Honest People May Not Be Happy, But Happy People Are Honest

Happy elected officials may lead to happier countries.

Source: Debbie Peterson/@heyjasperai

University of London Birkbeck Business School Economist Luca Andriani and Estonian Business School Senior Research Fellow Gaygysyz Ashyrov 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.

Lessons From the Finns

Finland’s citizens have reported the highest happiness scores in the world for the past six years. Finnish psychologist and happiness researcher Frank Martela says Finland’s overall morale is enhanced by its well-functioning governmental 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."

Follow the Money

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.

1. If businesses or wealthy individuals secretly fund politicians, there is no way to know if the policies and decisions they support are designed to benefit their financial backers rather than the public interest.
2. Failure to limit donation sizes or regulate personal funds creates an uneven playing field. Candidates with access to significant private finance make it harder for others to compete against them. For example, a recent study finds that 11% of the world’s billionaires have run for office—and that they have won 80% of the time.
3. The absence of financial constraints inhibits participation by less-well-off grassroots movements and leads to the exclusion of already marginalized communities from decisions that matter to them. When this happens, the issues that matter to the public are not adequately represented in government.

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.