People are always eager to pursue a happy life, but where does happiness come from? Is it from within or from external factors? A recent multinational study has delved into this long-standing question. The results have shown that the source of happiness may stem from internal or external factors, or even a combination of both, varying from person to person.
The University of California, Davis, highlighted in a press release that people have long pondered the source of happiness. In recent years, initiatives like the United Nations’ World Happiness Report have been striving to enhance global well-being.
Emorie Beck, an assistant professor of psychology at the university and the main author of the study, stated that understanding the source of happiness is crucial for devising effective improvement measures.
To this end, the university collaborated with researchers from other institutions to investigate whether happiness can be attributed to internal factors such as personality traits or to external factors like job satisfaction, income level, and interpersonal relationships.
Ed Ergenzinger, a psychologist and adjunct professor at Wake Forest University, wrote in Psychology Today that if happiness is primarily influenced by external factors, public policy efforts to enhance happiness should focus on improving health and economic stability.
However, if happiness primarily originates from internal factors related to individuals, methods to enhance happiness should concentrate on improving people’s psychological state through therapy, meditation, and mindfulness practices.
There are theories proposing two main models of happiness. The “bottom-up” perspective suggests that overall happiness results from satisfaction across various aspects of life such as wealth, work, and relationships. Surveys like the World Happiness Report tend to follow this model, advocating for societal measures to enhance happiness, like increasing people’s income or improving environmental quality, rather than focusing on individuals’ internal factors.
On the other hand, the “top-down” perspective asserts that happiness doesn’t stem from external circumstances but from personal attitudes and qualities. This implies that we can boost happiness by improving our mental state through mindfulness, meditation, or therapy rather than external factors.
A third model incorporates both perspectives, suggesting that happiness is influenced by a combination of internal and external factors. From this viewpoint, both internal and external factors contribute to overall happiness.
In Beck’s research, researchers collected data from a 33-year longitudinal survey on life satisfaction involving over 40,000 participants in countries like the UK, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. The survey assessed participants’ satisfaction in five domains over the period: relationships, work, health, income, and housing.
Analyzing the data, the researchers found that participants could be roughly divided into four equally sized groups based on the main factors affecting their happiness: (1) internal factors (the “top-down” model), (2) external factors (the “bottom-up” model), (3) interaction between internal and external factors, and (4) no clear relationship with internal and external factors.
In the fourth group, participants’ happiness didn’t show a clear association with internal and external factors. The researchers speculated that other external factors not encompassed by the five domains in the study might influence their happiness.
The study results indicate that research into average happiness for entire populations may not reflect individual differences. If governments aim to enhance societal happiness, policies must address external issues like health, income, housing, and work while considering personality traits such as personal resilience and life goals.
Beck emphasized that the most effective policies should be tailored to individual circumstances. For individuals whose happiness derives from internal factors, efforts to improve external factors may prove ineffective.
She said, “These things are treated separately, but in reality, they interact at the individual level.”
The research findings were published on May 2 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
According to the World Happiness Report released by the United Nations on March 20, in the 2025 rankings involving 147 countries and regions, Finland has topped the world for the eighth consecutive year. Taiwan ranks 27th, leading in East Asia.
Experts suggest that compared to residents of other East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea, Taiwanese people tend to eat together more frequently, which is considered one of the reasons they feel happier. Do you think this statement is accurate? (For more details, click here.)