World Happiness Report 2023 39 The variables we use in our Table 2.1 modelling may be taking credit properly due to other variables, or to unmeasured factors. There are also likely to be vicious or virtuous circles, with two-way linkages among the variables. For example, there is much evidence that those who have happier lives are likely to live longer, and be more trusting, more cooperative, and generally better able to meet life’s demands.15 This will double back to improve health, income, generosity, corruption, and a sense of freedom. Chapter 4 of this report highlights the importance of twoway linkages between altruism and subjective well-being. Another possible reason for a cautious interpretation of our results is that some of the data come Box 2.2: Detailed information about each of the predictors in Table 2.1 1. G DP per capita is in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) adjusted to constant 2017 international dollars, taken from the World Development Indicators (WDI) by the World Bank (version 17, metadata last updated on January 22, 2023). See Statistical Appendix 1 for more details. GDP data for 2022 are not yet available, so we extend the GDP time series from 2021 to 2022 using country-specific forecasts of real GDP growth from the OECD Economic Outlook No. 112 (November 2022) or, if missing, from the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (last updated: January 10, 2023), after adjustment for population growth. The equation uses the natural log of GDP per capita, as this form fits the data significantly better than GDP per capita. 2. T he time series for healthy life expectancy at birth are constructed based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory data repository, with data available for 2005, 2010, 2015, 2016, and 2019. To match this report’s sample period (2005-2022), interpolation and extrapolation are used. See Statistical Appendix 1 for more details. 3. S ocial support is the national average of the binary responses (0=no, 1=yes) to the Gallup World Poll (GWP) question “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?” 4. F reedom to make life choices is the national average of binary responses to the GWP question “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?” 5. G enerosity is the residual of regressing the national average of GWP responses to the donation question “Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?” on log GDP per capita. 6. P erceptions of corruption are the average of binary answers to two GWP questions: “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?” and “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?” Where data for government corruption are missing, the perception of business corruption is used as the overall corruption- perception measure. 7. P ositive affect is defined as the average of previous-day affect measures for laughter, enjoyment, and interest. The inclusion of interest (first added for World Happiness Report 2022), gives us three components in each of positive and negative affect, and slightly improves the equation fit in column 4. The general form for the affect questions is: Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? See Statistical Appendix 1 for more details. 8. N egative affect is defined as the average of previous-day affect measures for worry, sadness, and anger.
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