Casually Kristen

DENVER, Colorado — Finally, something positive to come from the pandemic! After reading the 2022 World Happiness Report, there are two notable takeaways:

1. The United States is happier than years prior.
2. There has been remarkable growth worldwide in all three acts of kindness monitored in the poll– helping strangers, volunteering, and donations.

Now ain’t that something to be proud of! Let’s dive in.

First and foremost, the report was just published days ago, put together by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using data from the Gallup World Poll. This year’s report, the tenth anniversary of the survey, collected responses from approximately 1,000 respondents in each of the 156 countries that participate.

As for the United States, out of those 156 countries, we are officially the 16th most happy. That’s an increase of three spots from last year’s ranking, which came in at 19th place.

How is this possible? I’m glad you asked! Researchers ranked countries based on the respondent’s answers to the following questions: Dystopia, perceptions of corruption, generosity, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancies, social support, and GDP per capita.

Though the coronavirus pandemic has certainly challenged many of those areas, the study authors report that there has also been an increase in support that people show for each other, and in expressions of benevolence.

“This surge of benevolence… provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need.”

Economist John Helliwell

“We found during 2021 remarkable worldwide growth in all three acts of kindness monitored in the Gallup World Poll,” says economist John Helliwell from the University of British Columbia in Canada, “Helping strangers, volunteering, and donations in 2021 were strongly up in every part of the world, reaching levels almost 25 percent above their pre-pandemic prevalence. This surge of benevolence, which was especially great for the helping of strangers, provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need, creating in the process more happiness for the beneficiaries, good examples for others to follow, and better lives for themselves,” Helliwell says.

Life lesson: We can build good mental health by taking positive action to help others.

To read the full World Happiness Report, click here.