Viking Magazine - September 2017 - 22

What
Norwegians
Say About
Happiness
" I think much of it has to do
with a good work-life balance.
Norwegian workers have
relatively short work weeks and
we have parental leave and sick
leave that give people a high
degree of security. In return,
most people are fiercely loyal
to their workplace. Norwegian
workers are among the most
effective in the world. In addition
I would point out closeness to
nature as something that helps
improve quality of life. "
-Andreas Viestad, host of
" New Scandinavian Cooking "
" A keyword is 'equality,' a feeling
of being treated fairly and not
being exploited. During the 20th
century, we've developed an
economy and politics based on a
social welfare system of sharing
and not having big differences in
people's standard of living. The
oil and gas industry has helped
us a lot economically, and made
it possible to develop this safety
net that has given stability to
our society. "
-Lasse Heimdal, secretary
general for Norsk Friluftsliv
" We have a small social and
economical difference between
social groups; a closeness to
nature and a high level of
membership in church and other
religious organizations. "
- Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum,
chair of the National Council of
the Church of Norway
See more
responses on the
Sons of Norway blog
(sonsofnorway.com)
on Sept. 15.
the assumption that wealth produces
happiness just doesn't hold up.
If it did, we could expect Norway,
with its tremendously large sovereign
wealth fund of oil and gas revenues, to
get a much higher Cantril number than
the other Nordic countries, Helliwell
points out. Instead the Nordic numbers
are always very close.
Emerging science shows that instead
of money it's " social capital " - mutual
trust, shared values, working together
toward a common good - that
accounts for much of people's life
satisfaction and well-being. So the
World Happiness Report pairs the
Cantril scores with data on six key
variables that researchers believe are
shaping the Cantril scores. They are:
1. Gross domestic product per
capita, as a measure of income.
2. Healthy life expectancy, distinct
from total years of life expectancy.
3. Social support, measured by
asking people if they have relatives
and friends to turn to in times
of trouble.
4. Freedom to make life choices,
measured by asking people " yes "
or " no " whether they have such
freedom.
5. Generosity, using charitable
donations as an indicator.
6. Trust across society, measured
by asking whether people perceive
their government to be corrupt
or not.
Meik Wiking, author of " The
Little Book of Hygge " and CEO of
the Happiness Research Institute,
a think tank and consultancy in
Copenhagen, Denmark, says all of
the Nordic countries score high in all
six of these contributors to happiness,
which explains their consistently high
rankings in the World Happiness
Report. Helliwell agrees, but with his
co-authors in this year's report, he
emphasized the significance of the four
" 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? "
-Anne Sigrid Refsum
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - September 2017

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