World Happiness Report 2023 19 happier people are more likely to help others is also shown in Chapter 4 of this Report, and elsewhere.9 And in Prisoner’s Dilemma games in laboratories, it has been shown that when people choose to behave cooperatively, they experience increased activity in the reward centres of the brain.10 But virtue is not always and necessarily rewarding. For example, some full-time voluntary caregivers (looking after vulnerable children or elderly parents) have quite low life satisfaction.11 Thus, when we look at individuals, life satisfaction and eudaimonia are not identical. We need, for example, special institutions to support the hard work of caregivers. Caregiving is rewarding but also difficult and painful and needs social support. The general policy point remains, however. We should train individuals in virtue and eudaimonia – both for their own sake and that of others. The central task of institutions is to promote the behaviours and conditions of all kinds which are conducive to happiness. But before we come to institutions and research, there are two other fundamental issues of principle. The first is the distribution of happiness – as compared with its average level. Unlike the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, we do not think the average level of happiness (or the simple sum of happiness, per person) is all that matters. We should care about the distribution of happiness and be happier when misery can be relieved. Most ethical systems emphasise that the world (and “creation”) is for everybody, not merely for the lucky, the rich, or the favoured. One obvious step in this direction is to guarantee minimum human rights (including food, shelter, freedom, and civil rights). Thus the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights12 is an integral component of the happiness agenda. Without such basic human rights, there would today be many more people living in misery. Yet the agenda of the Universal Declaration is still far from fulfilled, and its realisation remains a central task of our time. A second issue is equally vital: the well-being of future generations. In most ethical systems, and from the happiness perspective, happiness matters for everybody across the world and across generations. Today’s decisions should give due weight to the well-being of future generations and our own. In technical terms, the discount rate used to compare the circumstances across generations should be very low, and indeed much below the discount rates typically used by economists. Future well-being must be given its due. For this reason, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)13 are also a vital component of the happiness agenda. In short, the interests of others (human rights) and of a sustainable environment (SDGs) are integral to happy lives rather than something that is either additional or in conflict with them. Priorities for Institutions Thus, there is now the potential for a real well-being revolution, that is, a broad advance in human well-being achieved by deploying our knowledge, technologies, and ethical perspectives. The appetite for such an advance is growing, and the knowledge base of how to promote human well-being is exploding. Based on what we have learned from the life evaluations of millions of survey respondents around the globe, we now more clearly understand the key factors at work. To explain the differences in well-being around the world, both within and among countries, the key factors include14 physical and mental health human relationships (in the family, at work and in the community), income and employment character virtues, including pro-sociality and trust social support personal freedom lack of corruption, and effective government Being virtuous generally makes people feel better… But virtue is not always rewarding.
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