The Golden Triangle makes people happy! I thought it referred to mind altering, herbivore produce of South East Asia's equivalent of a Willy Wonka Chocolate factory, but NO....
And Tasmanians are apparently in the happiest of Australians. Still think it has something to do with green things...
'Golden triangle' of happiness: Study finds three simple things needed for a happy life
By
William Verity and
Yasmin Parry, Updated 17 Oct 2015, 11:13am
What makes us happy:
- Relationships: Being part of an intimate relationship is the most vital component of wellbeing. Pets are no substitute for human beings.
- Financial control: While money does not make us happy, a lack of it makes us miserable. Wellbeing rises up to about $100,000 a year, at which point its healing power drops off dramatically.
- Sense of purpose: People are happiest when they are active, and when they have a sense of purpose. Volunteers are amongst the happiest people, though conscripts are not.
The report found fathers tended to be happier than men without children, but women's happiness stayed the same whether they had children or not. The researchers said this could be because family was the greatest source of contentment and happiness for men throughout their lives, whereas women were able to maintain social connections beyond the family unit. Not only that, but those parents who had regular contact with their mother and mother-in-law reported being happier overall.
Resilient in face of ill health
Another surprising finding was that good health is a far less powerful predictor than expected. Provided that declining health is slow, rather than traumatic, our in-built genetic resilience compensates for that and our general mood level stays the same.
Golden oldies the happiest
This may go part way to explaining why Australians over the age of 55 were the most contented cohort, while the least contented were informal carers of sick or disabled family members. Their general level of mood happiness came at the bottom of the index, along with prisoners and homeless children.
State of happiness: Tasmania
Where we live in Australia has little impact on our happiness, although there are slight variances across the country. Tasmania came out as the happiest state in the nation, whereas Western Australia had the lowest wellbeing score, just above New South Wales. Those of us who live in rural and regional areas tend to be the happiest Australians, suggesting that Tasmanians might be happiest because of the state's low population.