| Abstract: |
This paper raises the issue whether public policy should focus on minimizing
unhappiness rather than maximizing happiness. Using a cross-sectional
multi-country dataset with 57 thousand observations from 29 European
countries, we show that unhappiness varies a great deal more across social
groups than (high levels of) happiness does. Our findings are robust to
several alternative specifications, using both self-reported life satisfaction
and self-reported happiness, and different cut-off points for defining
unhappiness (dissatisfaction) and high levels of happiness (satisfaction).
While misery appears to strongly relate to broad social issues (such as
unemployment, poverty, social isolation), bliss might be more of a private
matter, with individual strategies and attitudes, hidden from the eye of a
policy-maker. The social cost of unhappiness may be also reflected in the
immense cost of mental health problems. Preventing avoidable unhappiness,
however, needs to be complemented with other strategies for promoting
happiness, perhaps on a more decentralized level, given the different causes
of bliss and that of misery. |