Key to happiness in 2015? Laughter and leisure time

WITH the nation in the depths of depression and battling mass unemployment, the smoggy streets of Bolton in the late 1930s probably seemed quite gloomy.

But that doesn’t mean the locals weren’t happy… or at least knew what happiness meant to them.

And according to a fascinating study, it’s significantly different to the way Boltonians think today.

Seventy- seven years ago more economic security was regarded as the key to being happy – whereas now it is all about having more leisure time and laughter.

The findings come from the recreation of a ground breaking study of happiness in Bolton in 1938.

When Hitler was marching towards World War II, the Mass Observation survey was asking readers of the Bolton Evening News: ‘What is happiness?’

A total of 226 people were asked to help compile a happiness index by rating the importance of ten factors ranging from beauty to more security and religion.

Last year, psychologists Sandie McHugh and Professor Jerome Carson from Bolton University attempted to recreate the study by collecting the views of 480 locals, via the Bolton News, on questions that mirrored those from 1938 as closely as possible.

Back in 1938 security, knowledge – which translates as education – and religion were the three most important aspects of happiness.

Now, good humour and leisure make up the top two, followed by security. Religion has fallen from third to bottom place. The new study will be presented today to the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society in Liverpool.

Another striking difference is the majority of people in 1938 said they were happiest when in Bolton – but now two-thirds said they were happier away from the town.

In 2014, 77 per cent answered ‘No’ to the question ‘Do you think your happiness is directly linked to material possessions and wealth?’. Although security had been highly rated in 1938, wealth by itself was not.

The study comes after the Government made a priority of improving national wellbeing through a series of measures at work and in the community. Miss McHugh said the desire for more leisure today is partly because people in general are better off. ‘Today we enjoy a material standard of living… that people in 1938 would find astonishing,’ she said. ‘The NHS, universal benefits, access to education from primary to university level are available to ordinary people.’

Miss McHugh said good humour was now ranked as most important. ‘People want the feelgood factor for themselves and their families, they want more smiling and laughter in their lives, which surprised us.’