It is often said that money can’t buy happiness, but many surveys show that richer people tend to say they are more satisfied with their lives. This trend could be seen as an indication that great material wealth – in monetary terms – is a necessary component of happiness. However, this is not always the case …
There are places in the world where people living in relatively small communities (often indigenous) outside the flow of the globalised world report in surveys that they are genuinely happy. Despite having low material incomes, respondents often report that they are very satisfied with their lives, with satisfaction rates similar to those of people in richer countries. These results imply that there is more flexibility in the means of obtaining happiness than just having enough money when living in industrialised societies.
An interesting study was carried out by the Autonomous University of Barcelona from Spain and McGill University from Canada.
Travelling around the world, researchers from these universities interviewed nearly 3,000 people from 19 poor small-scale communities in 18 different countries.
They visited small communes in Laprak in Nepal, Wawatenin in Madagascar, Lonkimai in Chile, and many other remote places. The scientific treks were mainly for a larger project on climate change, but the researchers also assessed the satisfaction of the local people.
The data showed that the average reported life satisfaction in the 19 small communities surveyed was 6.8 out of a possible 10, even though in most of these places the annual monetary income of the residents is less than USD 1 000 per person. Such high levels of life satisfaction are generally only observed in countries where per capita GDP exceeds USD 40 000 per year.
So what explains this leap to higher levels of happiness for the materially poorest?
Why are Melanesians living in the Solomon Islands, who are among the poorest people in the world, so happy? They live a simple subsistence lifestyle, meeting their primary needs through fishing and farming. Sometimes they sell their goods in the local market to buy recycled food or to pay their children’s school fees. The luxuries of modern life – smartphones, internet, TV, orthopaedic mattresses and electric toothbrushes – are hard to find. But despite this material simplicity, Melanesians are even more satisfied with life than the Finns and Danes who regularly make headlines as the happiest people in the world.
Western anthropologists who have visited small-scale communities have generally found that these people derive great satisfaction from simple activities such as listening to music, taking a walk or simply relaxing. Relationships with friends and family and socialising also bring a lot of pleasure.
Many studies have shown that being outdoors in pristine, natural habitats improves mood, health and general well-being. An obvious possible reason why simple pleasures such as social interaction and nature experiences play an important role in promoting life satisfaction in small communities is that many of these societies are not subject to the cult of making money.
The researchers found that in communities where money played a bigger role, the drivers of happiness were reported to be changing – people were putting more emphasis on social and economic factors instead of nature and socialisation. Money then provided greater happiness than the simple pleasures of life.
Happiness can come in many forms – people, nature, harmony, goodness … and money.
Happiness is somewhere near us all and can be reached by different routes.
