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Finland is the happiest country in the world – but our research suggests the rankings are wealth and status-oriented
By August Nilsson, Lund University
Finland steadily ranks as the happiest country in the world. In March 2024 the country was, for the seventh year in a row, ranked as the happiness champion. The ranking is based on one simple question, using a ladder metaphor, that is asked to people across nearly every country in the world. But my team’s new experimental study suggests that the ladder metaphor makes people think about power and wealth.
Since 2005, the Gallup analytics organisation has worked to measure happiness across the entire planet. The mission is particularly important as more and more governments say they are prioritising the wellbeing of their people.
For example, all OECD countries now measure the happiness of their people including the UK. More than a decade ago, Bhutan declared that the primary goal of their government was “gross national happiness”, not gross domestic product.
The world ranking is based on one simple but powerful question, called the Cantril Ladder:
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
As you read the question, what does the top of the ladder metaphor make you think of and what does it represent to you? Is it love, money, your family – or something else?
I recently led a group of researchers from Sweden, the US and the UK. We investigated these questions in a study on 1,600 UK adults, and published our results in Nature Scientific Reports. We carried out an experiment with five independent groups.
One group was asked what the top of the ladder represented to them.
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