About happiness

Everything You Need To Know About Happiness In The World
关于幸福的一切

Unemployment can cause as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation, according to the World Happiness Report, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute and co-edited by Nobel laureate Jeffrey Sachs.
哥伦比亚大学地球研究所和诺贝尔奖获得者杰佛里·萨克斯日前共同发布了世界幸福报告。根据报告显示，失业造成的痛苦与丧失亲友或是分居程度相当。

The report found that the happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe with Denmark topping the list.
报告发现，世界上最幸福的国家都在北欧，其中丹麦位居第一。

Meanwhile the least happy countries are in the poor regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
同时，最不幸福的国家位于撒哈拉以南非洲的贫穷地区。

联合国首发全球幸福指数报告 丹麦居首中国排112位>>>

The report looks at how happiness is measured and examines some of its policy implications. We read through the groundbreaking report and pulled the most interesting findings about happiness.
该报告着眼于幸福的测量方式，并测试了一些幸福感的含义。我们通读了这份开创性的报告，并摘录出其中关于幸福最有意思的发现。

The happiest countries

The happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe
世界上最幸福的国家都在北欧

The happiest countries in the world namely Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Netherlands are all in Northern Europe. Their average life evaluation score is 7.6 on a scale from 0 to 10.
世界上最幸福的国家有丹麦、挪威、芬兰和荷兰，这些都是北欧国家。在0-10分范围内，这些国家的平均生活评估得分是7.6分。

The least happy countries

The least happy countries are all poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
最不幸福的国家都是位于撒哈拉以南非洲的贫穷国家

The least happy countries are all poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa namely Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone with average life evaluation scores of 3.4.
最不幸福的国家都是位于撒哈拉以南非洲的贫穷国家，包括多哥（西非国家）、贝宁、中非共和国和塞拉利昂，平均生活评估得分仅有3.4分。

Important things about happiness

But happiness is measured by more than money. Community, religion, and health play big roles
但是，幸福并不单单用金钱衡量，生活社区、宗教和健康状况也非常重要

The key external factors that determine happiness include income, work, community and governance, and values and religion.
决定幸福的关键外在因素包括：收入、工作、社区和管理、价值观和宗教信仰。

The personal features that determine happiness include mental health, physical health, family experience, education, and gender and age.
决定幸福的个人特质包括：心理健康、生理健康、家庭经历、教育、性别和年龄。

Sometime there is a two-way interaction between the determinant and happiness itself. For instance health affects happiness and conversely happiness affects health.
有时候，这些决定因素和幸福本身之间存在着一种双向互动。比如说健康会影响幸福感，那么反过来，幸福也让你变得更健康。

Income

Of course, Income is always a factor in explaining happiness, but it isn't the most important thing
当然，收入总是说明幸福与否的一个因素，但它不是最重要的指标

In 1974 Richard Easterlin wrote a seminal article which found that richer people are on average happier than poorer people (a cross-sectional fact) but that over time within different societies the population does not on average become happier when they country's income rises (a time-series fact). This came to be known as the Easterlin paradox.
1974年，理查德·伊斯特林写了一篇很有创意的文章，他发现富人通常比穷人幸福些（代表性事实），但是在不同的社会，随着时间流逝，当国家的收入提高时人们并不会随之感到更加幸福（时间序列事实）。这个就是我们熟知的伊斯特林悖论。

Income is not the most important factor in determining happiness.
收入不是决定幸福最重要的因素。

Relative income i.e. income relative to others of the same age, sex, education is the only one that matters when it comes to happiness. Absolute income is not that important.
相对性收入，也就是相对于同年龄、同性别、同教育水平的其他人的收入，这个才影响幸福。绝对收入并不重要。
 

Unemployment

Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as separation or bereavement
失业造成的痛苦与分居或丧失亲友程度相当

People experience a sharp drop in well-being when they are unemployed. Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation.
当人们丢了工作时，他们遭受着幸福感的急剧跌落。失业造成的痛苦与丧失亲友或分居程度相当。

High unemployment impacts the happiness not just on the families of the unemployed but also those in work who feel less secure in their jobs.
居高不下的失业率不仅仅影响失业家庭的幸福感，同样也影响着那些仍在岗位上但却对工作缺乏安全感的人们。

The quality of work is extremely important to happiness. Respondents from OECD countries were asked to rank eight different job characteristics on a five point scale from not at all important to very important. Only 20 percent of respondents from OECD countries said a high income is very important, 60 percent said job security is very important, while 50 percent said interest work is very important.
工作质量对于幸福的影响也极其重要。来自经济合作及发展组织国家的调查对象，要求他们在5分范围内从不重要到非常重要排出8个不同的影响幸福的工作特征，仅有20%的人认为高收入非常重要，60%的人认为工作安全非常重要，而50%的人认为工作兴趣最重要。

Increase happiness

Trust, freedom, equality and social interactions increase happiness
信任、自由、平等和社交互动能够提升幸福感

Individual happiness comes from a set of social interactions, and trust plays a huge role. In a well-functioning society there is a high level of trust between citizens and between institutions.
个人的快乐幸福来自于一系列的社交互动，在这其中信任起着重要作用。在一个运行良好的社会中，公民与制度之间存在着一个很高程度的信任。

Bonding capital i.e. people who are similar to one another and bridging capital i.e. people who are different impacts life satisfaction and happiness. "We want both - not only good social capital within communities but also good links between communities."
社会资本指的是很相似的一群人，而桥梁资本则指的是生活满意度和幸福感影响程度不同的人们。“我们两者都想要，不仅是需要团体内部的社会资本，也需要社会团体间良好的链接。”

Freedom is a key component to happiness.
自由是幸福的关键因素。

Equality plays a huge role in happiness because greater equality is associated with reduced social tensions, especially when the inequality is seen as unfair. Also, the value of extra income is greater for the rich than the poor.
在幸福感的影响因素中，平等也非常重要，因为较大程度的平等意味着社会紧张感的减少，特别是在不平等会等同于不公平的状态下。同样，额外收入对于富人的价值要比其对穷人的价值大。

Religious report

In countries where life is harder, those who are more religious report more positive emotions
在那些生活艰辛、人们宗教信仰更虔诚的国家，人们的正面情绪更多

About 68 percent of adults across the world say that religion is important in their daily lives. Religious belief and practice is more common in countries where life is harder. In the U.S. religious is belief is higher in states where life is harder.
全世界68%的人认为在他们的生活中宗教信仰很重要。在生活艰辛的国家中，宗教信仰和行为非常普遍。在美国生活艰辛的地区，宗教信仰程度也较高。

While there is no difference in life satisfaction between more and less religious countries, in countries where life is harder there is significantly more positive emotion and less negative emotion among those who are more religious.
虽然谈及生活满意度，宗教信仰多的国家和宗教信仰少的国家并没有多大差别，但在那些生活艰辛的国家里，更加虔诚的人们会散发更多的积极情绪和更少的消极情绪。

Values

Values, certain behaviors and the environment play important roles in happiness
在幸福感中，价值观、特定行为举止和环境也很重要

Many values taught by religion are reinforced by society through more secular systems. Altruism and kindness have shown happiness in both the giver and the receiver.
在许多宗教中灌输的价值观都被社会通过更加长期的制度体系加强完善了。利他主义和行善乐施的价值观会让赠与者和接受者都感觉幸福。

Most ethical systems also teach that material wealth should not be pursued beyond the point where it compromises other values. At a given level of income, people who cared more about their income were less happy with life overall.
大多数道德体系都会教导我们：追寻物质财富时，不能以牺牲其他价值观为代价。在某一特定收入水平上，更加在乎其收入的人们总体生活幸福感要少一些。

All other things equal, watching television is also associated with lower happiness. This is because its reduces social life and increases exposure to violence. But television can provide enjoyment and instruction.
其他所有因素重要程度相当，看电视会让人有较低的幸福感，这是因为看电视减少了社交生活，但增加了观看暴力场面的机会。但是电视同时让人很享受，也有指导意义。

The environment also plays a crucial part in happiness. Green spaces are associated with better health, performance and life satisfaction.
环境在影响幸福感中也至关重要。绿色的空间通常暗示着较好的身体状况、出色的表现和满意的生活。

Mental and physical health

Mental and physical health both have huge impacts on happiness
心理和生理健康都非常影响一个人幸福感

"Happiness depends crucially on personality, and personality is strongly affected by your genetic make-up." One important way in which in genes operate is through mental health.
“幸福感极其依赖于性格，而性格又受遗传基因性格影响颇深。” 心理健康是实现基因运转最重要的一种方式。

Those who are mentally ill as adolescents are more likely to experience low earnings, unemployment, criminal records, teenage pregnancy, physical illness and poor educational performance than others in the population.
那些在少年时候就有精神疾病的人更容易遭受低收入、失业、犯罪记录、少年妈妈、生理疾病和糟糕教育表现等境遇。

Panel data allows comparisons of the life-satisfaction of the same individuals before and after they become disabled. The impact effect of severe disability is estimated as being 0.6 points on the one to seven life satisfaction scale, and that of moderate disability as 0.4 points.
研究中的固定样本数据可以将同一个人在残疾前后对生活的满意度进行对比。严重残疾的影响作用对生活满意度有着非常大的影响：在0-7分范围的中只得到0.6分，中度残疾为0.4分。

Adaptation to disability also impacts life-satisfaction, and someone who has been disabled for all of the past three years is less affected than someone who is recently disabled.
对于残疾的适应力也影响着生活满意度，残疾有3年的人比刚刚遭遇残疾的人所受到影响要小。

Children

Having children is no guarantee of happiness
有孩子并不能确保幸福

Being married rather than single, divorced or widowed is strongly associated with higher self-declared happiness. In most countries married people are happier with their life than those who cohabit with a partner.
结婚的人比单身、离异或者丧偶能感受到更多的自我幸福感。在大多数国家，已婚人士比那些未婚同居的人们生活幸福感更强烈。

Studies have shown that individuals who are already happier when they are young have a higher probability of becoming and remaining married. And getting married also boosts happiness if only for some years. But leisure and social activities of one's spouse can reduce life satisfaction in the other spouse.
研究显示，一个年轻时就比较幸福的人走进婚姻殿堂和保持美满婚姻的可能性较大。结婚会增加幸福感，哪怕只是几年的婚姻生活。但是一方配偶的闲暇和社会活动却会减少另一方的生活满意度。

Life satisfaction is said to peak in the years before and after marriage. For those who never get divorced, happiness is permanently higher than before they were married.
生活满意度在婚前和婚后会达到一个顶峰。对于那些从未离婚的夫妻来说，幸福感永远高于他们结婚前。

Moreover having children is no guarantee of higher happiness.
此外，有孩子并不能确保更高的幸福感。

Education

Education indirectly affects happiness through higher income and better healthcare
教育因为可以带来更高的收入和更好的医疗保健，从而直接影响幸福感

Education is indirectly related to happiness because it increases income and income increases happiness. Longer years of education are associated with increased employability and job security.
教育与幸福感直接相关联，因为教育会提高收入，而收入又会提高幸福感。较长的受教育年限能增加就业能力，保障职业安全感。

The direct effect of education on happiness is mixed and varies between countries.
在不同的国家，教育对于幸福感的直接作用也不同。

Women

In most developed countries women are happier than men
在大多数发达国家，女人比男人幸福

In most advanced countries, women report higher life satisfaction and happiness than men. But the results are smaller or reversed in non-industrial countries.
在大多数发达国家，女人比男人拥有更高的生活满意度和幸福感。但是，在非工业国家这个结论差距会缩小甚至颠倒过来。

Women are happier in countries where gender rights are equal.
在性别权利平等的国家里女性更幸福。