Source: World Values Survey.
Question: Feeling of Happiness – Taking all things together, would you say you are:
i) Very happy
ii) Quite happy
iii) Not very happy
iv) Not at all happy
The answers from the responsdents are then separated into 5 groups according to their marital status:
– Married,
– Divorced,
– Separated,
– Widowed,
– Never Married (Single)
Here is the example on how the result look like:
Married: Australia [1995]
Very happy 531
Quite happy 469
Not very happy 25
Not at all happy 7
Mean Score 3.48
Very happy (%) 51.5
Results:
a) Mean score for happiness. By assigning value 4 for very happy, and value 1 for not at all happy, the mean score can be calculated. It is note that the higher the score is, the happier the group (i.e. marital status) is. Table below shows the mean score of each group in each countries on the question of feeling of happiness:
Marital Status Married Divorced Separated Widowed Single
| Australia |
3.48 |
3.19 |
3.11 |
3.11 |
3.29 |
| Austria |
3.31 |
3.16 |
2.14 |
2.90 |
3.27 |
| Belgium |
3.46 |
3.15 |
2.86 |
2.90 |
3.25 |
| Denmark |
3.50 |
3.28 |
3.38 |
3.06 |
3.32 |
| Finland |
3.28 |
2.97 |
2.83 |
2.86 |
2.94 |
| France |
3.31 |
3.13 |
2.81 |
2.94 |
3.23 |
| Greece |
3.00 |
2.65 |
2.72 |
2.73 |
2.86 |
| Iceland |
3.59 |
3.25 |
3.18 |
3.16 |
3.33 |
| Ireland |
3.47 |
3.00 |
3.22 |
3.26 |
3.29 |
| Italy |
3.05 |
2.66 |
2.69 |
2.45 |
2.92 |
| Japan |
3.24 |
2.97 |
2.91 |
3.13 |
2.91 |
| Germany W. |
3.12 |
2.79 |
2.88 |
2.79 |
2.99 |
| South Korea |
2.98 |
2.57 |
2.67 |
3.00 |
2.91 |
| Luxembourg |
3.32 |
3.30 |
2.88 |
3.14 |
3.29 |
| Netherlands |
3.53 |
2.99 |
3.10 |
3.13 |
3.41 |
| New Zealand |
3.35 |
3.05 |
3.12 |
3.17 |
3.15 |
| Norway |
3.30 |
3.10 |
2.78 |
2.92 |
3.12 |
| Portugal |
3.10 |
2.50 |
2.82 |
2.49 |
3.10 |
| Spain |
3.14 |
3.00 |
2.81 |
2.70 |
3.04 |
| Sweden |
3.41 |
3.13 |
3.18 |
3.29 |
3.08 |
| Switzerland |
3.41 |
3.22 |
2.69 |
3.11 |
3.31 |
| US |
3.42 |
3.17 |
2.87 |
3.44 |
3.26 |
| Average |
3.31 |
3.01 |
2.89 |
2.99 |
3.15 |
b) Percentage of people say they are very happy.
Marital Status Married Divorced Separated Widowed Single
| Australia |
51.5 |
30.5 |
23.7 |
28.1 |
35.6 |
| Austria |
39.0 |
31.3 |
14.3 |
15.8 |
36.1 |
| Belgium |
50.0 |
32.6 |
7.1 |
21.2 |
36.9 |
| Denmark |
53.1 |
38.6 |
38.5 |
25.0 |
38.2 |
| Finland |
32.3 |
18.9 |
16.7 |
8.8 |
11.7 |
| France |
36.6 |
29.0 |
14.3 |
14.4 |
31.8 |
| Greece |
21.8 |
4.3 |
11.1 |
17.5 |
17.3 |
| Iceland |
59.2 |
30.3 |
18.2 |
20.0 |
39.2 |
| Ireland |
50.5 |
10.0 |
26.1 |
32.1 |
33.2 |
| Italy |
20.4 |
10.3 |
11.1 |
7.4 |
18.1 |
| Japan |
31.5 |
15.4 |
18.2 |
28.3 |
18.3 |
| Germany W. |
22.7 |
10.4 |
25.0 |
11.1 |
13.1 |
| South Korea |
10.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
14.8 |
7.4 |
| Luxembourg |
38.4 |
39.3 |
12.5 |
27.4 |
33.2 |
| Netherlands |
54.3 |
18.4 |
25.0 |
26.8 |
45.6 |
| New Zealand |
38.7 |
23.3 |
19.5 |
26.8 |
21.3 |
| Norway |
34.2 |
20.3 |
5.6 |
13.2 |
20.4 |
| Portugal |
21.1 |
13.9 |
18.2 |
1.9 |
17.7 |
| Spain |
23.7 |
17.6 |
18.5 |
10.4 |
17.2 |
| Sweden |
45.9 |
31.2 |
27.5 |
35.5 |
19.2 |
| Switzerland |
43.6 |
37.8 |
12.5 |
28.1 |
37.9 |
| US |
45.8 |
28.3 |
16.1 |
48.0 |
33.7 |
| Average |
37.5 |
22.4 |
17.3 |
21.0 |
26.5 |
small-m 
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