and Future

The study looks at the present state of Buddhism in Bhutan, highlighting the key features of the country's religious practices and the role of the monastic community. The research investigates how the government has incorporated Buddhist principles into its development policies, including the adoption of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of spiritual and cultural values alongside economic growth. Finally, the paper explores the challenges and opportunities facing Buddhism in Bhutan in the future. The study identifies the impact of globalization, modernization, and technological advancement on Bhutan's traditional Buddhist practices and values. The research also examines the ways in which Bhutan can continue to promote and preserve its Buddhist heritage in the face of these challenges. In conclusion, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of Bhutan's living Buddhist traditions, highlighting their historical roots, present state, and future prospects. The research underscores the importance of Buddhism in shaping Bhutan's identity and provides insights into how the country can continue to preserve and promote its unique cultural heritage in the 21st century.

Carbon neutral Bhutan: sustaining carbon neutral status under growth pressures

BackgroundBhutan has pledged to remain carbon neutral (CN) in perpetuity. Whether they can sustain this is questionable due to the country’s increasing economic growth (GDP) and commitment to gross national happiness (GNH) outcomes, both of which can lead to a rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The nexus between GHG, GNH and GDP is the essence of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals global project.ResultsThrough scenario modelling using the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) model, the study finds that the carbon neutral declaration will derail between 2037 and 2050 without mitigation measures. By putting in place mitigation measures especially in the industry and transport sectors, CN can be retained even under high growth pressure, which may cost just 2% of GDP. CN can be easily retained under low economic growth, but this could undermine GNH. High growth will require immediate interventions to enable electrification of industry and transport.ConclusionsThe options to remain CN will require Bhutan to adopt more efficient technologies and electrify industry and transport under both low and high growth scenarios. The additional cost to the Bhutanese economy is feasible through low and high growth opportunities. The options are similar to those confronting emerging nations struggling with issues of climate commitments under economic growth pressures. All will need to adapt their specific economic contexts to achieve the simultaneous objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals whilst addressing the net zero Paris agenda. Bhutan shows it is possible.

Digital Connectivity And Its Impact On Gross National Happiness In Bhutan During Covid-19

Digital Connectivity And Its Impact On Gross National Happiness In Bhutan During Covid-19

Gross National Happiness in India

There is a new debate regarding whether people of India require more Gross Domestic Product or need Gross National Happiness. This has become imperative to bring in discussion because the people of rich states of India like Punjab are suffering of many terminal diseases. Such incurable ailments accreting with the pace of economic development. Economic development always materializes at the opportunity cost of the decrepitude of pristine environment. It has been observed that people have plenty of money, however, they are not able to use that money to eat tasty food and not even able to take sleep in night because of the numerous health problems like diabetes, hyper-tension, and cancer like diseases. It is very obvious that such problems among people merely attributed to the degradation of environment. Its degradation emanating from the instantaneous economic development to provide all prerequisites to increase the economic welfare of the population growing at a burgeoning pace in India. Institutional policies need to be reevaluated to provide happiness to nationals of any country rather than gross domestic product. certainly, every government get mandate to increase their wellbeing the terminal ailments of the people necessitates revamped the policy measures to impede such afflictions.

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: Is Buddhist Constitutionalism Legitimate in the Age of Secularism? A Post-Colonial View

Bhutan’s current constitution draws upon the historical dual system of religious-civil governance under the monarchy (previously Abbot-king) embodying the Mahayana Buddhist concept of Boddhisatva-leadership. Bhutan’s democracy includes an executive-military and pluralist religious custodian role for the King who can be abdicated by parliament. It includes Gross National Happiness as spiritual core, which is non-binding law, incorporating many human rights and human values like compassion. The ban on proselytization in the secular constitution should be viewed from a geopolitical post-colonial perspective of the Christian civilization mission and India/China annexation-politics, and Asian definitions of secularism (Royal patronage of religious pluralism). Christians do experience restrictions on congregation. Hindu Nepalese-origin migrants experience(d) citizenship issues due to geopolitical context but can express religion fully. GNH-policy also has certain implementation difficulties and the GNH index indicates declining community values and spirituality in the face of modernist development. Bhutan’s constitution does not fall within the definition of theocracy. The clergy is excluded from the electoral process. The King’s authority is mainly based on moral leadership, popular uncertainty about imported democracy, and is non-absolute but larger than conventional constitutional monarchies. The constitution is more secular than Buddhist in its binding provisions and offers space for non-GNH oriented governments, also in recent practice. Preserving identity and stability is Bhutan’s aim and secularism needs to look at a group approach, apart from individualist approaches. Human rights traditions could acknowledge the cultural-religious roots that inspired them and keep human dignity alive, instead of wanting to remove it from the state altogether and making human rights the new religion.

The role of ’Thoughtful Intelligence’ in climate statesmanship

This paper explores the theory of ‘Thoughtful Intelligence’. This theory proposes that the capacity to realize the impact of one’s statements and actions on the continued existence, dignity, and development of other people and nations is ‘Thoughtful Intelligence’. I show that the 4 unique thoughtful features (self point of reference, human point of reference, nature point of reference, and creator point of reference) result in a ‘Thoughtful’ leadership role. Applying this to climate change management enables one to characterize and visualize the forthcoming flow of Thoughtful Intelligence. A Delphi-focused method helped identify 7 dynamics of thoughtful climate statesmanship, including carbon neutrality, offsetting carbon in neighboring countries, fighting climate change, integrity of social well-being, preserving environment and culture, caring use of limited resources, and gross national happiness. A Delphi-exploratory method was used to clarify thoughtful climate statesmanship. The consensual 95% results documented that the best thoughtful climate statesmanship belonged to Bhutan. The documentation of thoughtful climate statesmanship is strengthening the literature on statesmanship. Summit leaders, scientists, and people in business globally can benefit from this study.

Review of composite environmental indicators

Indicators are used in almost every scientific field to quantify and/or record and/or follow the evolution of a specific parameter. Environmental indicators are related to the environment quality and are specifically used to monitor the quality of the environment and to measure the environmental performance. They can be categorized into specific, composite and personal environmental indicators. A review of the composite environmental indicators used in the literature are presented here. Composite environmental indicators include indicators coming from the synthesis of specific indicators or cover the relationships between the environment and the economic and social sectors. The main composite environmental indicators reported in the literature are: Sustainable Development Goals Index, Ecological Footprint, Environmental Performance Index, Environmental Sustainable Index, Air Quality Index, Policy Performance Index, Genuine Progress Indicator, Living Planet Index and Bhutan Gross National Happiness Index.

DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF HAPPINESS IN PUNJAB: A HOUSEHOLD BASED ANALYSIS

Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index first developed by Bhutan that is an inspiring initiative by Bhutan’s government, and much praised by the global development communities. SDGs are highly integrated with the development philosophy of gross national happiness. Happiness is actually a sense of well-being, and generally, it is being supposed that happiness is a major source of motivation. It is the earliest assumption that income can make anyone happy, but there is a number of factors that are responsible for the happiness or subjective well-being other than income. This study examined the household level of happiness of women by considering demographic, social and economic determinants in province Punjab. The happiness of women is measured through developing happiness index based upon MICS5 data. Results showed that demographic, social and economic determinants can increase the happiness of female in case of Punjab. Some dependent variables having some negative relationships with happiness while all the other independent variables are effecting the happiness of women in a positive manner. The implications based on the findings suggest that policymakers should draft focused policies to accelerate the household level wellbeing of women instead of relying only on unanimous programs for all regions. Key words: Happiness Index, Social Variables, Economics, Demography, Pakistan JEL classification codes: O15, P36, D31, D63

Can sustainable urban planning determine people’s happiness and well-being?

Purpose – This study was designed to present how urban planning is associated with, and explain psychological well-being, health, time use, education, cultural diversity and resilience, community vitality, good governance, ecological diversity, resilience, and living standards. We used Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) as theoretical background. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative and explanatory research was conducted and operationalized through a survey of 212 citizens. We used data from a mid-sized city, inner Santa Catarina state, Brazil. Findings – The linear regression showed that urban planning predicts happiness and well-being. More specifically, urban planning impacts more time use perception; community vitality; ecological diversity and resilience; and most important, living standards. Research implications – we found that urban planning impacts more on the variables that are directly related to the environment, explained by the pillars of sustainable socio-economic development and environmental conservation. The individual and psychological dimensions related to health, culture, and education don't show the same impact, as well as good governance. Originality/value: a potential study to be used by government agencies to act directly in the elaboration of public policies once it is understood that using the GNH can identify specific deficits.

Emphasis on Family Vitality in GNH: A Study in Bangladesh Perspective

The article critically analyses how family value in Bangladesh is ignored for keeping its sole focus on gaining economic growth and reveals the relevance of the Bhutanese philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) that suggests keeping a balance between development and value. In so doing, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies have been applied to collect the relevant data. A survey on twenty-five scholarly participants- teachers from universities and colleges, PhD and Mphil researchers, lawyers– has been conducted with structured questionnaires substantiated by qualitative interview of seven Social Science faculty members – five from Dhaka University and two from two different private Universities of Bangladesh- with semi- structured questionnaires. Moreover, a robust content analysis of the relevant secondary data i.e., books, articles, newspaper reports, have also been analyzed carefully to ensure the reliability and validity of the collected data. This study argues that Bhutan has been a glaring example of how both spiritual and material advancement can be ensured simultaneously that starts flourishing from a harmonious family relationship. And the study findings can be beneficial for the concerned policy makers of Bangladesh to adopt more effective and time-worthy policies to protect the country’s declined social values in line with economic growth taking insights from Bhutan’s GNH in different degrees.

Action-oriented approaches to teaching environmental science in Bhutanese secondary schools: Stakeholder perceptions

Bhutan aspires to balance sustainable socioeconomic development with environmental conservation to achieve Gross National Happiness (GNH). There are apparent alignments between GNH and the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), but we recognize the role of the Bhutanese socio-cultural context for critically examining any alignments or misalignments with pervasive Western action-oriented ESD approaches. We present one aspect of a PhD study by the lead author that explored the implementation of Environmental Science (ES) in Bhutanese secondary schools. He examined stakeholders’ perceptions about action-oriented approaches to teaching, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from interviews with six principals, surveys and interviews with 14 teachers, surveys with 563 students and focus groups with 194 students. Findings indicated that students participated in school-based activities such as waste management and cleaning, in compliance with school-based directives to alleviate problems, rather than as a consequence of their own agentic decisions. Principals, teachers and students valued the idea of taking environmental action in ES, especially waste management, primarily for solving ecological issues and promoting intergenerational equity rather than for developing of action-competence. There is potential for leveraging existing school practices to enhance action-oriented approaches and, consequently, foster action-competence for the enhancement of GNH in Bhutan.

The National Happiness Index of Bhutan and its Enlightenment

The Kingdom of Bhutan has garnered international attention for its unique approach to national policy and its focus on qualitative rather than quantitative measures. In particular, the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) has been embraced by Bhutan as the main indicator of its success as a nation, and has served as an example of a new way of measuring social progress. This paper will explore the concept of GNH, the development of the National Happiness Index (NHI) in Bhutan, and how this approach to governance could be incorporated into public policy in other countries. The paper will then examine the potential for other countries to adopt a similar approach to governance. It will discuss some of the challenges that may need to be addressed for this to be successful, such as the need for reliable data, the difficulty of measuring intangible factors, and the need for a shift in public attitudes and beliefs. Finally, the paper will present some of the potential benefits of adopting a GNH-based approach, such as increased citizen engagement and satisfaction, improved economic and social stability, and a greater focus on sustainability. Overall, this paper will explore the concept of GNH and the development of the National Happiness Index in Bhutan, as well as the potential for other countries to adopt a similar approach.