| Title |
Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Social Indicators Research, October 2010
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11205-010-9719-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
J. C. Ott |
| Abstract |
There are substantial differences in happiness in nations. Average happiness on scale 0-10 ranges in 2006 from 3.24 in Togo to 8.00 in Denmark and the inequality of happiness, as measured by the standard deviation, ranges from 0.85 in Laos to 3.02 in the Dominican Republic. Much of these differences are due to quality of governance and in particular to 'technical' quality. Once a minimum level is reached, rising technical quality boosts average happiness proportionally. Good governance does not only produce a higher level of happiness, but also lowers inequality of happiness among citizens. The relation between good governance and inequality of happiness is not linear, but follows a bell shaped pattern, inequality of happiness being highest in nations where the quality of government is at a medium level. The relation between the size of government and average happiness depends heavily on the quality of government; good-big government adds to happiness but bad-big government does not. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 30 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 33% |
| Turkey | 9 | 30% |
| India | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 10 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 28 | 93% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 3% |
| Scientists | 1 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 191 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | 1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 186 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 22 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 20 | 10% |
| Student > Bachelor | 20 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 17 | 9% |
| Researcher | 16 | 8% |
| Other | 35 | 18% |
| Unknown | 61 | 32% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 37 | 19% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 29 | 15% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 17 | 9% |
| Psychology | 14 | 7% |
| Computer Science | 6 | 3% |
| Other | 25 | 13% |
| Unknown | 63 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 36. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 November 2023.
All research outputs
#1,071,503
of 24,848,516 outputs
Outputs from Social Indicators Research
#95
of 1,863 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,290
of 104,332 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Social Indicators Research
#2
of 20 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,848,516 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,863 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 104,332 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 20 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.