Mainland China, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of happy citizens, according to a new survey by the Paris-based market research company Ipsos.

Some 91 per cent of Chinese respondents reported feeling happy, making it the country with the highest proportion of happy citizens, according to the findings released on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands had 86 and 85 per cent of respondents reporting feeling happy, respectively.

The report was based on a poll conducted from December 22 to January 6 across 32 countries, including a range of developing countries and major developed economies.

While Chinese respondents showed a very high level of satisfaction across different areas compared to those from other countries, they reported being less satisfied – although still more than people in most other countries – with their country’s economic and political circumstances.

Only 78 per cent of Chinese respondents reported feeling content with China’s economic situation, ranking them third after respondents from Saudi Arabia (85 per cent) and the UAE (82 per cent).

When asked about the country’s social and political situation, 83 per cent of Chinese respondents said they were content, putting it first among nationalities surveyed, followed by India (72 per cent) and Singapore (71 per cent).

It was part of a global trend revealed by the poll, with respondents from across the surveyed countries revealing they were least satisfied with their national economic, social and political conditions.

The report concluded that global happiness as measured by Ipsos had increased two years in a row.

“It is six points higher than a year ago and 10 points higher than it was in August 2020, months after Covid disrupted people’s lives worldwide,” said the report.

Although ranked as the country with the most proportion of happy people, it seems China is bucking the global trend when it comes to drivers of happiness.

The collective result from the poll reveals people across the globe ranked “feeling my life has meaning” and “feeling in control of my life” as the top two drivers of happiness.

But Chinese respondents had a different view and neither of these two factors made it to the top of their list.

When asked “how satisfied are you with various aspects of life,” 89 per cent of Chinese respondents said they felt satisfied with their relationship with their partner or spouse (if they have one), and 89 per cent were also satisfied with their friends.

The survey revealed that Chinese respondents ranked having friends as a top priority. In fact, it was the country with the highest level of satisfaction in this area.

And 71 per cent of Chinese respondents reported they had friends they could turn to when in need – significantly higher than in other Asian countries such as Japan, where only around half the respondents said yes.

The next highest category was “my children” (if they have any): 88 per cent of Chinese respondents see this as a top happiness driver.

More broadly across all countries, satisfaction with respondents’ children (if they had any) had the lowest impact on happiness of the 30 categories measured, “reflecting that most parents are satisfied with their children even if they are unhappy about other things in their life”, according to Ipsos.

Despite muted sentiment towards the country’s economic condition and personal finance, China shows the highest correlation between consumer confidence and happiness levels. In other words, Chinese people may be happier when they are confident they can spend more.

The survey also found that globally although many people report being happy, pessimism about the future of relationships is prevalent and there remains a lack of support systems.

Overall, the finding says the proportion of reported happiness declined in Western countries while China and other middle-income countries are reportedly feeling happier.

The recent poll conducted by Ipsos used an online survey platform and included a sample of at least 500 adults from each of the 32 countries surveyed, with a total of 22,508 participants.

The research also acknowledged that the samples from China and several other countries were more urban, educated, and affluent compared to the general population, which is something to keep in mind when interpreting the survey results.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/ar...obox=1679400090

You think this survey done through WeChat.

Do you think the survey is done by the government?

Why they need to be sad? The country is headed for the right direction and lead by good leaders.

Is CCP similar to PAS? Are they neglecting development and failed like PAS state?

Yup, lots of people here got brainwashed by western media 😝

Read the article. It’s conducted by Ipsos.

Yet pathetic AMDKs won’t even admit western based source when it does not fit their narrative? 😝

It’s conducted by Ipsos. So, are you saying they are fake too?

But you’re not happy with T20 and MRT 😝

So, you think Ipsos will just publish their data without some sort of verification?

That is the problem of a lot of people in k where they think people in China are suffering badly because of so called no freedom of expression.

If you have met any mainlanders, most of them still have a very optimistic views on their country. Why would they not feel happy when their country is still heading in the right direction despite some hiccups during the pandemic.

Nobody is saying the country is perfect or the government is an angel but you cannot deny that the government is way more effective than a lot of other countries government. Why would they feel unhappy?

Nobody is condemning western media. I am stating the fact that people like you are brainwashed by western media and only select things they want to hear to believe. Everyone knows that CGTN is propaganda but can you say BBC and CNN are not propaganda to?.

You call people who say good things about China as brainwashed but have you considered that you yourself are brainwashed by western media without realising it?

This post has been edited by Namelessone1973: Mar 22 2023, 08:49 AM

See, this are exactly the type of response by people who don’t even understand China and believe in whatever the mainstream media report. You do know that the survey is not conducted by China’s government and Ipsos will not simply publish things without proper verification.

Ask yourself honestly. If Malaysia today are heading to become a superpower and world no. 1, would you not feel optimistic and happy that the country is headed in the right direction?

So, you’re saying Ipsos is not transparent?

I have always maintained that CGTN is mostly propaganda. However, it is people like you who don’t realise that mainstream media like BBC, CNN, etc. has a lot of propaganda too and believe in whatever they report about China as the truth shaping your views about China.

People like you just brush any good comments about China as propaganda and anyone who say anything good about China as wumao. However, you don’t realise that you’re behaving exactly like the people you are criticising 😝

Read the article. It’s done by Ipsos. Go google where does Ipsos comes from

You do know that the survey is not conducted by China but by Ipsos. If you don’t know who is Ipsos, there’s uncle google who can answer all your questions 😝

This is the best example of how people are brainwashed about China

Ipsos bring a gun and force peoplekah?

Well, their government is doing something about it. 996 is actually illegal in China.

Ask yourself honestly, if Malaysia is heading to become superpower and top economic power in the world, won't you be happy and optimistic about the future?