Measuring happiness and well-being with the Gross National Happiness Index

The Happiness Index / Gross National Happiness Index is copyrighted to
Happiness Alliance © Happiness Alliance 2013
Happiness Alliance
Home of the Happiness Initiative
Gross National Happiness Index
Round 3 2013- 2014
This document was written for The Happiness Alliance, home of the Happiness Initiative
and Gross National Happiness Index. It may be used for non-commercial purposes and
with the understanding that you will share the data you collect. The Happiness Alliance
issues unique codes to communities, cities, campuses, companies and others to gather
aggregate data for groups in a grassroots effort to contribute to the happiness
movement. We also work with pollsters to conduct random samples. Please contact
info@happycounts.org for more information.
The Happiness Alliance, home of the Happiness Initiative and Gross National
Happiness Index requests that you use the following form of words to cite this
document:
Happiness Alliance. (2013). Happiness Index Round 3. Seattle: The Happiness
Alliance, Developed by Howell, R.T., Musikanski, L., & Goldenberg, E.
To take the Gross National Happiness Survey & get your
own personal assessment of your happiness + well-being,
go to happycounts.org
Welcome to the Gross National Happiness Index.
The survey takes most people 12-14 minutes to complete. At the end you will be given your
personal results and guidance on how to interpret them.
Below are the surveys for your groups. If you have not created a group or not a member of
one, click the Gross National Happiness Index below.
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code we know of for protecting personal data. You can read the full code and an executive
summary online. In simple language: all of your responses will be anonymous; data is kept for
as long as it is useful only; and information that personally identifies you will never be sold,
traded or given away.

Satisfaction With Life
2.102 Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top.
Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the
bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible. If the top step is 10 and the bottom step
is 0, on which step of the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time?
0 – Worst possible life for you 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 – Best possible life for you
1.2 All things considered, how satisfied are you with life as a whole nowadays?
Not at all satisfied 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Extremely satisfied
1.3 Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are?
(same as 1.2)

Happiness Index of the United Kingdom
2.101 Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Completely
2.102 Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
(same as 2.101)
2.103 Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
2.104 Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

Psychological Well-Being
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
4.1 I lead a purposeful and
meaningful life
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neither agree
nor disagree
Agree Strongly
agree
4.2 I am engaged and interested
in my daily activities
(Same as
4.1)
4.3 I am optimistic about my
future
4.4 Most days I feel a sense of
accomplishment from what I do
4.5 In general, I feel very
positive about myself

Health
5.1 In general, I would say my health is:
Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent
Please indicate, how much of the time during the past week...
5.2 You had a lot of energy Very rarely
or never
Rarely Sometimes Often Very often or
always
5.3 You could not get going
(same as
5.2)
5.4 Physical pain prevented you
from doing what you needed to do
Please rate your level of satisfaction
5.5 How satisfied were you
with your ability to perform
your daily living activities?
Very
dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Neither
satisfied nor
dissatisfied
Satisfied Very
satisfied
5.6 How satisfied were you
with the quality of your
exercise?
(same as
5.5)

Time Balance
6.1 In a typical week, how much of your time are you able to spend doing the kinds of things that
you enjoy?
None of my time Not much of my
time
Some of my time Most of my time All of my time
6.2 Please indicate your level of agreement with this statement: In my daily life, I seldom
have time to do the things I really enjoy.
(Same as 4.1)
Here are some statements about how things are going in your life. When indicating your
agreement with each statement, please think specifically about how things were for you over the
past week.
6.3 My life has been too rushed
(Same as 4.1)
6.4 I have been able to take life at a leisurely pace
6.5 I have had enough time to do what I needed to do
6.5 I have had plenty of spare time

Community Vitality
9.1 How would you describe your feeling of belonging to your local community?
Very weak Somewhat weak Neither weak nor strong Somewhat strong Very strong
Please tell us how many of the following people you trust:
7.1 Your neighbors Trust none
of them
Trust a few
of them
Trust some
of them
Trust most
of them
Trust all of
them
7.2 Strangers that you
encounter
(Same as
7.1)
7.3 Businesses in your
community
7.4 Imagine that you lost a wallet or purse that contained two hundred dollars. Please indicate
how likely you think it would be to have all of your money returned to you if it was found by
someone who lives close by:
Not at all likely Somewhat likely Fairly likely Very likely Extremely likely
7.5 How satisfied are you with your personal safety in your city or town?
(same as 5.5)
Using the scale below, please indicate how frequently you have done these activities in the past
12 months.
7.6 Donated money to
a charity
At least
once a
month
At least once
every three
months
At least once
every six
months
Once in
the last
year
Never
7.7 Volunteered your
time to an organization
(same as
7.6)

Social Support
Please rate your level of satisfaction.
8.1 How satisfied are you with the support you get from your friends?
(Same as 5.5)
8.2 How satisfied are you with your personal relationships?
To what extent do you agree with the following statement?
8.3 People in my life care about me.
(Same as 4.1)
Please indicate how much of the time during the past week...
8.4 You felt lonely Very rarely or never Rarely Sometimes Often Very often or always
(same as 5.2)
8.5 You felt loved

Lifelong Learning, Arts & Culture
In your neighborhood or community, how satisfied you are with...
9.5 Your access to sports and recreational activities?
(same as
5.5)
9.6 Your access to artistic and cultural activities?
9.7 Your access to activities to develop skills through informal
education?
9.8 How often do you feel uncomfortable or out of place in your neighborhood because of your
ethnicity, culture, race, skin color, language, accent, gender, sexual orientation, or religion?
Never Rarely Some of the time Most of the time All of the time

Environment
11.1 How healthy is your physical environment?
Not at all A little Somewhat Very Extremely
Please rate your level of satisfaction
11.2 How satisfied are you with the efforts being made to preserve the
natural environment in your neighborhood?
(Same as
5.5)
11.3 How satisfied are you with the opportunities that you have to enjoy
nature?
11.4 How satisfied are you with the air quality in your environment?
11.5 How satisfied are you with the natural quality of your neighborhood?

Government
12.1 How satisfied are you with the job being done by the local government officials of your city
or town?
(Same as 5.5)
State your level of agreement with the following statements.
12.2 Corruption is widespread throughout the government in my city or
town.
(Same as
4.1)
12.3 The public officials in my city or town pay attention to what people
think.
12.4 People in my city or town can influence their public officials.
Please indicate how much confidence you have in the following organizations:
12.5 Local
government
No
confidence
Not very
much
confidence
A fair amount
of confidence
Quite a lot of
confidence
A great deal
of confidence
12.6 National
government
(Same as
12.5)

Standard of Living / Economy
13.1 In general, how much stress do you feel about your personal finances?
Overwhelming stress High stress Moderate stress Low stress No stress at all
13.2 How frequently do you find yourself just getting by financially and living paycheck to
paycheck?
All the time Most of the time Sometimes Rarely Never
Please indicate how frequently you have had the following experiences in the past 12 months.
13.3 You could not pay bills
(water or phone bill, credit
card, etc.) on time.
At least
once a
month
At least once
every three
months
At least once
every six
months
Once in
the last
year
Never
13.4 You ate less because
there wasn’t enough food or
money for food.
(Same as
13.3)
To what extent do you agree with the following statement?
13.5 I have enough money to buy things I want.
(Same as 4.1)

Work
Please answer the following questions about your satisfaction with your current working
situation.
14.3 All things considered, how satisfied are you with your current work
life? (Note: if you work or volunteer at more than one job, you should
answer about the job you spend the longest time working at.)
(same
as 5.5)
14.4 How satisfied are you with the balance between the time you spend
on your job and the time you spend on other aspects of your life?
14.5 How much of the time do you find your current work life interesting?
(same as 5.2)
(Same as 5.2)
Please state your level of agreement with each of these statements.
14.6 The conditions of my job allow me to be about as productive as I
could be.
(Same as
4.1)
14.7 Considering all my efforts and achievements in my job I feel I get
paid appropriately
14.8 I am allowed to decide how to go about getting my job done.

Demographics 1 of 3
16.1 What is your current age:
Under 12 years old
12-17 years old
90 years old or older
16.2 Which gender do you identify as?
Female
Male
Androgynous (partly male and female or indeterminate)
Intersexed (both male and female)
Transgendered (male to female or female to male)
Unsexed/ungendered
Other
16.4 What race or ethnicity do you identify as?
Black/African
East Asian
Hispanic
Middle Eastern
South Asian
White/Caucasian/European
Two or more
Other
Prefer not to say
16.6 What is your current marital status?
Married
Domestic partnership
Never married and/or
never in a domestic
partnership,
Separated
Divorced
Widowed
Other
16.10 How many people currently reside in your household, including you?
1

--
20 or more
16.11 Do you have any children under 18?
Yes | No
16.12 What is your postal code? (We just want the more general part; e.g. 98101 for US Zip
Codes or SE11 for United Kingdom postcodes)
16. 125 What country do you currently reside in? (if more than one, choose the one you
spend more time in or consider home).
16.15.How spiritual do you consider
yourself to be?
Not at
all
Not
very
Somewhat Moderately Very
16.21 What is the highest level of education that you have completed?
Less than grade 9
More than grade 9 but less than grade 12
High School Graduate or equivalent
Some College
Trade, Technical or Vocational Training
Associates Degree (AA, AS, etc.)
Bachelor's Degree (BA, AB, BS, etc.)
Some Graduate Education
Master's Degree (MA. MS, Med, MSW, MBA, etc.)
Professional Degree (MD, DDS, DVM, LLB, JD)
Doctoral Degree (PhD, EdD)
14.1 Regarding employment, which of the following options best describe your current work life?
A full time employee A part time employee Working independently / self-
employed
A volunteer at an
organization
Unemployed looking for
work
Unemployed not looking for work
Retired Homemaker Student or in training
Military Other
16.22 What was your total household income from all sources last year?

Note: Give the equivalent in country’s currency with currency in text and symbol.
Translate:
Less than (equivalent to 10,000 USD) country currency
Masmababa sa 450,000 Pilipinas peso
Less than $10,000
$10,000 - $19,999
$250,000 or more
16.27 What is the one thing you would like to do to improve your own wellbeing and the
wellbeing of others?
16.27 5 In one word, what makes you happy?
16.28 Add your email here to receive our newsletter and learn more about personal happiness,
the happiness movement and data reports from the Gross National Happiness Index (in
English).
Your Results
What do your scores mean? They are your own self-assessment of your well-being. A low score
does not necessarily mean you are unhappy but could mean there is imbalance in your life and
indicate you may need to pay more attention to that particular aspect of your personal well-
being.
What are your scores?
Your Score is the average of your responses for each domain, on a scale of 0-100, with 0
being the worst and 100 the best.
All Survey Takers Average is the average of everyone who has taken the happiness index
survey, also on a scale of 0-100.
Your Score
All Survey Takers Average.

Now what?
Here are three fun and easy things scientific research indicates can increase your happiness
and sense of well-being:
1. Sit silently for 5 minutes a day. Turn off the television, laptop, cell phone. Make yourself
comfortable and just sit for 5 min, observing and not judging your thoughts. Close your
eyes if you can, or keep focused on any object about 2-3 feet in front of you. If you find
yourself deep in thought, simply observe this and then come back to the moment.
2. Practice gratitude: every morning and every night, list five things for which you are
thankful on paper or in your thoughts. These might be as simple as how good the pillow
feels under your head or the really yummy lunch you had, or something much grander. It
is the act of gratitude that counts.
3. Give every day with a small act of kindness to someone in their presence or so they
know it is you who gave. This may be as simple as smiling at the cashier or saying thank
you to a co-worker or boss. Once a year, or if you are inclined, once a month or week,
volunteer with a community organization or do something on your own or with neighbors
to increase the well-being of others in your community.
Click here to learn more about happiness and well-being.

Measuring happiness and well-being with the Gross National Happiness Index

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Measuring happiness and well-being with the Gross National Happiness Index