Denmark: Happiest lige nu!

This is an absolutely wonderful (and fun to read) article in the BMJ that a short review in today's NY Times does not do full justice to.

The article explains why the 5.4 million Danes have consistently ranked as happiest Europeans for more than 30 years, on Eurobarometer surveys (they also rank first on the latest World Map of Happiness). The possible hypotheses explored are the following (in italics those that are not found to be relevant, in bold those that seem to have explanatory power- kept at the end). Paraphrasing or quoting from the text of the article:

• hair colour: it may indeed be the case that "blondes have more fun". Not really working, since Sweden has a higher prevalence of blondes, but seemingly they are significantly unhappier than the Danish ones...
• genes: genetic factors might influence differences in life satisfaction within a country. Neah, genotypes in Sweden are similar to those in Denmark (since most Swedes were Danes until the 17th century)
• food: truly unmemorable (potatoes, gravy, pork; hotdogs, hamburgers, Baltic-style pizzas; I would add cucumbers and patté), but similar to food from Switzerland and Austria, second and third happiest nations according to the World Map of Happiness. So 'comfort foods' might have a positive effect for life satisfaction. The authors do not regard it though as an essential factor, perhaps because other countries with similar, 'unmemorable', food sorts are not that happy... BTW, this is a very good point also vis-a-vis the recent trans fats bans in most restaurants in NY, with more arguments against this regulation than the classic economic ones advocated by Gary Becker: don't make the Americans even less happy than they are :-).
• climate: somewhat colder and cloudier version of the UK weather. If anything, works against happiness; indeed, most Danes are far happier in spring than in autumn...
• native tongue: "tilfreds" apparently means "at peace". The BMJ article argues that this state contains satisfaction, so the puzzle cannot be in the language usage...
• alcohol and smoking: if anything, this also works against wellbeing, since the Danes are among those with the highest consumption per capita (however, according to the authors, a reviewer of the article suggested that one reason why Danes seem smug is that they were always drunk when participating in the Eurobarometer surveys: to be investigated :-)).
• marriage and children: not so clear, the authors claim: Denmark is no. 1 in Europe concerning the number of marriages but also leads in the number of divorces and the two have documented opposite effects on life satisfaction; similarly, children bring happiness and Denmark is among the European leaders in fertility; but some studies suggest that children beyond the first child decrease life satisfaction, especially for women.
• general health: again not very clear; according to self-reported health, Danes seem to be doing well, however when measured objectively they do poorer than many others in Europe (life expectancy for DK places the country 13th among the 15th 'old' EU countries)
• welfare state: Denmark ranks 1st on the income equality index, but Sweden ranks second and Danes are far happier than Swedes. A similar story regarding the level of Protestantism.
• exercise: many Danes do some sports and they also use bycicles a lot for transport (where they are closely related to the Dutch, but the latter ones rank below them in satisfaction). Not very clear in terms of importance relative to life satisfaction.
• prowess in sports: guidebooks to Denmark assert that winning the 1992 European Championship put Danes in such a state of euphoria that the country has not been the same since. This is one of the main explanations of the authors for the Danish euphoria. Now you know what Romania needs (a miracle, not Gigi Becali...).
• expectations for the coming year: it has been argued that great expectations of favourable life circumstances in the future should be associated with life satisfaction, but it the expectations are unrealistically high they could be the basis for dissapointment and low life satisfaction. The Danes have always had very low expectations for the next year compared to other Europeans. So, for my Romanian fellows: if you believe Romania will reach the current EU level in about 20 years, as our Government now claims, forget it: you will only get us very low in the happiness ranking in 20 years. Don't worry, be happy, but do it "lige nu" (see below).

So, all in all, what is the secret of the happiest nation (in the middle of which I live for more than a year now- unfortunately however, there don't seem to be significant spillovers of happiness...)? In the words of the authors,

Our analysis points to two explanatory factors. The Danish football triumph of 1992 has had a lasting impact. This victory arguably provided the biggest boost to the Danish psyche since the protracted history of Danish setbacks began with defeat in England in 1066, followed by the loss of Sweden, Norway, Northern Germany, the Danish West Indies, and Iceland. The satisfaction of the Danes, however, began well before 1992, albeit at a more moderate level. The key factor that explains this and that differentiates Danes from Swedes and Finns seems to be that Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the year to come. Year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark.

This finding is supported by Danish news coverage of the 2005 pronouncement by Ruut Veenhoven, Dutch Professor of Social Conditions for Happiness and head of the World Database of Happiness, that Danes are the world's happiest people. The headlines in Denmark ran: We're the happiest "lige nu." The phrase "lige nu," which can be translated literally as "just now," is a quintessentially Danish expression redolent, indeed reeking, of the sentiment "for the time being, but probably not for long and don't have any expectations it will last."