Gross National Well-being/Wellness (GNW) or Happiness (GNH) a

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

development and measurement framework. The GNW/GNH Index consists of seven dimensions:

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

, physical, mental, work,

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

, and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. Most wellness areas include both subjective results (via survey) and objective

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...

Disambiguation

The GNW Index is also known as the first GNH Index or

Gross National Happiness Gross National Happiness (GNH), sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross Nat ...

Index, not to be confused with

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

's GNH Index. Both

econometric Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

frameworks are different in authorship, creation dates, and

geographic Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

scope. The GNW / GNH index is a global development measurement framework published in 2005 by the International Institute of Management in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The term "Gross National Happiness" was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product." However, no GNH Index existed until 2005. The GNH

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

suggested that the ideal purpose of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

s is to promote happiness. The philosophy remained difficult to implement due to the subjective nature of happiness, the lack of exact quantitative definition of GNH, and the lack of a practical model to measure the impact of

economic policies The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

on the subjective well-being of the citizens. The GNW Index paper proposed the first GNH Index as a solution to help with the implementation of the GHN philosophy and was designed to transform the first generation abstract subjective political

mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...

into a second generation implementation

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...

(objective and subjective) concept and by treating

happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

as a socioeconomic development metric that would provide an alternative to the traditional GDP indicator, the new metric would integrate subjective and objective socioeconomic development policy framework and measurement indicators. The GNW Index is a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

model that tracks 7 subjective and objective development areas with no

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

measurement components. On the other hand, Bhutan's GNH Index is a local development framework and measurement index, published by the

Centre for Bhutan Studies The Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research (formerly The Centre for Bhutan Studies) is a research institute located in Thimphu, Bhutan, established in 1999 with the purpose of promoting research and scholarship in Bhutan. The president of the c ...

in 2012 based on 2011 Index function designed by Alkire-Foster at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The Bhutan's GNH Index is customized to the country's

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

and spiritual values, it tracks 9 subjective happiness areas including spiritual measurement such as

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

recitation A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience. Public recitation is the act of reciting a work of writing before an audience. Academic recitation In a ...

and other

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

indicators. The concepts and issues at the heart of Bhutanese approach are similar to the secular GNH Index. In 2006, a policy white paper providing recommendations for implementing the GNW Index metric was published by the International Institute of Management. The paper is widely referenced by academic and policy maker citing the GNW / GNH index as a potential model for local socioeconomic development and measurement.

Survey components

The subjective survey part of the GNW measurement system is structured into seven areas or dimensions. Each area or dimension satisfaction rating is scaled from 0–10: 0 being very dissatisfied, 5 being neutral, and 10 is very satisfied. #Mental & Emotional Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Frequency and levels of positive vs. negative thoughts and feelings over the past year #Physical & Health Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Physical safety and health, including risk to life, body and property and the cost and quality of healthcare, if one gets sick #Work & Income Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Job and income to support essential living expenses, including shelter, food, transportation, and education. If a head of household, the expenses to support household/family is included #Social Relations Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Relations with the significant other, family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and community #Economic & Retirement Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Disposable (extra) income, which is the remaining money after paying for essential living expenses. This money can be used for leisure activities, retirement savings, investments, or charity. #Political & Government Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
Political rights, privacy and personal freedom as well the performance of the government (including socioeconomic development policies effectiveness and efficiency) #Living Environment Wellbeing Overall Satisfaction (0-10):
City/urban planning, utilities, infrastructure, traffic, architecture, landscaping and nature's pollution (including noise, air, water, and soil) The survey also asks four qualitative questions to identify key causes of happiness and unhappiness: #What are the top positive things in your life that make you happy? #What are the top challenges and causes of stress in your life? #What would you advise your government to increase your well-being and happiness? #What are the most influential

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, state, federal or international projects? How are they impacting your well-being and happiness (positively or negatively)?

References

{{Reflist Macroeconomic indicators Happiness indices Sustainability metrics and indices International quality of life rankings Political concepts Econometrics Formal sciences Applied statistics Mathematical and quantitative methods (economics) Development economics Development studies