Happiness is over-rated according to Martin Seligman, the grandfather of positive psychology. This might be a bit of a shock as his book “Authentic Happiness” was influential in persuading influential people that the government should start measuring happiness and well-being. In his latest book “Flourish” he says he got it wrong promoting happiness as it was [...]
Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is proposing that trainee teachers will only be allowed to take their numeracy and literacy test three times. At present there is no limit on the number of times the tests can be taken. In my view the misguided philosophy of endless retakes undermines the whole point of exams and [...]
If you want to know which country to live in to enjoy life more go to the OECD better life index. They have identified 11 key factors such as health, education, earnings, and sense of community. You can decide how important these are to you. After I’d scored my choices and pushed the buttons it [...]
Last June I posted about the outcomes that might be expected for South Africa or any country that hosted a large international competition like the World Cup or the Olympics. The evidence from economists was that people would be happier – but only for about a year after the event and psychiatrists were concerned that there [...]
When you first sit down to write a blog you hope people are going to want to read it – unless you plan it as a private journal where you can unburden yourself or have a rant at the world (OK so occasionally I have a rant too). So it’s great for me that so [...]
David Cameron says a government’s actions could make people “feel better as well as worse” and it was “high time” to recognise that GDP was an “incomplete way” of measuring the country’s progress. He confirmed that the government was asking the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to devise ways of measuring wellbeing in addition to tracking [...]
Although Finland won 1st place in “best country in the world” category their Nordic neighbours Denmark did come 1st in Wikipedia’s 2006 “satisfaction with life” study which asked people how satisfied they were. Finland ranked 6th, just ahead of Sweden, and Switzerland came second in both surveys. The USA came 23rd and we came a measly 41st, behind Germany [...]
Over the years I have experienced some poor customer service – and not all of it in the former soviet republics (“service without a smile”). Some of the best has been in the USA – and not the “have a good day” or “missing you already” stuff, but the fact that even in a basic [...]
Despite what England fans might feel right now football competitions can make you happy as I said in an earlier post – but only in the short-term – and only if you are the host country. But even that doesn’t make you as happy as a good marriage. Married people are happier than single people (it could be [...]
Football can make people happier. Two economists tried but failed to prove that football was good for a country’s economy. But when they looked at national pride and happiness they got better results. They looked for changes in life satisfaction in 12 European countries over 30 years up to 2004, and especially looked at [...]
