The Recipe for Happiness and Wellbeing

A STUDY CONDUCTED BY BOCCONI CERMES RESEARCHERS GOES BEYOND THE QUANTITATIVE APPROACH BY LOOKING INTO PERSONAL INDICATORS CORRELATED WITH QUALITY OF LIFE BUT UNCORRELATED WITH ECONOMIC INDICATORS

by Elena Bellio and Luca Buccoliero, Dept. of Marketing, Bocconi


The search for happiness has dominated the history of Western philosophy and guides human behavior and cultural values around the world. The concept of happiness itself can refer to mental states and social situations that are very different in nature and duration. However, the determinants of well-being are many, so that material consumption cannot be considered the overarching factor in determining happiness.

A recent study by the CERMES research center of the Bocconi Department of Marketing reveals interesting insights for the socio-economic study of happiness. Together with our co-authors Enrico Valdani and Giulia Crestini, we have investigated the impacts of different factors on an individual’s subjective happiness. The research study was carried out by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) of 417 respondents scattered across all Italian provinces.

The study had the objective of going beyond measurement of average happiness in a given territory, normally measured with the aid of secondary quantitative indicators (for example GDP per capita, health standards and life expectancy, state of infrastructure, justice and security, etc.). We have tried to look into the more subjective and personal dimensions of happiness, including detection of the individual’s psychological and spiritual well-being.

In fact, the elements that are not strictly related to the economic sphere end up playing a fundamental role in determining subjective happiness. In particular, the variables that most increase the level of happiness are: social support (or the intensity of ties in family and friendship networks), self-realization (the perception of having achieved one's goals in life), the quality of emotional relationships, and the fulfillment of religious and spiritual needs.
 
Financial tranquility also plays an important role, but only when combined with these other factors. Perhaps due to this reason, the research study does not highlight any significant subjective happiness differential between richer and poorer regions (for example, between Northern Italy and Southern Italy).

With cluster analysis, we have identified and profiled five distinct groups, each showing significant internal homogeneity of values and behavior: in particular, the groups that demonstrate the highest levels of happiness are those who are more attached to traditions and where religious sentiment is more intense and rooted, as well as those attentive to the relationship with and quality of the surrounding environment. On the contrary, clusters of individuals were more focused on more immanent and material aspects of life seem to attain lower levels of happiness.

Furthermore, the study also included an analysis of life risks that are most acutely felt by respondents. The most cited is health risk followed by being able to maintain a given standard of living over time. Regarding the latter, the under-35 generation expresses the highest level of concern, since the risk of unemployment disproportionately falls on this cohort. There is also a direct correlation between the degree of religiosity of respondents and levels of concern reported. However, a high degree of religiosity leads to a perceived risk having lower impact on happiness.

The study highlights interesting cues for further research into the causal factors behind subjective perceptions of happiness, especially with reference to variables other than material abundance. In this sense, religious identity and attachment to traditions seem to play in important role in subjective well-being.