Monday, August 23, 2010

The World' s Happiest Countries are the Least Religious

Here's a provocative headline:

The World' s Happiest Countries are the Least Religious

4 comments:

  1. The headline suggests that happiness is inversely related to religiosity. Yet I wonder if happiness is more closely correlated with wealth? All 5 of the countries cited in the article as the "world's happiest" rank among the top 13 in per capita GDP in the world, according to 2009 statistics by World Bank.

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  2. It appears that geography may play a part in this analysis although I don't know enough about those countries to explain why. Perhaps the author IS comparing apples to bookshelves.

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  3. "Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands."

    I watched a report on 60 Minutes that highlighted why Denmark was one of the happiest places in the world. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/14/60minutes/main3833797.shtml

    Some of the considerations were its health insurance policy, its work-vacation policy, and free education. I wonder what other factors like these are in place in Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

    Also, the Netherlands have lax drug and prostitution laws. Just a consideration.

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  4. I'm with Junaid on this one. Standard of living is the key factor. The poorest countries are likely to be the most religious. The richest, most advanced countries are those likely to be the least religious. This is a classic "Correlation, Not Causation"

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