Gross National Happiness

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The gross national happiness (BNG), internationally known as Gross National Happiness , is an attempt to living standards to be defined in broad and diffuse humanistic and psychological manner, and thus the conventional gross national income , a solely by cash flows certain degree, a more holistic to face frame of reference. Unlike comparable indicators such as the Happy Planet Index or the World Happiness Report , gross national happiness only relates to the South Asian Kingdom of Bhutan .

history

As early as the 18th century , the happiness of the population was defined as a goal of development and politics in Bhutan. The quote comes from the country's legal code of 1729, which is regarded as the short form of a constitution of medieval Bhutan:

"If the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no purpose for government to exist."

"If the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no reason for the government to exist."

This objective was mentioned in the biography of the 13th Druk Desi Sherab Wangchuk (1697-1765), a civil ruler of Bhutan. Jigme Dorje Wangchuck , third king of Bhutan, declared in the 1960s that the goal of development is to achieve both prosperity and happiness for the people.

The first mention of the term gross national happiness and with it the coining of the term happened in 1979 by Jigme Singye Wangchuck , the fourth king of Bhutan. In an interview with an Indian journalist, he was asked how high the country's gross domestic product was. Instead of answering, the king replied that in Bhutan, gross national happiness was more important than gross domestic product. This first mention of the expression represented a spontaneous reaction by the king and should therefore be viewed more as a play on words than a theoretical concept . In doing so, he invented a descriptive term for striving for economic development that does justice to Bhutan's culture and its Buddhist values. After the term was introduced, it was not mentioned in government documents for 20 years until it was referred to in the 1997 five-year plan . When the four pillars of gross national happiness were defined by Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley in 1998, this represented the first concretization of the approach.

In order to ensure the further pursuit of interests in terms of gross national happiness, Bhutan has set up a state commission with the commission for gross national happiness.

meaning

While conventional development models make economic growth the outstanding criterion for political action, the idea of ​​gross national happiness assumes that a balanced and sustainable development of society can only occur in the interplay of material, cultural and spiritual steps that complement and strengthen each other. To reflect these dimensions in gross national happiness, four pillars were developed. The following aspects form the framework of gross national happiness:

  • promoting socially just social and economic development. With fair economic development, the country can become more independent from other countries and develop socially.
  • Preservation and promotion of cultural values. Both religion and culture are very important to the Bhutanese.
  • Protection of the environment . This pillar implies sustainable development, which is becoming increasingly important for planet earth. Consequently, today's generations should treat the environment in such a way that future generations can still satisfy their own needs on earth.
  • good government and administrative structures. The policy determines conditions and sets rules that affect the lives of the people of Bhutan.

The goal of gross national happiness is to improve the living conditions of the less fortunate inhabitants of the country. Thus as many Bhutanese as possible should be considered happy. To achieve this, extensive surveys are carried out in Bhutan every few years. The results of these surveys are analyzed in order to develop measures and integrate them into political processes. Furthermore, the surveys make it possible to observe the development of the country.

Elevation in Bhutan

Background and survey 2008

The concept of gross national happiness coined by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck should be measurable in order to achieve the desired people-related development as a declared goal of the government. The Center for Bhutan Studies in Thimphu developed indicators in 2005 which were converted into a questionnaire . A pilot survey in 2006 with 350 participants should help to identify problems in the questionnaire format. The structure, content, translation and relevance of the questions were checked and the questionnaire improved accordingly.

The first officially conducted gross national happiness survey took place in 2008. The questionnaire contained 750 questions that were both subjective and objective and open in nature. For budget reasons , the survey could only be carried out in 12 out of 20 districts in Bhutan. The survey comprised 950 participants; filling out the questionnaire took between five and six hours. At the end of the evaluation, a first index was created, which, however, is not considered valid due to the small sample size .

concept

questionnaire

Weighting of the 33 indicators. http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/

Nine domains result from the four pillars of gross national happiness mentioned above , which are intended to represent the holistic approach of the BNG. The nine domains are in turn subdivided into 33 indicators in order to cover as many different aspects of well-being as possible. Each of these 33 indicators is given its own weighting in the associated domain. Overall, each of the nine domains is included in the final result with the same proportion, so all areas are weighted equally (Figure: weighting of the 33 indicators). The latest version of the questionnaire (December 2014) begins with the collection of data on the parameters of the survey such as place and date. After a list of all household members with family status and age, the respondent's demographic data is collected. The survey is random . Every citizen of Bhutan who has reached the age of 15 can fill out the questionnaire. In the survey, the numerous indicators capture both the objective and the subjective dimensions of life. As a result, it is shown in which sub-indicators the nine domains are divided (figure weighting of the 33 indicators):

  • The first domain queried is “mental well-being” with the indicators life satisfaction , positive and negative emotions and spirituality . Life satisfaction and spirituality receive the highest weighting in this domain with 33%.
  • “Health” with the self-described state of health, healthy days, long-term disabilities and mental health, forms the second domain.
  • The third domain deals with the "use of time". The aspects of work and sleep are examined, both of which are weighted with 50%.
  • The fourth domain “ education ” is queried with the indicators education per se, training qualifications, knowledge and values .
  • “ Cultural diversity and resilience ” is the fifth domain of the questionnaire. Language , handicraft skills, socio-cultural participation and Driglam Namzha (the official code of clothing and behavior) are analyzed .
  • The sixth domain deals with “good governance” and with political participation , political freedom, service provision and government performance. In this category, political participation and service delivery have a percentage of 40%.
  • The seventh domain is the “liveliness of the community” with social support , relationship to the community, family and victims of crime .
  • “Ecological diversity and resilience” is the eighth domain of the questionnaire. This domain focuses on pollution , responsibility for the environment , flora and fauna and urban problems. The indicators environmental pollution and urban problems receive a high weighting of 40% in this area.
  • The ninth and final domain is that of the “standard of living” with the aspects of capital , housing and per capita household income.

Evaluation and index

The survey is evaluated using weightings and thresholds. The objective indicators of the survey (25) are weighted higher than the subjective indicators (8), which only give 10% of the weight of their respective domain. Examples of subjective indicators are self-described health status or government performance. In addition, two thresholds are applied: the sufficiency threshold, which is set individually for each indicator and states what minimum result is required here to be considered happy, and the happiness threshold. The latter says that a person can be described as happy if he has adequate results in six or more domains. This evaluation provides an index between 0 and 1, which is calculated using the Alkire-Foster method : indicators are selected, then the sufficiency thresholds, the weightings for each indicator and the happiness threshold are applied and finally two groups are identified: the group of happy people and the group of not-yet-happy people. For the latter, it is still calculated in how many domains people still lack sufficiency. The actual index then results from the following formula: BNG = 1 - (H n × A n ) with H n = percentage of not-yet-happy people and A n = percentage of the domains in which the not-yet-happy people are sufficiency lacks. This index can be calculated at the national as well as the district level. The survey makes it possible to assess the needs of the citizens of Bhutan for their wellbeing and to develop appropriate programs or projects to make more people happy and to increase their wellbeing.

Survey 2010

The second official gross national happiness survey took place in 2010. Between April and December, five teams with a total of 55 officers traveled across the country to interview 7142 people. A survey lasted an average of three hours. This representative survey gave an index of 0.743 for Bhutan, with 40.9% happy people. 8.3% of the population were considered deeply happy, 32.6% as largely happy (extensively happy), 48.7% as narrowly happy and 10.4% as unhappy. The proportion of people described as generally happy was 40.9%. The largest contribution to the index in 2010 provided the domains health , vitality of the community , ecological diversity and resilience and mental well-being. However, all nine domains made significant contributions to the index. The population surveyed achieved the least sufficiency in the areas of education and good governance. This was particularly evident in the education domain, in which more than 50% of the population did not meet at least three of the four education indicators. More than half of the people surveyed described themselves as very spiritual and said that they regularly consider karma in their everyday life. On the basis of the data collected, it was possible to look at how the gross national happiness of the population behaved depending on various factors, only a few of which are mentioned below.

Per Capita Income and GNH Index 2010

The gross national happiness index as a function of per capita income in districts: The western districts had a higher index than the eastern ones. The diagram 'Per Capita Income and GNH-Index 2010' shows that a higher per capita income of a district was not always accompanied by a higher index. Residents who could not meet their basic needs with their income, however, showed themselves to be less happy.

The gross national happiness index as a function of the region: For residents living in the city, the index was 0.790, for people in rural areas it was only 0.726. This equates to 50% happy people in the city and 37% in the countryside.

The gross national happiness index as a function of gender: With an index of 0.783 and thus a proportion of 49% happy people, men had more satisfaction than women with an index of 0.703 and of whom only 33% were considered happy.

Occupation and GNH Index 2010

The gross national happiness index as a function of occupation: There were clear differences in the index when looking at the work area of ​​the population. Only 31% of farmers were considered happy, while civil servants had the largest proportion of happy people at 73% (see diagram 'Occupation and GNH Index 2010').

The gross national happiness index as a function of education: With regard to the educational level of the population, a steadily increasing index could be determined with increasing education. Respondents with no formal education had the lowest index, while PhD students had the highest.

2015 survey and changes

The third official survey took place between January and May 2015. The survey of 7153 people resulted in an index of 0.756, which corresponds to a 1.7 percent improvement on the 2010 index. 8.4% of the population were considered extremely happy, 35.0% as largely happy, 47.9% as partially happy and 8.8% as unhappy. Thus the proportion of people classified as happy was 43.4%. Health, biodiversity, and community resilience and liveliness made the largest contributions to the index. Education and good governance contributed least to the happiness of those surveyed. This means that the domains that influenced the index the most and the weakest remained largely the same compared to the 2010 survey. With regard to spirituality , there was a decline in the number of strongly spiritual people, which affected men and women equally and could be documented in both rural areas and cities.

The gross national happiness index as a function of per capita income in districts: The districts in the north-west of the country continued to show a higher index than the south-east districts. The highest index was achieved by Gasa in the northwest, the lowest by Trongsa in the center of the country. Investigations into the extent to which the index correlates with the income of the residents were not carried out as part of this survey.

The gross national happiness index depending on the region: In the 2015 survey, residents in the city achieved an index of 0.756, corresponding to 55% happy people. In contrast, only 39% of people in the countryside were happy, giving it an index of 0.731. The difference in satisfaction has consequently increased further compared to the 2010 survey.

The gross national happiness index as a function of gender: The difference in the index between men and women decreased compared to the 2010 study. With an index of 0.793 and 51% happy people, men continued to score higher than women with an index of 0.730 and 39% lucky people. This difference was particularly pronounced in the domains of education and good governance, while there was little difference in the areas of health and ecology.

Education Level and GNH Index 2015

The gross national happiness index as a function of occupation: There was still a strong difference in satisfaction between people in different work groups. The proportion of happy farmers increased slightly to 33%. In 2015, the administrators of the districts (GYT / DYT members) were considered the happiest professional group with 72% happy people.

The gross national happiness index as a function of education: Compared to 2010, a slight increase in the index for people without formal schooling was found. As the diagram 'Educational Level and GNH-Index 2015' shows, it was still clear that the satisfaction of the residents increased with increasing education.

Changes in the country

For some years now, changes have been noted in Bhutan that have had a positive impact on the lives of Bhutanese. It has not been proven whether these actually resulted from gross national happiness. However, the changes reflect the four pillars of gross national happiness.

Changes took place in the area of ​​environmental protection as early as 1974. At that time it was stipulated that the forested area of ​​the country must not fall below 60%. This principle has also been written into Bhutan's new constitution . Currently over 70% of the land is forested. Furthermore, 26% of the land is part of national parks and there are strict rules for forestry . In addition, Bhutan has the goal of completely converting to organic production by 2020 in order to protect the environment. Another success was the introduction of “Pedestrian Day”, during which cars have to be parked at home one day a month.

In 2001 a new constitution was drawn up, which came into force in 2008. This constitution made the country a democratic constitutional monarchy . Furthermore, the National Assembly has a vote of no confidence in the head of state . The Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan has existed in Bhutan since 2011 and deals with the country's corruption .

Other important upheavals are the improvement of the country's health and education situation. Both factors are among the domains of the BNG and are considered important by the Bhutanese in the surveys. With regard to health policy , new hospitals have been built and medical research has been invested. As a result of these investments and new methods in medicine, the life expectancy of the Bhutanese has been increased. The government is striving to improve education policy by building new schools and providing free access to education. Within ten years, the literacy rate rose from 2005 to 2015 by 12.05% to 63.9%. Increasing this rate remains a goal of education policy in Bhutan.

Gross National Happiness ( ogg video)

Comparable indicators

Ecuador and Bolivia followed a similar path with the anchoring of the indigenous principle of Sumak kawsay (“good life”, Spanish “buen vivir”) in the Ecuadorian constitution of 2008 and the Bolivian constitution of 2009 .

In a Happy Planet Index compiled by the New Economic Foundation's Center for Well-Being in London , which puts life expectancy and satisfaction of the population in relation to the ecological footprint (resource consumption), Costa Rica ranks first in 2012, followed by Vietnam . The United States ranks 105th on this list, trailing some developing countries. The index was criticized by Robert Stavins, an economist at Harvard University , for simply reflecting the ideological bias of its authors.

In Germany, in January 2011 , the Bundestag's Enquete Commission on Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life began to look for a possible new measure of prosperity and progress beyond the previously all-dominant measure of gross national product , and which in this case also did not apply to the previously dominant measure of gross national product or insufficiently considered costs such. B. should pay attention to the consumption of nature or the extinction of species. The commission is made up of seventeen MEPs from all political groups and seventeen experts. One result of the Commission are the W3 indicators , which, unlike GDP, are holistic indicators of prosperity and progress. In addition to economic factors, the W3 indicators also include indicators on social issues, participation and ecology. 10 indicators are measured for these three groups. These relate to GDP per capita, income distribution, national debt, employment, education, health, freedom, greenhouse gases, nitrogen and biodiversity.

Since 2011, the UN's World Happiness Report , which Bhutan helped initiate, has measured the life satisfaction of most of the world's peoples.

Criticism of the BNG

Gross national happiness is not only viewed positively, however, in some aspects the BNG and the associated index are criticized.

On the one hand, conducting the surveys to determine the index is both costly and time-consuming. There are costs for the employees who carry out the surveys over a longer period of time and material costs for the questionnaires themselves. These costs could be saved without the physical questioning and the money could be invested directly in the problems of the country.

The weighting of the individual indicators is also criticized. The Center for Bhutan Studies is responsible for both the creation of the questionnaire and the collection of the index. It is therefore not clear to outsiders how the weightings of the 33 indicators come about. Some of the indicators such as political freedom, government performance or responsibility towards the environment are only included with 10% in the result of the domain, although these indicators are considered to be very important according to the four pillars. If the residents of Bhutan consider these aspects to be “bad” or “not happy” in the surveys, they would only be included in the assessment with a small percentage. As a result, the index would be presented in a more embellished way and the Bhutanese would be considered happier than they actually are.

It is also questionable whether the interviewees describe their real state of happiness or whether the answers are influenced by the fact that the Bhutanese feel that the government has perceived the survey and thus the Hawthorne effect occurs.

Another aspect that can be viewed negatively is the deviation from theory and practice. As mentioned in Chapter 4, it cannot be clearly seen that the positive changes in the country are really due to gross national happiness, as many of the changes were implemented before the first survey. It remains questionable whether the results that emerge from the surveys will actually be addressed. In addition, oppression of the citizens and corruption , among other things, remain serious problems in the country.

Another disadvantage of the BNG is the lack of comparability at international level. The index is only determined in Bhutan, which means that no direct comparison with other countries is possible.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gross National Happiness in Bhutan. Lexicon of Sustainability, November 12, 2015, accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  2. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, 2016, p. 32 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  3. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 32 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Tobias Pfaff: The gross national happiness from a regulatory point of view - an analysis of the economic and social system of Bhutan. (PDF) In: RatSWD Working Paper Series. Heike Solga, Gert G. Wagner, Denis Huschka, p. 14 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Tobias Pfaff: The gross national happiness from a regulatory point of view - an analysis of the economic and social system of Bhutan. (PDF) p. 14 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Tobias Pfaff: The gross national happiness from a regulatory point of view - an analysis of the economic and social system of Bhutan. (PDF) p. 14 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  7. ^ Gross National Happiness Commission. Retrieved September 26, 2017 .
  8. ↑ What is GNH? The 4 Pillars of GNH. GNH Center Bhutan, accessed September 26, 2017 .
  9. ↑ a b BNG gross national happiness. Impulse Center for Sustainable Business, accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  10. ^ Gross National Happiness »2010 Survey Results. Retrieved February 15, 2017 (American English).
  11. ^ Gross National Happiness »GNH INDEX. Retrieved February 15, 2017 .
  12. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, accessed September 26, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Center for Bhutan Studies (ed.): The Third Gross National Happiness Survey QUESTIONNAIRE . December 2014.
  14. ↑ Ura, Karma; Alkire, Sabine; Zangmo, Tshoki; Wangdi, Karma: An Extensive Analysis of GNH Index . Thimphu May 2012, p. 2 f .
  15. ↑ Ura, Karma; Alkire, Sabina; Zangmo, Tshoki; Wangdi, Karma: An Extensive Analysis of GNH Index . Thimphu May 2012, p. 21-24 .
  16. ↑ Bhutan 2010 gnh_index_1. November 3, 2011, accessed February 15, 2017 .
  17. ↑ 2010 Survey Results. Center for Bhutan Studies, accessed September 26, 2017 .
  18. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 59 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  19. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, 2011, p. 9 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  20. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part III. Center for Bhutan Studies, 2011, p. 19 f. , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  21. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 10 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  22. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part III. Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 8 , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  23. ↑ The 2010 Gross National Hapiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 36 f. , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  24. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 43 f. , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  25. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 59 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  26. ^ The 2010 Gross National Happiness Index: Part II. Center for Bhutan Studies, pp. 55 f. , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  27. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 59 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  28. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 60 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  29. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 79 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  30. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 66 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  31. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 70 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  32. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 68 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  33. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 73 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  34. ↑ 2015 GNH Survey Report. (PDF) Center for Bhutan Studies, p. 72 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  35. ^ Pfaff, Tobias: The gross national happiness from a regulatory perspective - an analysis of the economic and social system of Bhutan. (PDF) Heike Solga, Gert G. Wagner and Denis Huschka, p. 16 f. , accessed September 26, 2017 .
  36. ↑ Bühr, Viviane: Bhutan measures gross national happiness. Retrieved September 26, 2017 .
  37. ^ Gross National Happiness in Bhutan. Lexicon of Sustainability, accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  38. ↑ Paff, Tobias: The gross national happiness from a regulatory point of view - an analysis of the economic and social system of Bhutan. (PDF) Heike Solga, Gert G. Wagner and Denis Huschka, p. 16 , accessed on September 26, 2017 .
  39. ↑ Happy math . In: Foreign Policy , No. 156, 2006, p. 20
  40. ↑ Roland Pichler: We want to move away from the belief in growth badische-zeitung.de, Economy, January 12, 2011 (January 23, 2011)
  41. ↑ Final report of the study commission “Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life”. (PDF) German Bundestag , p. 237 , archived from the original on December 21, 2013 ; accessed on February 17, 2017 .
  42. ↑ Defining a New Economic Paradigm: The Report of the High-Level Meeting on Wellbeing and Happiness.:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  43. ^ Caspari, Thomas: gross social happiness. Retrieved September 26, 2017 .
  44. ^ Lexicon of Sustainability: Gross National Happiness in Bhutan. Retrieved September 26, 2017 .