I’m an American currently living in Finland. Finnish people are often a bit confused (but proud) of their ranking. But if you ask ‘what do you mean by happiness’ they will describe something closer to ‘satisfaction’. And they do think that they are relatively satisfied with life … or at least dealing with life as it comes with confidence.
I’d also note that you really are somehow missing the point when you focus on smile and laughter data. The Nordic part of the world simply doesn’t smile as much as Americans in public settings without good reasons which is not a sign for or against happiness. It’s just not a cultural norm. Further, smiles/laughter can be correlated with a moment of happiness, but not indicative of how your life is going. How could you, who travels broadly, not know that?
Oh Golly, It’s like you barely read the basis of the report only focusing on one piece of data they use in the assessment. Just so everyone can see it, here’s a fuller description of the data used. https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2025/caring-and-sharing-global-analysis-of-happiness-and-kindness/
I’m an American currently living in Finland. Finnish people are often a bit confused (but proud) of their ranking. But if you ask ‘what do you mean by happiness’ they will describe something closer to ‘satisfaction’. And they do think that they are relatively satisfied with life … or at least dealing with life as it comes with confidence.
I’d also note that you really are somehow missing the point when you focus on smile and laughter data. The Nordic part of the world simply doesn’t smile as much as Americans in public settings without good reasons which is not a sign for or against happiness. It’s just not a cultural norm. Further, smiles/laughter can be correlated with a moment of happiness, but not indicative of how your life is going. How could you, who travels broadly, not know that?