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Steering Towards Happiness in The Netherlands

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  • Jeroen Boelhouwer
  • Cretien Campen

Abstract

As in many other countries, the economic crisis is being felt in the Netherlands. Is that a good moment for a government to develop a policy to increase happiness? Is it actually possible to raise the level of happiness in the Netherlands? The Dutch are after all already happy, and the objective quality of life in the Netherlands is also high, so there would seem to be little scope for making them even happier. It is also questionable whether the government should be playing the role of a ‘happiness machine’, which seeks to promote individual happiness, or whether it would do better to act as a ‘misfortune mitigator’ which seeks to minimise the negative elements in people’s lives. In this article we attempt to answer these questions on the basis of Dutch initiatives designed to promote happiness in the areas of municipal policy, welfare, health care, work and education. We come to the conclusion that happiness policy is already deeply embedded in Dutch society. The Dutch government is indeed a happiness machine. It could act rather more as a misfortune mitigator, given the gains to be made at the bottom of the ‘happiness ladder’, in particular. Mental resilience emerges in all initiatives as an important factor in increasing happiness. Programmes to boost mental resilience can be started as early as primary school. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen Boelhouwer & Cretien Campen, 2013. "Steering Towards Happiness in The Netherlands," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 59-72, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:1:p:59-72
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0383-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruno Frey, 2011. "Tullock challenges: happiness, revolutions, and democracy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 269-281, September.
    2. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    3. Richard Easterlin, 2005. "Feeding the Illusion of Growth and Happiness: A Reply to Hagerty and Veenhoven," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 429-443, December.
    4. Heinz-Herbert Noll, 2011. "The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi-Report: Old Wine in New Skins? Views from a Social Indicators Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 111-116, May.
    5. Michael Hagerty & Ruut Veenhoven, 2003. "Wealth and Happiness Revisited – Growing National Income Does Go with Greater Happiness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 1-27, October.
    6. Ruut Veenhoven, 2000. "The Four Qualities of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-39, March.
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    2. Yi-Ching Hsieh & Hung-Chang Chiu & Yun-Chia Tang & Wei-Yun Lin, 2018. "Does Raising Value Co-creation Increase All Customers’ Happiness?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1053-1067, November.

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