關注社會:世界各國幸福指數大排名
1. 丹麥(Denmark) - 4.24
2. 波多黎各(Puerto Rico) - 4.21
3. 哥倫比亞(Colombia) - 4.18
4. 冰島(Iceland) - 4.15
5. 北愛爾蘭(N Ireland) - 4.13
6. 愛爾蘭(Ireland)- 4.12
7. 瑞士(Switzerland)- 3.96
8. 荷蘭(Netherlands)- 3.77
9. 加拿大(Canada) - 3.76
10. 奧地利(Austria) - 3.68
……
16. 美國(U.S.A) - 3.55
……
43. 日本(Japan) - 2.24
……
48. 臺灣(Taiwan) - 1.83
49. 德國(Germany)- 1.78
……
54. 中國(China) - 1.64
……
63. 香港(Hongkong) - 1.16
……
97. 津巴布韋(Zimbabwe) - 1.92
People in most countries around the world are happier these days, according to newly released data from the World Values Survey based at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
密歇根大學社會研究所世界價值觀調查項目的最新數據表明，世界上大多數國家的人近來都感覺比從前更幸福。
Data from representative national surveys conducted from 1981 to 2007 show the happiness index rose in an overwhelming majority of nations studied.
自1981年至2007年，在國家範圍內進行的各種有代表性的相關調查也顯示出絕大多數目標調查國的國民幸福指數都有所提高。
"It's a surprising finding," said U-M political scientist Ronald Inglehart, who directs the World Values Surveys and is the lead author of an article on the topic to be published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. "It's widely believed that it's almost impossible to raise an entire country's happiness level."
“這是個令人驚訝的發現，人們普遍認爲要提高一個國家的國民幸福水平幾乎是不可能的。”世界價值觀調查項目的主持者、密歇根大學政治學家羅納德·英格哈特說——他還是在《心理學探新》雜誌上的一篇相關文章的第一作者。
The 2007 wave of the surveys also provides a ranking of 97 nations containing 90 percent of the world's population. The results indicate that Denmark is the happpiest nation in the world.
2007年的社會調查浪潮還提供了一份包含97個國家的國民幸福水平排名，這些國家的人口占世界人口的90%。排名結果顯示，丹麥是世界上最幸福的國家。
During the past 26 years, the World Values Surveys have asked more than 350,000 people how happy they are, using the same two questions.
在過去的26年裏，世界價值觀調查項目用下面這兩個問題來調查人們的幸福程度（他們一共詢問過35萬多人）：
"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"
“總體來說，你認爲你的生活很幸福、幸福、不怎麼幸福，還是一點兒也不幸福？”以及“總體來說，你對你近期的生活是否滿意？”
Combining responses to these two questions, Inglehart and colleagues constructed an index of subjective well-being that reflects both happiness and general life satisfaction.
英格哈特和他的同事們將人們對這兩個問題的回答綜合起來，建立起一套能夠反映幸福程度和對整體生活滿意度的主觀幸福指數。
In the 52 countries for which a substantial time series is available (covering 17 years on average), this index rose in 40 countries and fell in only 12. The average percentage of people who said they were "very happy" increased by almost seven points.
在52個國家進行的持續性調查（平均爲17年）中，這個指數在40個國家中有所增長，只在12個國家中顯示出下降。認爲自己“很幸福”的人平均增加了近7個百分點。
"Most earlier research has suggested that happiness levels are stable," Inglehart said. "Important events like winning the lottery or learning you have cancer can lead to short-term changes, but in the long run most previous research suggests that people and nations are stuck on a 'hedonic treadmill.' The belief has been that no matter what happens or what we do, basic happiness levels are stable and don't really change."
“以前的大多數調查都表明人們的幸福水平是比較穩定的，”英格哈特說，“中彩票或是得知自己身患癌症這樣的重大事件可能會給人的幸福感帶來短時間的改變，但之前的大多數相關調查都表明，從長遠來看，無論個人還是民族都會陷在“快樂水車”的現象中。人們一直認爲，無論我們遇到什麼事情，基本的幸福水平是相當穩定的，並不會發生真正的改變。”
The new findings from the World Values Surveys not only show that during the past 25 years, happiness has in fact risen substantially in most countries. Fully as important as the fact that happiness rose is the reason why. In recent decades, some countries with a large population, such as India and China, have experienced unprecedented rates of economic growth, and there has been a sharp rise of gender equality and social harmony.
世界價值觀調查項目的新發現不僅表明在過去的25年中，大多數國家的人實際上都比從前幸福了許多；與幸福水平提高這一現象同樣重要的是：爲什麼會這樣？在近幾十年中，一些像印度和中國這樣人口衆多的國家經歷了前所未有的快速經濟增長，同樣兩性平等問題也有較大改觀，社會呈現和諧的局面。
Economic growth and rising social harmony have all contributed to rising happiness, with the later having even more impact than economic growth. All of these changes have contributed to providing people with a wider range of choice in how to live their lives--which is a key factor in happiness.
經濟增長及社會和諧度提高都會提高國民幸福水平，而後者的影響更甚於前者。所有這些變化都爲人們提供了更爲廣泛的選擇，讓他們能夠過上自己想要的生活——這對幸福至關重要。
"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said.
“調查結果明確顯示，人們在那些能夠自由選擇生活方式的社會中感到最愉悅。”英格哈特說。
As an example, Inglehart points to the tolerant social norms systems in Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada all of which rank among the 10 happiest countries in the world.
英格哈特列舉了丹麥、冰島、瑞士、荷蘭和加拿大等國寬容的社會規範作爲例子，這些國家都位列最幸福國家的前十名。
"The events of the past 25 years have brought a growing sense of freedom that seems to be even more important than economic development in contributing to rising happiness," Inglehart said. "Moreover, the most effective way to maximize happiness seems to change with rising levels of economic development. In subsistence-level societies, happiness is closely linked with in-group solidarity and national pride. At higher levels of economic security, free choice has the largest impact on happiness."
“過去25年中發生的一切讓人們對自由愈發重視，在幸福水平的提高過程中，自由似乎發揮了比經濟增長更重要的作用。”英格哈特說，“此外，最大程度地提高國民幸福水平的最有效途徑似乎也在隨着經濟的發展而改變。在僅能維持生存基準的社會中，幸福水平與羣體團結和國家榮譽緊密相關。在經濟安全程度較高的社會中，自由選擇的權利對人們快樂與否影響最大。”
Comparing World Values Survey data from 1981 to 2007 with earlier data from 1946 from the World Database of Happiness, Inglehart and colleagues found that 19 of 24 countries show rising happiness and several counties--India, Ireland, Mexico, Pueto Rico and South Korea--show steeply rising trends.
英格哈特和他的同事們將1981年至2007年世界價值觀調查項目取得的數據與世界幸福水平數據庫中1946年以來的調查數據進行了比較，發現被比較的24個國家中有19個顯示出幸福水平提高，有幾個國家——印度、愛爾蘭、墨西哥、波多黎各和韓國——呈現出幸福水平顯著提高的趨勢。
