FIVE POSSIBLE FACTORS BEHIND ONTARIANS’ COLLECTIVE GOOD MOOD
Sunny ways
The October election of Justin Trudeau may have boosted Ontarians’ spirits, and not just because of his promise to return “sunny ways” to Parliament Hill. According to John Helliwell, an editor of the World Happiness Report, research shows people are happier when they have a government they believe reflects their values. “This notion of shared social norms is very important for feelings of quality of life,” he said. In Ontario, nearly 45 per cent voted for Trudeau’s Liberals.
Happiness is local
Although the poll found that 54 per cent believe the world is a more dangerous place than it was a year ago, the mounting global turmoil Ontarians perceived didn’t prevent most from reporting they were happy. This supports the theory that, like politics, all happiness is local. “What really matters is what life is like on the streets, in your workplaces, in your communities,” said Helliwell.
Small-town charm
People in northern and southwestern Ontario were most likely to report they were extremely happy, while respondents within the 416 area code were among the least likely to say they were satisfied with life. This could be explained by a 2010 study by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards; it found the most important factor accounting for variations in happiness in regions across Canada was the sense of a belonging to a community, which was more prevalent in small cities and rural areas.
Born this way?
It could be we’re just naturally happy. U.S. researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky has estimated that all the factors we generally associate with happiness — money, health, a supportive marriage, lack of trauma — account for no more than 15 per cent of the variation in happiness between people. More significant is that people who are fulfilled deal with life “in ways that seem to maintain or even promote their happiness,” she wrote, while the miserable react “in ways that seem to reinforce their unhappiness.”
The glee of gettin’ it on
The same percentage of people who said they were very happy or extremely happy also said they were satisfied with their sex lives, suggesting a strong correlation between sex and happiness. But that doesn’t mean Ontarians are wearing themselves out between the sheets. A 2015 University of Toronto study found that, for people in relationships, having sex once a week makes them happy, but any more than that has no effect on well-being. Ben Spurr