University of London Birkbeck Business School Economist Gaygysyz Batyrov and Estonian Business School Senior Research Fellow Luca Andriani agree. Their “Corruption & Life Satisfaction/Evidence from a Transition Survey" finds that happier individuals are more averse to corruption.
Ashyrov and Adriani explain that institutions are more functional when citizens and institutions are corruption-averse. This leads to more trust in institutions, another factor in happiness scores. When institutions are trustworthy, people become more corruption-averse, whether or not they are happy. The researchers find that corruption aversion is strongest amongst happy people. The U.N. World Happiness Report refers to these kinds of cyclical relationships as cycles of virtue, finding that low corruption and well-functioning institutions are two of the fundamentals of happiness, as reported by citizens of the happiest countries.
Finland’s citizens have reported the highest happiness scores in the world for the past six years. Finnish psychologist and happiness researcher Frank Martela, Ph.D., says Finland’s overall morale is enhanced by its well-functioning government institutions, providing services such as affordable health care and education.
Martela explained in a CNBC interview, "How your country is running has a huge impact on your happiness. If you're surrounded by economic, political, or social unrest, no amount of mindfulness or gratitude diaries or other popular interventions will significantly impact your happiness. Governments can't make people happy, but they can remove many sources of unhappiness."
Another measure by which people perceive corruption is campaign financing. Transparency International reports that countries with transparent campaign finance score two times better in their corruption perception index. When campaign donations are made through third parties, such as limited liability companies (LLCs), or employees of organizations on their behalf, the actual donors are obscured.
Transparency International explains that campaign corruption impacts citizens’ ability to participate in the democratic process, also a factor in happiness scores, and outlines how opacity in campaign finance impacts happiness.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) political finance database follows 64 countries in which politicians have to report who backs them. IDEA publishes data on the quality of elections in The Electoral Integrity Global Report. The database ranks countries based on their answers to political finance in four categories: a) Bans and Limits on Private Income; b) Public Funding; c) Regulations on Spending; and d) Reporting, Oversight, and Sanctions.
The year 2024 could be the time when our evolving understanding of happiness inspires us to elect happy people and change the world for the better.
References
Ashyrov, G., & Andriani, L. (2022). “Corruption and Life Satisfaction Evidence from a Transition Survey”. Kyklos. Volume 75, Issue 4. Univ. of London Birbeck Business School.
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/political-finance-database
Krcmaric D, Nelson SC, Roberts A. Billionaire Politicians: A Global Perspective. Perspectives on Politics. Published online 2023:1-15. doi:10.1017/S1537592723002761
Transparency.org
https://worldhappiness.report/
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