Why Finland is the Happiest Country According to a Psychologist
It would seem that a stoic-like attitude to happiness is the key
What we’ll be talking about in this article:
Finland is the world’s ‘happiest country’
Why it’s ranked as such
The four phrases that encapsulate the attitude of the Finns
Finland is the world’s ‘happiest country’
I came across a rather interesting article of late. It as written by the Finnish psychology, Frank Martela. Martela is an assistant professor at Aalto University in Espoo, a city just west of Helsinki in Finland. He’s also a respected philosopher and psychology researcher.
In the article, Martela spoke about his surprise about why Finland has been ranked as the world’s ‘happiest country’ for the past six years in a row, according to the World Happiness Report.
Finns though would be the first to admit that they can be quite cold. Emotions aren’t really shown in public and I even found an old document from ediplomat.com (a site to help new diplomats) which recommended that you give plenty of personal space when meeting a Finn, never speak to them with your hands in your pockets, and never ever hug, kiss or touch a local (I would presume it means to don’t do it without being invited to).
Martela says that the Finnish people are quite often the first to question the findings of the people behind the World Happiness Report, he says “Our national self-image is that we’re quiet, introverted and somewhat melancholy types.”
Why it’s ranked as such
A large part of the happiness of the Finns though can be put down to how satisfied people are with the country’s institutions and how the government cares for the citizens. Imagine that!
Finland ranks very highly when we look at measurements for things like press freedom, the quality of democracy, and rule of law. Like all good European countries, education and healthcare are free, pensions are good and unemployment benefits (not just payments but also assistance in finding a new job) rank highly too.
But what I really liked about what Marela wrote about were the four phrases he mentioned that really capture the psyche of the Finns.
“Who has happiness should hide it”
This saying comes from Finland’s national poet Eino Leino. Where it comes from is the culture of Finns, and indeed Nordic people as a whole, not tending to compare themselves to others. So, if a Finn is happy, they don’t really need to show off about it, they’ve just content to be happy when they’re happy.
“The pessimist will never be disappointed”
It’s a pretty obvious thing to say but if you always expect the worst then when it happens you won’t be disappointed and if things turn out better than expected, well, that’s a nice wee bonus.
It’s also about accepting the challenges and struggles of life and that what we can control can always be improved.
“Everyone is the blacksmith of their own happiness”
Just like the final sentence of the above really. This saying actually comes from Roman times “Faber est suae quisque fortunae.” But, it has long been a popular trope in Finland.
We all know that we are the ones responsible for our own happiness and yes, we all fall into the trap of blaming others and our surroundings occasionally but creating our happiness rests in and with ourselves.
“Some have happiness, everyone has summer”
While we like to think that we have a sense of control in our lives, the fact is that the universe is one of chaos and nothing can be predicted with certainty. Every dog has his day and even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the occasional NFL match.
I really like this phrase personally. The idea that yes, okay, my neighbor might have won the lottery and has gotten himself a trophy wife and a new BMW, but summer’s coming and I’ll be able to sit in the sun and enjoy the weather just as much.
There’s not much point in envying people who seem to be happy at the moment, behind closed doors we don’t know what’s going on, and anyway, like The Dude said in The Big Lebowski when he was asked how it was going? “Ah, y’know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs, but y’know, the Dude abides.”
You can read the Frank Martela article here.
Hi, I’m Paddy. Thanks for reading my article about my article about the world’s happiest country.
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