Bhutan Happiness Index: Buddhist Country Fails On Its 'Gross National Happiness' (GNH)

By Vishal Arora
Religion News Service

THIMPHU, Bhutan (RNS) In a country that prides itself on measuring quality of life in terms of "Gross National Happiness," this small Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas seems to have a problem: at least half its citizens aren't happy, according to its own measurements.

While more than 90 percent of the 7,142 respondents said they were "happy" in a recent government survey, only 49 percent of people fit the official definition of total happiness by meeting at least six of the survey's nine criteria.

Bhutan's fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, coined the phrase GNH in 1972 on the belief that people's happiness did not depend on the nation's economic wealth alone.

GNH indicators -- as opposed to more traditional measures like a nation's gross domestic product based on economic activity -- recognize nine components of happiness: psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use, community vitality and good governance.

Many of the GNH indicators find their roots in Buddhism. Psychological well-being, for example, includes measures of meditation, prayer, nonviolence, and reincarnation.

The country's GNH secretary, Karma Tshiteem, said Buddhism is key to people's happiness. About three-quarters of Bhutan's roughly 700,000 people are Buddhists.

In the recent survey by the Center for Bhutan Studies, 51 percent of Bhutanese were found to be "not yet happy."

"Most youth of my age are confused, they are living each day as it comes, having no idea about GNH, no idea about religion and customs that have been passed on," said 24-year-old Princess Yiwang Pindarica, a cousin of Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. "I think they say they are happy because they do not dig deep when they say 'yes.'"

Tshiteem, who oversees the government's GNH Commission, said the GNH index ensures that people's well-being reflects "the strong spiritual character of our Bhutanese culture."

"It is well proven that happiness is largely a state of the mind," he said. Thanks to the GNH philosophy, he added, Bhutan had conserved its environment, cultures and traditions despite more than half a century of modernization.

Namgay Zam, an anchor from state-owned broadcaster Bhutan Broadcasting Service, said the government's emphasis on happiness may get the landlocked nation only so far.

"Bhutanese generally are very content people, resigned to their fates due to their belief in karma," she said. "They simply don't ask for more."

Comments

[frharry]

11:31 AM on 10/19/2012

"In the recent survey by the Center for Bhutan Studies, 51 percent of Bhutanese were found to be 'not yet happy.'"

Note, this is a very different assessment from the headline which smugly declares that the GNH campaign in Bhutan has failed. The survey results suggest 1. it's still in progress, and 2. that people are still seeking its ultimate success.

I think the 9 components of happiness have much to teach us in the west.

[traveller22]

05:47 PM on 08/28/2012

The headline "Bhuddist country fails" rather misses the point. Bhutan is measuring happiness, and is promoting the concept that measurement of happiness is valuable. It is not claiming to be the highest country in this parameter. Bhutan measures "happiness" (perhaps better translated as "well-being" or "life-satisfaction") and then examines the data to see where (geographically, by occupation, income, etc.) to focus policy in the future to work to improve the happiness index.
This is a very important concept: that "happiness" is a key parameter which is a more important end-goal than financial measures such as GNP. Obviously, the way "happiness" is measured is a challenging issue, and one that will evolve over time and place.

[floresislander]

04:05 PM on 05/23/2012

I was in Argentina and noticed how pretty the guys were there!!! That mixture of Spanish/Italian/German/Irish produced so many beautiful boys........That made me happy

[special38x2]

12:30 AM on 03/22/2012

Those are awesome criteria for happiness, how many points did you all score?

[raker]

11:04 PM on 03/11/2012

I visited Bhutan a few years ago. Beautiful country. But everywhere we went the people looked downcast. They seemed sad, and I felt sad for them.

[JayMonaco]

04:51 PM on 03/09/2012

Bhutan still rocks.

[TomMartin]

04:29 AM on 03/09/2012

If 90% are happy in spite of bad health, living standards etc., that is very high. Hardly any country reaches that high.

[shylove2]

08:56 PM on 03/06/2012

There is only so much happiness possible when the rest of the world in embroiled in wars of aggression... the collective consciousness of all people on earth are affected. Similarly with the environemtnsal damages and poisoning of our planet as well as over-population, famine, disease so it is impossible to have a high index and it can only be a relataive measure... Mother Earth has a declining gross planetary happiness idex too.