May 13, 2011
Worldwide, Peace and High Wellbeing Generally Coexist
Countries with the highest wellbeing tend to be the most peaceful
by Gale Muller
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As leaders including the Dalai Lama gather in Newark, N.J., to discuss ways to cultivate peace-building, a new Gallup analysis finds countries with the highest wellbeing tend to be the most peaceful countries in the world and those with the lowest wellbeing are the least likely to be peaceful. Gallup's life evaluation measure, which gauges wellbeing, correlates strongly with the Failed States Index and the World Bank's Political Stability and Absence of Violence dimension, suggesting a clear linear relationship between peace and high wellbeing.
These two important and complex ideas -- wellbeing and peace -- are often considered difficult to measure or to quantify. Gallup tackles the former by collecting wellbeing data in more than 150 countries. While Gallup's measures cover many elements vital to high wellbeing, the life evaluation component based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale has emerged as a powerful summary measure of overall wellbeing.
for illustrative maps and more :
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147515/Worldwide-Peace-High-Wellbeing-Generally-Coexist.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=Behavioral%20Economics