New Zealand Does Its Own Happiness Study

A sheep on a quest to Mordor. From Wicked Campers.

Continuing the theme from yesterday, the New Zealand Herald reports that New Zealand has published its own national happiness study. The 18-month study, entitled "Working Towards Higher Living Standards for New Zealanders," says, "Treasury's role as a central agency with oversight over all significant policy issues across the state sector has also led it to acknowledge that living standards are broader than income alone, and are determined by a wide range of material and non-material factors."

Ross McDonald, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School, says that he hopes the study will provide good advice to politicians. For instance, the study could lessen the move toward increasing work hours. "We've got to get out of the mindset that sees growing economies as our ultimate purpose in life," he says.

The news story doesn't go into detail about how New Zealand conducted this study, but if it's anything like other Gross National Happiness measures, they probably sent out thousands of questionnaires to citizens, asking them about their life satisfaction. As always, click on my Gross National Happiness tag to see all the other countries that are into this sort of thing, and which ones are holding out.

New "International Journal of Wellbeing" Offers Articles on Happiness

From the International Journal of Wellbeing.

Ahh, doesn't the Super Bowl put you in the mood to curl up and read a new scientific journal? Well, you may be in luck. Today the Wellington.Scoop reports on the launch of a new online research journal that specializes in positive psychology. The journal--founded by Dan Weijers of the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand--is called the International Journal of Wellbeing.

Aaron Jarden, co-founder of the journal and president of the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology, says the IJW is a natural extension of the International Wellbeing Study, which is being conducted by around 70 researchers worldwide. The journal's editorial board consists of around 50 top researchers on four continents.

The founders hope to affect positive change around the world, especially with the recent crop of Gross National Happiness laws. As Weijers says, "...policymakers are increasingly being asked to take various aspects of wellbeing into account when making new policies. Since the journal is open access and accessibly written, policymakers from all over the world will be able to gain deeper insight into what promotes wellbeing so that society is able to flourish."

The journal already boasts papers from "father of positive psychology" Martin Seligman and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. All articles are free to view and download, so check it out!