August 15, 2010
IF IT HAD REACHED BRITAIN...:
The secret of happiness: Family, friends and your environment: How do you find contentment in an acquisitive society? By changing the things you spend your money on, says a US academic (Rachel Shields, 15 August 2010, Independent)
In a new paper, If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending it Right, Elizabeth Dunn argues that spending money wisely is a sure-fire route to happiness. Dunn lays out eight ways to use money to make you happy: buyexperiences instead of things; lots of small treats instead of a few big ones; give money to others; pay now and consume later; think about the negatives of what you want to buy; don't use price comparison sites as they distract from other attributes a product has; follow other people when choosing what to buy, as they are a better predictor of how happy a purchase will make us than our own judgement.
"The situation hopefully encourages people to focus on the key things in life which, the research says – and, to a large extent, they intuitively know – really make them happy: relationships with family, friends, contact with the natural environment, and so on," said George MacKerron, a researcher at the London School of Economics who specialises in well-being. "On the other hand, I think there's a slight risk that those who were sceptical in the first place start decrying well-being/happiness research as somehow unserious or childish in the face of the 'important business' of growing GDP and creating jobs."
The evidence, however, suggests the subject is being taken ever more seriously. Liverpool declared 2010 its year of "health and well-being". Next January, meanwhile, the "Movement for Happiness", which aims to increase happiness and decrease misery, will be launched by no lesser mortals than Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington School, Lord Layard, dubbed the Government's "Happiness Tsar", and Geoff Mulgan, a former Downing Street policy head.
The idea that happiness lies not in flashing the cash, but in modest living and giving something back to society has also been identified as an emerging trend by The Boston Consulting Group, management consultants, in a recent report entitled New World Order. An increased desire to connect with a community is also part of the new movement, with growing numbers keen to join clubs and churches, or get involved in volunteer work. These activities are thought to offer a stable network which in turn promotes happiness. The charity Community Service Volunteers has reported a rise in all types of volunteering: the number of people mentoring young people in care doubled from 2007 to 2009, while the number of people taking part in environmental volunteering through the charity rose from 17,195 in 2008 to 20,333 in 2009.
However, while people may be keen to give their time to charity they are less keen to part with their cash. Charitable giving declined in the recession, from £10.6bn in 2007-08 to £9.9bn in 2008-09. However, a recent report from Merrill Lynch Capgemini's World Wealth Report showed that 41 per cent of Europeans planned to increase their charitable giving in 2010.
Increased interest in caring for the environment and spending more time outside are also an important part of the "new happiness".
"As a society, we hugely underplay the importance of natural environments on happiness. Not just the awe at a beautiful view, but the de-stressing effects," said Jody Aked, a researcher at the New Economics Foundation's Centre for Well-being.
In an attempt to better understand how people's feelings are affected by their immediate environment researchers from the London School of Economics will tomorrow launch a "mappiness" project, which aims to track British happiness. Using a free iPhone app, researchers will ask users how they feel at regular intervals, using GPS to pinpoint their location.
Although experts in the new science seem unified on the subject of what can help boost happiness – spending more time with friends and family, in pleasant natural environments, for example – some believe this change has yet to hit Britain.
...The Country would be growing, not The City.
