Correlations Between Happiness Factors

  • Strong Correlation
  • Moderate Correlation
  • Weak Correlation
  • Weak (-) Correlation

Each circle represents the correlation between two factors on the grid. The higher the coefficient, the more correlated the two factors are, with 1.0 being perfectly correlated.

  1. Happiness (Score) is based on the Gallup World Poll question rating one's own overall happiness on a scale from 1 to 10.
  2. Economy is based on adjusted GDP per capita in terms of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity).
  3. Family/Social Support is based on the average binary of the poll question “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them?”
  4. Health is based on real data of life expectancy.
  5. Freedom is based on the average binary of the poll question “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?”
  6. Trust is based on the average binary of the poll question “Is corruption widespread throughout the government (or businesses)?”
  7. Generosity is based on regressing the average of answers to the question “Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?” against national GDP per capita.
  8. Residual is the combination of other factors not already listed above that contribute to happiness.

Of all the factors - Economy, Family, and Health have the strongest correlations to overall happiness. Freedom and Trust have moderate correlations with happiness. Generosity appears to be uncorrelated with happiness. Freedom, Trust and Generosity have low to moderate correlations with one another. Residual factors of happiness are uncorrelated with the other factors but still strongly correlate with overall happiness. These relationships vary only slightly from year to year.