The Societal Determinants of Happiness and Unhappiness: Evidence From 152 Countries Over 15 Years

What makes people (un)happy? From the macro viewpoint, this study investigates the societal determinants of average life satisfaction (LS), the percentage of thriving/suffering people, and positive/negative affect collectively experienced in a society. Using the aggregate-level panel data for 152 economies over 15 years, country-fixed effects regressions reveal (1) the marginal effect of economic growth is likely to be smaller in affluent countries; (2) generosity predicts higher LS and positive affect heterogeneously across macroeconomic standards; (3) social support is substantially linked to both happiness and unhappiness worldwide; (4) freedom of choice predicts the lower risk of suffering and the higher chances of thriving and positive affect, especially in advanced economies; (5) longer healthy life expectancy is associated with the higher frequency of encountering negative affect; and (6) corruption negatively predicts happiness, particularly in the richest country group. These findings advance the socioeconomics of (un)happiness and relevant policy toward human flourishing.