If you guessed China followed by North Korea, then you were right. What, you expected Norway or Holland, Greece or even Brazil to be at the top. Of course you didn’t expect the US to be at the top of this list because we just aren’t happy people. (Please note a hint of sarcasm there.) Here is a look at the Happiness Index rankings:
Top 5
1. China
2. North Korea
3. Cuba
4. Iran
5. Venezuela
Notables
152. South Korea
203. United States
(Note: Israel was not ranked.)
What, the US came in dead last! How did that happen? That is a very good question. I guess you need to have a dictator and lack personal freedom to score well on this survey.
I bring this to your attention as a reminder that when looking at research studies, you need to look beyond the news glitz and behind the scenes at who is sponsoring the research and how the study was conducted. In this case, the Global Happiness Index was released by North Korea’s Chosun Central Television. The problem here is the general population is still waiting to learn what criteria they used for this survey. Just a good reminder that you can’t always believe the headlines and to use good judgement when reviewing new information. Now it’s off to go be happy with being #203!