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Being Kind–and Believing Others are Kind–Makes you Happier Than Wealth: Happiness Report Ranks 150 Countries
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Good News Network
Posted: April 7th, 2025
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/being-kind-and-believing-oth...
Believing that a wallet will be returned if dropped in public is one of the most important indicators of well being and happiness. In fact, it’s 7 times more impactful that doubling your income, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 just released this week. Jeffrey Sachs conceived of the report that would measure wellness in 2012 and Gallup began interviewing people in 150 countries, and compiling those comparisons every year. While analyzing the results for 2024, the researchers found that belief in the kindness of others is much more closely tied to peoples’ happiness than previously thought. For instance, evidence across the world from the perceived—and actual—return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to the reality. The actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect. Believing that others are willing to return your lost wallet is shown to be a strong predictor of population happiness—and the Nordic nations once again top the ranking of the world’s happiest countries. They also rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets. “Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others,” said Lara Aknin, a professor of social psychology and one of the report’s editors. “Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness.”
Note: Explore more positive stories like this on healing social division.
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