User:Chrlise/sandbox

In recent years Diener has conducted major studies comparing happiness in different parts of the world. In 2010 he published a study comparing the US and Denmark and looked specifically at why Danes are so much more happy that Americans. He concluded that that difference in happiness level was due to the difference of mentality in the two countries. Danes focused on Enjoying life with the means that they had available, and did not feel the need to be jealous over the neighbors wealth and thus did not feel the stress over the need for achievement. For people in the US on the other hand, it was important to have the biggest and best TV, car, etc, in order show that they were better than the rest. This attitude, as well as the type of government, Diener concluded, was a leading source of decreased happiness levels among Americans: The Danish government is focused on collectivism whereas the US government is focused on individualism In two studies from 2010 and 2011 Diener included Gallup world polls to study happiness in more than 100 countries and found similar results: that collectivist societies, such as Northern European countries, New Zealand, and even Costa Rica, in average were happier than Individual societies such as the US.