What is happiness?
In most of the industrialized countries, happiness is often equated with money. The gross domestic product (GDP) is routinely used as shorthand for the well-being of a nation.
But Bhutan has been trying out a different idea. Concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck when crowned as the fourth hereditary king of Bhutan in 1972, decided to make his nation’s priority not its Gross National Product (GNP), but its Gross National Happiness (GNH). It is rooted in the Buddhist notion that the ultimate purpose of life is inner happiness. Bhutan being a Buddhist country, Bhutan’s King felt the responsibility to define development in terms of happiness of its people, rather than in terms of an abstract economic measurement such as GNP.
Material well-being alone cannot ensure that you’re at peace with your environment and in harmony with each other. Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. While conventional development models stress economic growth as the ultimate objective, the concept of GNH claims to be based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other.
The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. Motivated to preserve its pristine nature and unique culture, Bhutan has thus far succeeded in limiting exposure to global trade, foreign capital investment, modern mass media and tourism. Bhutan believes that its indigenous culture is generally self-sufficient and has little to gain from conventional western development. The country has for centuries followed a traditional model of development which is based on improving the quality of life, while respecting natural and cultural constraints, rather than the quantity of material production and consumption. As such it forms a reminder for conventional western development planners that development can also be based on non-material values, such as cultural, social and environmental values.
As the term Gross National Happiness was first expressed by the fourth King of Bhutan His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan took the lead in promoting the GNH movement in an attempt to pursue happiness at the national level. The King of Bhutan set an example by partaking in the movement organized by the Center for Bhutan Studies. The movement covers eight areas: psychological well-being, health, balanced use of time, education, cultural diversity, good governance, communal vitality, ecological diversity and resilience and living standard.
Adrian White, a social psychologist at the University of Leicester, has produced the first-ever “world map of happiness.” White based the rankings on the findings of more than 100 studies from around the world, including data on life expectancy from the WHO and various national surveys about satisfaction with life. Denmark ranked first in the survey, which covered more than 80,000 participants from 178 countries, followed closely by Switzerland and Austria. Bhutan ranked eighth and was the only Asian country to make it to the top 10 list. Taiwan came in 68th and China 82nd.
“I feel that there must be some convergence among nations on the idea of what the primary objective of development and progress should be - something Gross National Happiness seeks to bring about”.
- His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, the Fifth King of Bhutan.
In most of the industrialized countries, happiness is often equated with money. The gross domestic product (GDP) is routinely used as shorthand for the well-being of a nation.
But Bhutan has been trying out a different idea. Concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck when crowned as the fourth hereditary king of Bhutan in 1972, decided to make his nation’s priority not its Gross National Product (GNP), but its Gross National Happiness (GNH). It is rooted in the Buddhist notion that the ultimate purpose of life is inner happiness. Bhutan being a Buddhist country, Bhutan’s King felt the responsibility to define development in terms of happiness of its people, rather than in terms of an abstract economic measurement such as GNP.
Material well-being alone cannot ensure that you’re at peace with your environment and in harmony with each other. Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. While conventional development models stress economic growth as the ultimate objective, the concept of GNH claims to be based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other.
The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. Motivated to preserve its pristine nature and unique culture, Bhutan has thus far succeeded in limiting exposure to global trade, foreign capital investment, modern mass media and tourism. Bhutan believes that its indigenous culture is generally self-sufficient and has little to gain from conventional western development. The country has for centuries followed a traditional model of development which is based on improving the quality of life, while respecting natural and cultural constraints, rather than the quantity of material production and consumption. As such it forms a reminder for conventional western development planners that development can also be based on non-material values, such as cultural, social and environmental values.
As the term Gross National Happiness was first expressed by the fourth King of Bhutan His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan took the lead in promoting the GNH movement in an attempt to pursue happiness at the national level. The King of Bhutan set an example by partaking in the movement organized by the Center for Bhutan Studies. The movement covers eight areas: psychological well-being, health, balanced use of time, education, cultural diversity, good governance, communal vitality, ecological diversity and resilience and living standard.
Adrian White, a social psychologist at the University of Leicester, has produced the first-ever “world map of happiness.” White based the rankings on the findings of more than 100 studies from around the world, including data on life expectancy from the WHO and various national surveys about satisfaction with life. Denmark ranked first in the survey, which covered more than 80,000 participants from 178 countries, followed closely by Switzerland and Austria. Bhutan ranked eighth and was the only Asian country to make it to the top 10 list. Taiwan came in 68th and China 82nd.
“I feel that there must be some convergence among nations on the idea of what the primary objective of development and progress should be - something Gross National Happiness seeks to bring about”.
- His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, the Fifth King of Bhutan.
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