Introduction
In actuality, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita does not guarantee a better life for everyone, especially in wealthy countries. It ignores inequalities and factors that are genuinely important to individuals, such as social relationships, health, and how they spend their leisure time. As a result, the Happy Planet Index (HPI) was developed, which can be used in various ways. The Happy Planet Index is a measure of long-term happiness that ranks countries based on how well they use finite environmental resources to provide long, happy lives. It was created in 2006 to contest the notion that countries should prioritize continual economic expansion measured by GDP (Patrick et al., 2019). It seeks to guide a transformation in how national ‘development’ is perceived – as clearly as possible without oversimplifying. The Happy Planet Index contributes to answering the issue, “Is it possible to live happy lives without harming the environment (Patrick et al., 2019)?” The relationship between happiness and ecological footprints can be clearly understood by interpreting the data presented in figure 2.57.
Graph Interpretation
According to the graph’s interpretation (figure 2.57), countries with more giant ecological footprints have higher happiness, health, and well-being levels. Although moderate environmental use produces some of the most increased satisfaction effects, too little or too much can be harmful to health. On the other hand, countries that rank high on the Happy Planet Index demonstrate that it is possible to live long, happy lives while leaving a far smaller ecological imprint than the highest-consuming nations.
Correlation Statistics
Correlation is a statistical term that expresses how closely two variables are related linearly (meaning they change together at a constant rate). Correlations are valuable since they can show a predicted relation used in practice. An electrical company, for example, may generate less power on a warm day based on the association between electricity needs and weather. There is a cause-and-effect relationship in that example since harsh weather causes individuals to consume more electricity for temperature control. In general, the appearance of a correlation does not imply a causal relationship (Patrick et al., 2019). According to the statistics in the graph, maintaining an ecological range of 4-6 can produce a happiness score of up to 8 without causing the damage that an ecological score of 10 can do for the same degree of happiness.
The Affection of Correlation Statistics Size
Regarding the Actual Data Points
It can be predicted that countries that use better resources are likely to be wealthier and have better access to properties and comforts. If an individual can live comfier, they are more likely to be happy, even if the resources are harmful to the environment. Today, most people enjoy longer, happy lives at the price of the environment (Patrick et al., 2019). For example, wealthy, Western countries with higher incomes consistently score highly on life expectancy and happiness but not on the Happy Planet Index due to the environmental consequences of how their economies operate.
Regarding How the Variables Were Measured
Happiness scores were assigned based on countries’ general happiness, health, and well-being, as well as their ecological footprint using resources such as electricity and gas. Costa Rica, for example, has a per capita environmental footprint of only one-third that of the United States, although its health and life expectancy ratings are marginally higher (Patrick et al., 2019). However, all nations can do a better job of converting the ‘inputs’ of natural resources into the eventual ‘outputs’ of long, happy lives – producing sustainable well-being.
Conclusion
Economic data can be measured in diverse countries by measuring those in that particular country’s well-being, health, and happiness. As discussed above, figure 2.57 explains that if ecological footprints, for example, are larger, the happiness levels in that country will be high too. In addition, the correlational statistics in the data provided a clear understanding of the relation between happiness and ecological footprints in different countries such as Costa Rica and the United States.
Reference
Patrick, R., Shaw, A., Freeman, A., Henderson-Wilson, C., Lawson, J., Davison, M.,… & Lee, C. K. (2019). Human well-being and the health of the environment: local indicators that balance the scales. Social Indicators Research, 146(3), 651-667.