Happiness and Health

Happiness And Health: Lessons—And Questions—For Public PolicyCarol Graham
PROLOGUE: Throughout the centuries, human happiness and its causes have been a central concern to clerics, philosophers, psychologists, and therapists of various kinds. Given the subject matter, some might be surprised to see economists dipping their toes into these waters, viewing them as Johnny-come-latelys or even as gatecrashers—economics, after all, is sometimes known as the "dismal science." But economists have their own rich tradition in this area, and their discipline is, in fact, rooted in "moral science," in which happiness plays a central role. Moreover, as "queen of the social sciences," economics brings with it insights from myriad aspects of social life and a vast array of mathematical tools for exploring relationships between self-reported happiness and just about anything else one can think of.
By bringing economic and psychological principles to bear, "happiness economists" have produced a substantial body of evidence that health is a consistent determinant of self-reported happiness—one that transcends national boundaries, belief systems, and the highly subjective nature of happiness. The fruits of their labors include "happiness equations," in which health is among the handful of measurable variables that account for observed variability in human happiness. Even more compelling, Carol Graham informs us, is the observation that health correlates more strongly with happiness than any other variable included—even income—in countries throughout the world. Happiness surveys, Graham shows us, are powerful tools that members of the health policy community can use to gain fresh perspectives on the public’s health behavior and to develop policy worldwide.
Graham (mailto:cgraham@brookings.edu is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C., and a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland in College Park. Her book (coauthored with Stefano Pettinato) Happiness and Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies was published by Brookings in 2002.