KEY POINTS:
Their climate is a cause for despair and their high tax rates would be a turn-off to most, but the people of Denmark have found a happiness elixir.
That, at least, is the conclusion of two studies published this year. The first, by Leicester University researchers, proclaimed the Scandinavian nation the happiest in the world, and now that finding has been echoed by the United States Government-funded World Values Survey.
In the latter, New Zealand finished 15th, a respectable if not resounding rating that, at least, made it a happier place than the US, Australia and Britain.
Why Denmark? The study director, Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, points to its prosperity, democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere.
Yet New Zealand, to a fairly large degree, shares the same attributes. Why, then, are New Zealanders not as happy as the Danes? The answer may lie in the Danes' more modest expectations of life, allied to their willingness to acknowledge what they have and cherish it. They expect less and, therefore, are apt to appreciate what they have.
Perhaps that also explains the relatively modest position occupied by the United States. Americans are prosperous and their country also ranks relatively well in social equality and political freedom. But they strive to achieve many things. Their expectations are high, and their lives can become cluttered and complicated. It seems that a failure to achieve success in all these pursuits erodes the happiness quotient.
The surveys' main conclusion is that the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives. This is the more relevant given that last-placed of the 52 countries analysed is Zimbabwe. Prosperity, democracy and peace have become alien concepts there as Robert Mugabe's thuggish regime clings to power.
Four countries only slightly happier than Zimbabwe - Armenia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine - are all former republics of the Soviet Union. According to the research, which has been ongoing since 1981, the sense of wellbeing of their people dipped with the collapse of communism, presumably because of their perceived loss of cradle-to-grave state protection. It has risen again, albeit from a very low base, with economic recovery.
The study, in fact, proves a rejoinder to those who claim money cannot help to buy happiness. People of rich countries tend to be happier than those of poor countries.
The researchers also found that, globally, happiness had risen substantially, thanks in no small part to unprecedented economic growth in low-income countries such as China and India. Money that lifts people out of poverty prompts a sense of wellbeing.
Other factors have helped this global trend. Many medium-income nations have become democracies, and there has been a sharp rise of gender equality and tolerance of minorities in developed societies.
According to the study, democratisation and rising tolerance have more impact than economic growth. But, when stacked together, all three provide people with a wider range of choice in how to live their lives. They become genuinely and perpetually happy. This is not the short-term joy produced by crass consumerism or winning Lotto but a more deep-seated contentment.
All this will not exactly enchant those who decry the diminution of traditional values or predict societal disintegration. They perceive only unhappiness. Nor will it impress those who romanticise poverty. Doubtless, they will say too broad a brush has been applied.
Even if this is so, it remains impossible to overlook the message about the importance of freedom of choice.
It is one for all seasons, and for all countries.
