Happy Life Years
There is less value in a short but happy life than in a long and happy life. The level and duration of happiness are combined in Ruut Veenhoven’s index of “Happy Life Years,” which is computed by multiplying life-expectancy in a country by average happiness on a scale of 0 to 1. (See “Apparent Quality of Life: How Long and Happy People Live and “The Four Qualities of Life: Ordering Concepts and Measures of the Good Life.”)
These days, the average citizen can expect to live 62 happy years in the U.S, 51 happy years in the EU-8, and 47 happy years in Japan. This is much more than the expected 13 happy life years in present-day Zimbabwe. These numbers are much higher than would have been the case two centuries ago in Western nations, when life was much shorter and probably less happy.
Over the last 33 years, no less than 6.2 additional Happy Life Years were added in the EU, 4.5 in Japan, and 6.2 in the U.S. This increase in overall quality of life is unprecedented in human history.
One of happiness’s biological functions is to serve as a “go signal” (”What Good are Positive Emotions?“). Research shows that the effects of happiness are typically positive. Happiness adds to creativity, facilitates social functioning, and tends to enhance good citizenship (”The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?“). It also protects physical health and lengthens life (”Healthy Happiness: Effects of Happiness on Physical Health and the Consequences for Preventive Health Care“).
People appear to live the happiest lives in free, democratic societies, and the strongest correlates of happiness are independence and activity (”Happiness as an Aim in Public Policy: The Greatest Happiness Principle“).