Ruut Veenhoven
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Ruut Veenhoven (born 1942) is a Dutch sociologist and a pioneer and world authority on the scientific study of
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 ...
, in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. His work on the social conditions for human happiness at
Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...
in the Netherlands, has contributed to a renewed interest in happiness as an aim for public policy. He has shown that happiness can be used a reliable measure to assess progress in societies which was one of the sources of inspiration for the United Nations to adopt happiness measures as a holistic approach to development. Veenhoven is the founding director of the
World Database of Happiness The World Database of Happiness is a web-based archive of research findings on subjective appreciation of life. The database contains both an overview of scientific publications on happiness and a digest of research findings. The database contains ...
and a founding editor of the ''
Journal of Happiness Studies The ''Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being'' is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary scientific journal covering the study of happiness and well-being. It was established in 2000 by founding editors Ed Dien ...
''. He has been described as "the godfather of happiness studies", and "a leading authority on worldwide levels of happiness from country to country", whose work "earned him international acclaim".


Biography

Veenhoven was born in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in 1942. He graduated in 1962 from the Nederlands Lyceum in The Hague and received a master's degree in
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
(specializing in public management) from Erasmus University in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
(1969). Subsequently, he completed a PhD in the
Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
also at Erasmus, with a dissertation on "The Condition of Happiness". He was also registered as a social-sexologist (1994–2000). Between 1970 and 1990 Veenhoven was a leading advocate of
abortion law Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances ...
reform and in promoting acceptance of voluntary childlessness in The Netherlands. From 2001 until his retirement in 2007 he taught in Rotterdam as professor of 'Social conditions for human happiness', where he currently works in the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization ( Ehero). Since 1985 he has been director of the World Database of Happiness at Erasmus University Rotterdam. From 1995 until 2002 he was extraordinary professor of Humanism at the
University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...
in the Netherlands (Piet Thoenes chair). In 1984 Veenhoven earned his doctorate on the dissertation ‘Conditions of Happiness’ that synthesized the results of 245 empirical studies on happiness. On that basis he developed the World Database of Happiness, which now covers 20,000 research findings taken from 3500 empirical investigations. Veenhoven is mentioned in the top 5% of authors in his field (December 2012).


Awards

The International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) has awarded Veenhoven several times: * 1997: Research Fellow Award * 2000: Best Annual SIR Paper Award * 2001: Distinguished QOL Researcher Award * 2009: Best Annual JOHS Paper Award. * 2012
Distinguished service award


Research on happiness

His main research subject is happiness in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. Worldwide he is seen as a pioneer in that field. * Main findings are: ** Happiness is universal. All humans tend to assess how much they like the life they live and conditions for happiness are quite similar. Yet there is some cultural variation in beliefs about happiness. Happiness draws on gratification of universal needs, rather than on meeting culturally relative wants. ** Need gratification depends both on the livability of society and the life-ability of individuals. ** Greater happiness of a greater number is possible in contemporary societies and can be ‘engineered’, among other things in the following ways: *** Fostering freedom, so that people can choose the way of life that fits them best. *** Informing people about effects of major choices on the happiness of people like them. This requires large scale long-term follow-up studies comparable to research in nutrition. *** Investing in mental health, professionalization of life-coaching. ** Happiness signals that we are functioning well and for that reason happiness goes hand-in-hand with good health, both mental and physical. Happy people live longer. ** Being happy combines well with doing good. Happier people do better in relationships, do more voluntary work and are more interested in other people and their problems.


References


External links


Personal page at Erasmus University


{{DEFAULTSORT:Veenhoven, Ruut Dutch sociologists Erasmus University Rotterdam faculty Living people Politicians from The Hague 1942 births