另一年，另一份報告稱北歐國家是世界上最幸福的國家。

聯合國可持續發展解決方案網絡每年都會發布世界幸福報告，由Ernesto Illy基金會提供支持，該基金會列出了世界上最幸福的國家。今年的冠軍是挪威，它遵循斯堪的納維亞國家的趨勢，即使他們有漫長而寒冷而黑暗的冬季，他們一直在贏得地球上最精彩的地方的稱號。

但是，北歐究竟做了什麼不同的事情，讓公民如此高興呢？

看起來答案歸結爲公民和國家支持計劃之間的睦鄰支持。人們希望感到安全，他們也從他們可以信賴的社區中受益 - 斯堪的納維亞國家在創造環境方面比大多數人做得更好。

該研究的副編輯之一Jan-Emmanuel De Neve博士說：“斯堪的納維亞國家在社會支持方面非常重要。 “你可以看到，最大的國家的社會不是彼此都有，而且它們的人均GDP也很高。”

De Neve和該研究的編輯John Helliwell教授都表示，個人更願意在北歐國家接收並寄回陌生人的錢包，而不是那些排名較低的人，這是編輯們稱之爲“社會支持”的指標“。

社區精神是一個社會難以創造的事情，但是Helliwell補充說，希望讓公民更快樂的政府應該爲地方倡議“騰出空間”。

他說：“創造積極的社交空間，人們可以有良好的面對面互動交流是一個開始，”他說。 “如果你把人們聚集在一起，如果你讓他們幫助別人，他們會對自己和社會感覺更好。”

De Neve也認爲工作場所的工作安全和條件可以對幸福程度產生巨大影響。

“人們在工作場所感到不高興，因爲這裏有容易招聘和輕鬆解僱的文化，”他補充說，美國可能需要更全面的失業計劃 - 比如斯堪的納維亞半島 - 如果想要攀升幸福報告的行列。 Helliwell對此表示贊同。

“大多數斯堪的納維亞國家爲失業者提供各種服務，”Helliwell說。

“他們有失業保險和子女撫養費。”這些國家也整合了這些計劃，併爲不同的個人量身定製了一攬子計劃。 Helliwell解釋說，移民通常會獲得語言技能方面的幫助，失業者可以獲得工作經驗計劃的地方，以避免“長期失業的疤痕”。

事實證明，與斯堪的納維亞相關的寒冷天氣和更長的夜晚可能實際上有助於將社區融合在一起。“有一種觀點表明，歷史上生活在惡劣天氣中的社區通過更多的相互支持而聚集在一起，”Helliwell說。 “你也可以在農業社區看到這一點，他們會聚集在穀倉屋頂上，他們不會問誰在支付什麼，所以北歐（歐洲）國家的寒冷氣候實際上可能會讓社會支持變得更容易。

Norway Is Happiest Country in the World. What's the Secret?

Another year, another report saying that the Nordic countries are the happiest in the world.

Every year the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network releases the World Happiness Report, backed by the Ernesto Illy Foundation, which lists the happiest countries in the world. This year the winner was Norway, which follows a trend of Scandinavian countries consistently winning the title of the most content places on earth — even though they have a long, cold and dark winter.

But what exactly does Northern Europe do differently that makes its citizens so happy?

It looks like the answer comes down to neighborly support between citizens and state support programs for those in need. People want to feel secure and they also benefit from having a community that they can count on — an environment the Scandinavian countries do better than most in creating.

"The Scandinavian countries are very big on social support," Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the study's associate editors, said. "The top countries, you can see, have societies which are not at each others throats. But also they have high GDP per capita."

Both De Neve and the study's editor Professor John Helliwell said that individuals are more likely to pick up and return a stranger's wallet in the Nordic countries than in those that appeared lower down the rankings, which was an indicator of what the editors call "social support."

Community spirit is a difficult thing to create in a society, but Helliwell added that governments looking to make their citizens happier should "make room" for local initiatives.

"Creating positive social spaces where people can have good face to face interactions with each other is a start," he said. "If you bring people together, if you have them helping other people, they feel better about themselves and about society."

De Neve also believes that job security and conditions in a workplace can have a dramatic impact on levels of happiness.

"People become unhappy in the workplace where there is a culture of easily hiring and easily firing," he said, adding that the U.S. might need to have more comprehensive unemployment programs — like Scandinavia's — if it wants to climb the ranks of the happiness report. Helliwell agrees.

"Most of the Scandinavian countries have a variety of services for the unemployed," Helliwell said.

"They have unemployment insurance and child support." The countries also integrate these programs and have packages that are tailored for different individuals. Helliwell explained that immigrants are often given help with language skills and those out of work are offered places on work experience programs, to avoid "the scarring of long term unemployment."

And it turns out that the colder weather and longer nights associated with Scandinavia might actually help bring communities together."There is a view which suggests that historically communities that lived in harsher weather were brought together by greater mutual support," Helliwell said. "You see this with farming communities as well, who will get together to pull a barn roof up. They don't ask about who's paying what. So the colder climate of the Northern [European] countries might actually make social support easier."