International happiness day - try these free research resources

International Day of Happiness is celebrated on the 20th March

Research happiness using our free resources


Where are the world's happiest places?

World Happiness Report 2018, ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels. the 2019 report is due to be launched on the 20th March Download the data and consult the methodology on the website.


Does social media make you happy or unhappy?

This week the All-Party Group All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Inquiry: “Managing the Impact of Social Media on Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing” called for safeguards but their surveys also found that two thirds of those answering found social media useful for sourcing health information

Research scientific/ medical articles on this topic using PubMed or use PsycNET from the American Psychological Association to find references to psychology materials. If you are linked to a local/ university library remember to check if they have full text access.

How can you measure happiness?

The OECD has discussed methodology (in terms of OECD nations) in a number of its reports.

this includes the very interesting

How Was Life? Global Well-being since 1820 - which covers 25 nations.

they have also developed the Better Life Index- which compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life.

UK government official measures of national well being and satisfaction. See the 2018 National Well being Index


Other well known measures include:

Happy Planet Index

This index from the UK based think-tank the The New Economics Foundation measures 3 components of sustainable well-being - life expectancy, experienced well-being and ecological footprint.

Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research's works on Gross National Happiness. relates to public agendas in Bhutan


World Database of Happiness research from Rotterdam University has a bibliography and searchable database of more articles and reports on all aspects of the topic of Happiness