What happiness looked like 80 years ago compared to now
We all want happiness, but what does happiness look like to you? Has it changed over the years? And how is it influenced by the times you live in? Let’s take a look.
In 1938, a social research organisation placed an advert in a local British newspaper, the Bolton Evening News, asking readers: “What is happiness?” The top three answers by the 226 respondents were security, knowledge and religion.
Fast forward to 2014 when psychologists Sandie McHugh and Jerome Carson from the University of Bolton decided to recreate the famous study in the same town. They ran an advertisement in the same newspaper, which is now called The Bolton News, asking readers to define happiness. The 489 answers revealed that people don’t quite think of happiness in the same way they used to. In 2014, security was still in the top three, but good humour and leisure came in at first and second places.
In both surveys, people were asked to rank 10 potential “ingredients” to happiness from most important to least important. These were the findings:
- Religion, which was seen as the third most important factor in 1938, has fallen to 10th (and bottom) place in 2014.
- In 1938, luck was perceived to be an important contributor to happiness by only 20 per cent of respondents. In 2014, people believed it to be 41 per cent.
- The majority of people said they were happiest when they were in Bolton in 1938 but in 2014, 63 per cent said they were happier away from the town.
- While people were happy most of the time 80 years ago, recent respondents said their happiness tended to be concentrated on weekends.
- However, both generations agreed that money cannot buy happiness. Respondents in 1938 said they only needed “a little bit put by for a rainy day” with 2014 participants echoing a similar sentiment. Seventy-six per cent said happiness wasn't linked to the amount of their material possessions; instead it was about "simple things like going out for a walk with the dog."
Study author Sandie McHugh said: "The overall impression from the correspondence in 1938 is that happiness factors were rooted in everyday lives at home and within the community. In 2014 many comments value family and friends, with good humour and leisure time also ranked highly."