An India-focussed and Indian-origin survey has found that Indians are happier than earlier reported.
HappyPlus Consulting’s State of Happiness report has found India’s life evaluation score to be 6.84.
A key indicator for subjective well-being, the score reflects that India is doing better than the average India life-evaluations scores noted in other happiness studies.
Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Delhi and Goa are the top places that have recorded high Happiness Ranking in India.
The HappyPlus Consulting survey highlights that 87.8 percent Indians felt they have social support that can protect their mental wellbeing during negative outcomes. Better social support is associated with greater wellbeing and translates into a happier state of mind and pro-social behaviour.
Life satisfaction dips as people move above the age bracket of 18-25 years. It keeps increasing as people get older and the ones over 60 years of age show the highest satisfaction. Above the age of 60, people feel a higher freedom of to choose in life than when they were younger.
Yet, the overall happiness level may be considered as moderate, though higher than earlier studies. The results were largely subdued by factors such as the belief in widespread corruption. Around 43.2 percent Indians believe corruption is rampant in the government and businesses. Presence of corruption depresses people that further affects evaluations that are used to measure happiness.
Another aspect that the report reveals is the presence of negative emotions that alters life satisfaction and leads to drastic decline in fulfilment. Emotions of worry, sadness and anger are felt by 32.9 percent Indians regularly.
Dr Ashish Ambasta, founder-CEO, HappyPlus Consulting said, “How happy are you today or how do you feel about your life now” may be difficult for an individual to answer. But the knowledge is critical for the overall well-being of a country and its socio-economic fabric. Lack of individual happiness leads to distress and slows economic, social and environmental progress. The pandemic of Covid-19 has reinforced the necessity of having a better quality of life. Current levels of happiness are higher than what often gets captured by global publications like the UN’s World Happiness Report.”
Also it has been observed that approximately 65%+ Indian feels nervous and stressed fairly often. Major reasons for stress are Covid-19 uncertainties, Health, Financial Empowerment, Family & Friends, Workplace Pressure.
“7 out of 10 Indians feel nervous and stressed on regular basis. This is alarming. However, till the time individuals are not taking a step forward to understand what emotional wellbeing means for them and do not act towards it, it would continue to be a concerning area. Having awareness and acting wisely for a better wellbeing would be the key going forward,” said Shyamasree Chakrabarty, Senior Director, HappyPlus Consulting.
The recently concluded pan-India survey by HappyPlus Consulting was mounted at an unprecedented scale, spanning a sample size of 20,073 interviewees across 28 states and eight Union Territories in India.
Such a sample size and in-depth study is unseen in any other happiness studies including the global ones.
HappyPlus Consulting measured happiness among Indians at both the macro and the micro level, a first for any happiness survey for India.
At the macro level, subjective well-being was measured using three metrics (as per the approach designed by global studies) to assess happiness across India and gauge what makes people declare themselves happy in the Indian context.
At the micro level, HappyPlus Consulting referred to the WOW Life framework to understand how an individual perceives happiness and life of thriving. It covers all the dimensions that are important for an individual to lead a life of joy, happiness and fulfilment, and contribute further to the society and the world.
Apart from subjective well-being indicators such as life evaluations, positive and negative emotions, the study included questions on social support, freedom to make life choices, perception of corruption, along with state-level per capita net State Domestic Product, CPI, literacy rate, healthy-life expectancy at birth, MPI and Health Index.
The perception of the state of happiness also differed between women and men. Women feel happy and laugh more than men but feeling emotions like worry, sadness and anger more prominent in them.
Men feel a higher social support system and the freedom to make life-choices as compared to women. They also have a lower perception of corruption.
Despite the current times, it was seen that the younger generation express and feel greater levels of happiness, laughter and are highly positive when compared to older people.
With data that may be assessed based on demographics and an individual’s state of mind, the State of Happiness report promises to become a definitive guide for a nation to turn happier, and eventually flourish further.
