Australia conjures up thoughts in one’s head of a country, and a continent, where kangaroos and koalas roam freely, and where people are generally laid-back. This assumption of happiness of the Australian people is even supported by the World Database of Happiness Rank Report 2014, which ranks Australia’s happiness at a 7.3 out of 10, an extremely high number. One can only wonder, then, what does make Australia one of the happiest countries on Earth? Many factors can go into deciding what exactly makes the citizens of a country the happiest. In Australia’s case, however, location, size, and other various points help to create a country that is almost perfectly content.
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean. Although Australia is near Indonesia and New Zealand, this continent is basically stranded in the middle of the ocean, with no other continents close. This large amount of space in between Australia and the other countries can lead one to believe that the location has a large amount to do with Australia’s happiness rating. Countries that are extremely close together, such as Zimbabwe, Ukraine, and Jordan, have a much lower happiness rating, according to the World Database of Happiness. Australia is not landlocked, which always has a great deal to do with the citizens’ happiness, seeing as though the majority of the population lives on the eastern and southeastern coast of Australia (“Australia,” n.d.). Weather is another factor that can greatly affect the moods of people all around the world. Australia’s weather varies greatly around the country, from tropical to Mediterranean and even desert-like climates (“Australia-Geography and Climate,” n.d.). In the southeastern part, though, ...
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List of United States cities by population. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
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Still healthy, wealthy and wise – but dropping in productivity. (2011). Retrieved from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/5BD0CF73B112325CCA25792000141D51?Opendocument
Tiffen, R., & Gittins, R. (2009). How Australia compares (2nd edition). Cambridge, GBR: Cambridge University Press.
In this documentary, Roko Belic an American film producer and director tries to explain happiness by traveling the world from Louisiana, United States to Okinawa, Japan to learn more about happiness of different ages, classes and ethnicities of people. He explains that in his documentary by interviewing several normal people about their
The distribution of wealth in Australia by Frank Stilwell & David Primrose (2007) http://evatt.labor.net.au/publications/papers/226.html accessed on May 17, 2011
Helman, Christopher. “The World's Happiest (And Saddest) Countries, 2013.” Forbes.com. Forbes Media LLC., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014
Sturm R, Ringel JS, Andreyeva T. Geographic Disparities in Children’s Mental Health Care. Pediatrics. 2003; 112(4):308-315.
It is widely recognized that mental illness affects a significant proportion of the population; however, it is complicated to determine exact numbers. This problem can be attributed to such issues as the changing definitions of mental illness as well as difficulties in classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. Limitations to adequate mental health services including social stigma, cultural incompatibility between patients and providers, language barriers, lack of insurance and logistical barriers. In addition, significant differences in socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviors, and access to care have resulted in health disparities between rural and urban communities (Institute of Medicine, 2004). According to Sulzbacher et al., many families who live in rural areas do not have the financial, social or psychological resources, to travel to distant urban centers to obtain adequate care particularly for a chronic mental health problem. There is also evidence to suggest that mental illness in rural areas is as nearly as high as among people in metropolitan areas. However, the accessibility of mental health services and professionals in rural areas is extremely low compared to major cities and metropolitan areas. Such barriers can impede the diagnosing, treating and reporting of mental illnesses and have also been instrumental in developing and improving telepsychiatry and e-mental health models.
Kahn, Ada P., and Jan Fawcett. The Encyclopedia of Mental Health. 2nd ed. New York: Facts On File, 2001.
...y of international trends. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology , 45 (9), 889 - 897.
Cultural view A macro-level variant is this view is that the view on life is embodied in the national character. In this line cross-national differences in happiness reflect cognitive cultural norms, rather than individual grief and joy (Inglehart, 1990). Earlier view is the Folklore theory of happiness (Veenhoven 1995: 35). Homeostatic maintenance While the above set-point theories aim at explaining differences in happiness, there are also theories of this kind that focus at the general level of happiness. These are motivational theories that assume that we tend to maintain a comfortable level of happiness, even in adverse conditions. We unconsciously keep happiness between 7 and 8 on a 10-step scale, just as we maintain a 9 body temperature of 32 degrees Celsius (Cummins, 2002).
Germov, Poole, 2011, Public Sociology – An introduction to Australian society, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, Australia
In addition to anyone being happy, genuine happiness is vulnerable. “If happiness is similarly available to people of any age, sex, or race, and to those of most income levels, who is happiest?” (Myers and Diener 14), the capacity of peoples’ joy is undiminished. Self-esteem, personal control, optimism, and extraversion are four inner traits that classify happy people. People who are happy admire themselves and feel personal control, empowered rather than helpless about their lifestyle. They are also optimistic and tend to be more healthy, successful, and happier than pessimistic people. Also, people that are happy are extraverted and they are happy when they are surrounded by a lot of people and even when they are alone. They are not happy because of their status of wealth.
Aspin, Lois J., 1996, Focus on Australian Society, 2nd Edition, Addison Wesley Longman Australia Pty Limited, Melbourne
Happiness is an inner state of well-being and fulfilment, and therefore it has to come from inside. Every individual has his or her own emotions and way of thinking and as a result of this no one can really say what happiness is and what happiness is not. However, universally, happiness is a by-product of a healthy attitude and viewpoint. Happiness exists in everyone whether they choose to acknowledge and believe it or not. It is not rare nor is it something only the elite have: everyone has it but not everyone recognizes it. Contentment is finding a light at the end of every dark tunnel and in order to experience this we must ignore the pessimism surrounding us and remind ourselves that happiness is not a materialistic object but a choice and frame of mind.
The USA is the wealthiest nation when GDP is considered, but ranks third per capita for wealth. It only ranks 13th in happiness despite an enviable rank for wealth. Because happiness is so valuable, I’ve searched for a happy nation that also has wealth in order to consider adopting management practices of that nation.
Kessler, Chiu . et. al."The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America."NIMH RSS. National Institute of Mental Health , n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Haller, Max and Hadler, Markus. "How Social Relations and Structures Can Produce Happiness and Unhappiness: An International Comparative Analysis" Social Indicators Research, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Jan., 2006), pp. 169-216. J Store.Web.06 Nov 2013.