Social Capital versus Income in Happiness Equation: A Global Perspective

Happiness is the final destination that most people aspire to reach. We work, travel, exercise, study, or love to be happy. It is no exaggeration to say that things we do are all hopeful ways to reach happiness. The national ranking of happiness often manifests in the emotions of people living in the ranked countries and influences their economic policies. The constitutions of industrialized countries honor the human right of pursuing happiness. Happiness seems the ultimate destination of human life. However, the traditional approach to happiness is quite limited to analyze economic factors such as consumption, income, inflation, and GDP, although we all feel and recognize that happiness cannot be defined only by a set of economic variables. A long list of recent studies on social capital broadens the scope of the happiness equation by showing that social network and relationships are the essential elements of happiness. The present study systematically reviews and contrasts the happiness studies from two different analytical perspectives: economic and social. The World Happiness Report, the Gallup-Healthways Global Well-Being Index, and the OECD better life data all provide empirical evidence that social capital contributes to increasing happiness in addition to economic factors. A happy individual is likely to be a person who has sufficient income to meet basic needs and a network of good social support. This finding also suggests that policy makers build a stronger social network system that integrates healthcare, welfare, and human rights. Human-like life is composed of not only wealth but also mindful human network. We conclude the study by suggesting necessary changes in welfare policies and proposing relevant future research.