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easuring a country’s happiness is a tricky matter. Indonesia, for instance, with its US$3,346.50 gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 2015, is an intriguing case. The World Happiness Report, a study that factors a country’s GDP level into their results, ranked Indonesia as the 79th happiest country out of 157 countries in 2016.

Studies that do not factor in Indonesia’s GDP, however, rank Indonesia as one of the happiest countries in the world. In 2014, global research company IPSOS found Indonesia to have the highest percentage of “very happy” citizens amongst 24 countries.

Similarly, the Happy Planet Index (HPI) ranked Indonesia as the 16th happiest country amongst 140 countries, in addition to Gallup’s ranking of Indonesia as the seventh highest country on their positive experience index, a measure intended to indicate how pervasive positive emotions are in a country. This begs us to question: Is GDP per capita really an accurate measure of a country’s happiness?

Comparing Indonesia’s and the United States’ rankings in each of these studies suggests otherwise. In comparison to Indonesia’s GDP per capita, the US’ GDP per capita is significantly higher at $56,115.70 in 2015. The US’ 13th rank in the World Happiness Report, as opposed to Indonesia’s lower rank of 79th, is thus not surprising.

Yet IPSOS’ internet survey, in which Indonesians answered whether they are very happy or simply rather happy, Indonesia scored remarkably higher than the US. IPSOS reported that 55 percent of Indonesians indicated that they are “very happy,” in comparison to the US’ 26 percent, which came in at sixth.

Gallup’s 2016 Global Emotions Report also ranked Indonesians as happier than Americans. Gallup surveyors asked questions to measure positive experiences, such as “Did you feel well-rested yesterday?,” “Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?” and “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?”

After creating an index based on all the affirmative answers with country-level index scores ranging from zero to 100, Gallup reported Indonesia scored a high 82. The US did not even make it to the 10 highest scores.

Having lived in Jakarta and New York, these results did not surprise me. With the Indonesian collectivist culture, people in Jakarta treat quality time with loved ones as a main source of happiness.

New York City’s capitalistic nature, on the other hand, values professional achievement over everything else, only allowing Americans to be happy when they have reached their professional goals.

I watched many of my American friends often overwork themselves, rarely finding time to relax. Mediocrity, to them, felt like the end of the world; they cannot stop at any cost, even if the cost is their personal well-being.

Yet when they finally reach their professional goals, it is a fleeting moment, as opposed to Indonesians’ constant enjoyment of socializing. This is not necessarily ideal either — I observed many of my Indonesian friends settle for mediocrity, prioritizing their happiness before the need to succeed.

Gallup’s question, “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?” is what particularly intrigues me. Living in the US has allowed me to learn so much more than in Indonesia, although I must point out I have only been immersed in the East Coast education bubble for the past seven years. Yet even when I was living in small-town Exeter, New Hampshire, I still had an array of student clubs I could join.

The 18 percent that make up the American rural population would certainly have fewer options to do something interesting every day if compared to metropolitan New Yorkers. Access to higher-quality American infrastructure, however, will still allow more options for Americans to do something new every day.

I grew up thinking, for instance, that public libraries were solely American as I only saw them in Hollywood movies. The culture of learning is certainly one that has been deeply implemented in American culture, more so than in Indonesia’s.

Taking a look at these surveys allows us to see the different ways to measure a country’s well-being. Studying people’s psychological level of life satisfaction would be the micro-perspective of measuring a country’s happiness, as it analyzes data of individuals rather than of the country as a whole. Yet it is still just as important to measure a country’s happiness from a macro-perspective, in order to also measure a country’s well-being objectively.

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) thus proposes to incorporate both micro and macro perspectives. HPI incorporates four variables: Three of them utilize values of objective data like life expectancy, inequality of outcomes and ecological footprints, while the fourth variable, well-being, uses qualitative data from the Gallup World Poll.

Using the HPI’s formula, the US’ 108th ranking is still lower than Indonesia’s 16th. The HPI suggests that the US’ material wealth, the eighth highest GDP among the 140 countries in the study, “isn’t being translated efficiently into sustainable wellbeing for its residents.”

While the US has high levels of wellbeing and life expectancy, its score for inequality of outcomes is one of the highest among Western industrialized countries. This is a clear indicator that only some enjoy the high levels of wellbeing in the US. Their failure to maintain a small ecological footprint is also the most significant reason for its low ranking, having the fourth largest of 140 countries in the rankings.

The US’ recent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement unfortunately hints at there being no change toward this issue. I thus propose a new approach to policy-making that aims to elevate citizens’ entire well-being
rather than to simply increase objective measures such as GDP per capita.

The US could implement capped work hours and required vacation days to reduce stress levels, while also focusing on lessening economic inequality. Likewise, Indonesia can implement a culture of learning — through building public libraries — in order to increase the level of productivity in the country and instill a sense of purpose within people.

A country’s happiness is certainly not a black and white issue; governments must approach the matter from multiple aspects.
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The writer is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York.