How happy are you with your life?
If the answer is “a lot,” there’s a good chance you’re an upper-class married woman who considers herself attractive.
This is according to researchers from the University of York, who have revealed the key factors that contribute to happiness.
While previous research has suggested that money is related to happiness, the new study indicates that this is not always the case.
“While income clearly plays a role, it is certainly not the only or even the most important factor,” the researchers wrote.
Researchers at the University of York have revealed the key factors that contribute to happiness
In the study, researchers set out to understand which variables lead to the highest degree of life satisfaction.
More than 12,000 participants were enrolled in the study, including working and non-working adults ages 25 to 64.
Participants were surveyed across a variety of categories, including family, work, education, social interests, social class, income, and life satisfaction.
“We wanted to examine several factors that might influence life satisfaction, not just one factor, such as income, work or family life, independently of other influences,” said the researchers, led by Professor James Chowhan.
“Our study is unique in its comprehensiveness, but also in the fact that 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, according to the researchers.
“Although others may rate someone as very attractive, what matters most is how satisfied a person is with their own appearance, something that might be more difficult today in a world of social influencers and social media where appearance has a huge role,” the team said. he said in a statement.
How happy are you with your life? If the answer is “a lot,” there’s a good chance you’re an upper-class married woman who thinks she’s attractive (stock image)
Family time, being part of a community outside of work, and having people to depend on were also found to have a high impact on life satisfaction.
And while income played a role, it was not the most important.
“We often see in the literature that income is really important, or that work is really important, but actually it was these family social factors that had the greatest magnitude of importance,” Professor Chowhan explained.
‘In our study, we found that work has a low value in relation to family and social outcomes.
“It’s not that all aspects of the job were rated poorly, but that family and community generally predominated.”
Social class was another substantial determinant of people’s degree of satisfaction with their lives.
“You could earn what would be considered a big salary or salary anywhere else in the country, but in these big cities you feel like you’re just middle class,” Professor Chowhan said.
‘The higher one rates oneself in terms of social class, the greater one’s satisfaction with life, but also the gap between the lowest class and the upper class is enormous.
“If you go from the lowest class to the upper class, that’s just a huge jump in life satisfaction.”
Meanwhile, health quality was found to play an important role in life satisfaction.
“The degree to which you rate your overall health as excellent really contributes to your life satisfaction,” adds Professor Chowhan.
Being married or cohabiting was also an advantage on the life satisfaction scale compared to being widowed, separated or single.
Additionally, women were happier with their lives than men.
‘The best scenario to achieve the greatest satisfaction with life?’ the researchers concluded.
“You are married, you are happy with your personal appearance, you have good family and community support, you are in excellent health, and you consider yourself upper class.”