How happy are you with your life?
If the answer is “very,” chances are you’re an upper-class married woman who thinks she’s attractive.
So say researchers from the University of York, who have revealed the main factors that contribute to happiness.
Although previous research has suggested that money is linked to happiness, the new research indicates that this is not always the case.
“While income certainly plays a role, it is certainly not the only factor or even the most important,” the researchers wrote.
Researchers from the University of York have revealed the key factors that contribute to happiness
In the study, the researchers wanted to understand which variables lead to the highest level of life satisfaction.
The study involved more than 12,000 participants, including working and non-working adults aged 25-64.
Participants were surveyed in a range of categories including family, work, education, social interests, social class, income and life satisfaction.
“We wanted to look at different factors that can influence life satisfaction, and not just one factor, such as income, work or family life, independently of the other influences,” said the researchers, led by Professor James Chowhan.
“Our study is unique because of its comprehensiveness, but also because it looks at non-working adults alongside working adults, without treating them as a niche category.”
One of the most surprising findings was the importance that physical appearance plays in life satisfaction, the researchers said.
“While others may rate someone as very attractive, what matters more is how satisfied someone is with their own appearance, something that could be more difficult today in a world of social influencers and social media where appearance plays an outsized role,” the team says. said in a statement.
How happy are you with your life? If the answer is ‘very’ then chances are you are an upper class married woman who thinks she is attractive (stock image)
Family time, being part of a community outside of work and having people you can rely on were also found to have a major impact on life satisfaction.
And while income played a role, it was not the most important.
“Often we see in the literature that income is very important, or that your work is very important, but it was actually these family social factors that were more important,” Professor Chowhan explained.
‘In our research we found that work is given a low value in relation to family and social outcomes.
‘It is not that all aspects of work are poorly regarded, but family and community generally dominate.’
Social class was another substantial determinant of how satisfied people are with their lives.
“You could earn a good salary elsewhere in the country, but in these big cities you feel like you are only middle class,” Professor Chowhan said.
‘The higher you rate yourself in terms of social class, the higher your life satisfaction, but the gap between the lowest class and the upper class is also enormous.
“When you go from the lowest class to the upper class, it’s just a huge jump in life satisfaction.”
Meanwhile, the quality of health appeared to play a major role in life satisfaction.
‘The extent to which you rate your overall health as excellent really contributes to your life satisfaction,’ adds Professor Chowhan.
Being married or living in common law was also an asset on the life satisfaction scale compared to being widowed, divorced or single.
Moreover, women were happier with their lives than men.
‘Best case scenario for the highest life satisfaction?’ the researchers concluded.
“You are married, happy with your personal appearance, have good family and community support, have excellent health and consider yourself upper class.”