Why Danes are smug: comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union
BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39028.665602.55 (Published 21 December 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:1289
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Denmark has once again (year 2013) been ranked as the happiest nation in the world (1). A survey from the Danish Medical Association among 2447 out of 4953 Danish Chief physicians (from 2011) showed, that 84% of Chief physicians are either satisfied or very satisfied with their job, 90 per cent find that they provide an important effort and 80 per cent feel motivation and commitment to the work (2).
Denmark is a country with 5.608.784 inhabitants (3) and has around 2.628.000 employed people between age 15 and 64 (3). We have 16300 beds in 53 public hospitals (4) employing 102.500 people of whom 14 percent are medical doctors (4). There are very few private hospitals. There are 3600 general practitioners (with 41.000.000 contacts per year) and 1195 specialists working outside the hospital. 95 out of 100 Danes are annually in contact with health care either through the hospital, general practitioners, specialists or dentists (4). The annual Danish health care cost is approximately 100 billion Danish kroner which is 17920 kroner per Dane (approximately 3140 $ per person per year). 79% of the budget is used by public hospitals (4). All public hospitals are free.
The capital of Copenhagen is on 56° North and we have only 6 months of vitamin D production in the skin per year from April to September and half of the Danes have vitamin D deficiency. So it might not be the sun that makes us happy?
As a doctor you must pay more than 50% in income-tax, but we get some of the money back through the welfare services. All public-, high school and universities are free. The students that have left home (as most do) will every month get money from the government throughout their studies. My three sons are all studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen and like all other students each of them receive 5.753 Danish kroner monthly (around 1000 $) (5)– they pay a little income-tax as well. Half of the money is spent on paying for accommodation and the rest is used for food, transportation, books and happiness!!!
As a doctor I work full time at a University Hospital – 37 hours a week from 8 am to 3.24 pm (sometimes a little more – but only few work more than 45 hours a week because the income-tax % increases with the income – so why work more?). We have five weeks paid holiday plus an extra week, which we can convert to extra income. I always take 6 weeks of holiday together with my 4 kids and husband thus getting a bit of the sunshine, which could help avoiding vitamin D deficiency. Why should I not be happy?
(1) http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/09/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf
(2) http://www.laeger.dk/portal/pls/portal/!PORTAL.wwpob_page.show?_docname=...
(3) www.dst.dk/
(4)http://www.regioner.dk/aktuelt/temaer/fakta+om+regionernes+effektivitet+...
(5) www.su.dk
Competing interests: Board member of Eli Lilly, MSD and Amgen and has received lecture fees from Lilly, Amgen and GlaxoSmithKline
#1:Danes have remarkably unsustainable diets, being No1 pork and junk
food consumers in EU (142.7 kg of pork per capita 2008), also top alcohol
and tobacco consumers. Such diets and lifestyles have arguably been shown
to promote an equilibrium state, although it is nowhere mentioned for how
long (especially with DK as the No1 in cancer and cardiovascular related
mortality rates in EU)
#2:Let us not forget the marijuana availability in Denmark, which has
generally been shown to increase happy thoughts.
Unsurprisingly, Switzerland is also famously liberal in its attitude
towards drugs, compared to Italy and Greece with very strict drug views
and apparrent corresponding lowest happiness levels.
#3:The terrible Danish climate leaves one no choice but to mostly
stay indoors. What else is there to do indoors but engage in sexual
activity, which in turn surely does elevate one's mood, except in obscene
circumstances.
Unknown is yet the time of day during which the survey was conducted
as Danes, Swiss and Austrians limit their daily hours of sobriety from 7am
to 12pm.
In contrast meditteraneans, with their more reserved attituteds
towards alcohol, are more likely to have a more positive response in those
early hours as the sun is out and everything is rosy, but end up being
less amused in the afternoon hours of excrutiating heat with no mood
elevators consumed.
In conclusion, why would anyone be unhappy if joints, beer, hotdogs
and sex where on the menu daily? They would only be unhappy if they
realised in sobriety that these are the ONLY things on the menu...FOREVER.
Hence the negative morning responses, in conjuction with the hangover.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Discussed the question of the "satisfied Danes" with American
researchers recently. My answer is that our very high tax rate
(54%) paradoxically makes us feel good, because it creates a stable
population with almost everybody having enough to be satisfied, and very
little REAL envy, since our neighbours and friends have no better material
stuff than ourself (we do have a lot of pseudo-envy that really doesn't
matter). We also have a low crime rate and a high appreciation of our
political system (although we complain), because we have a lot of things
for free: health care including hospitals, education from primary school
to university, cheap day care, relatively good salaries for women, and so
on.
All this social wellfare makes us feel safe, and we don't expect that we
need to get much richer to be happy, because a lot of money is not in
general belived to be a prerequisite for happiness in Denmark.
Socialist dictatorship? Indoctrinated by communists? Not really, we sure
have democracy and have been voting again and again for this system for
more than 75 years. And our school system teaches us to be critical and
protest against authorities - we will often be listened to!
Why then are Swedes no more happy? We think that they have a lot of social
welfare, but also too much governmental control - Danes feel that we have
more freedom from governmental interference, a fine balance that Americans
probably would never understand thinking about our tax rates.
Competing interests:
Danish, probably brainwashed
Competing interests: No competing interests
Since a "lige nu" mentality reflects concern that the present level
of happiness is high only in comparison with the future, it follows that
the lowest eurobarometer reading ought to occur when the present is
automatically low in comparison with the past. The Portuguese position
doubtless reflects a "saudade" mentality.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Studies on the "science" of happiness here in the States approximate
similar findings with Denmark always at or near the top. Our affliction
here (in the States) seems to reside in our maladapted addiction to "more"
(things) and the slaves we have become to our false self (ego). It often
takes us Americans more than half a life (if we're lucky) to even begin to
get the right needs met in the 2nd half, most of which has absolutely
nothing to do with the illusion of wealth by the wrong standards, and
everything to do with authentic relationships and realistic expectations.
We have much to learn from the Danish.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
It is deeply ingrained in Danish culture to not complain.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Perhaps some support for Elsa Jensen’s assumptions?
”The Danes, in general, seem extremely averse to innovation, and if
happiness only consist in opinion, they are the happiest people in the
world; for I never saw any so well satisfied with their own situation. Yet
the climate appears to be very disagreeable, the weather being dry and
sultry, or moist and cold; the atmosphere never having that sharp, bracing
purity, which in Norway prepares you to brave its rigours. I do not hear
the inhabitants of this place talk with delight of the winter, which is
the constant theme of the Norwegians; on the contrary, they seem to dread
its comfortless inclemency.”
Mary Wollstonecraft
LETTERS WRITTEN DURING A SHORT RESIDENCE IN SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND
DENMARK. (1796)
LETTER XXI.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Doesn't the tone of the research paper tell you why Danes report
higher levels of satisfaction? They have a great sense of humor, and most
importantly, they are good at poking fun at their terrible climate, boring
traditional cuisine and widespread (though generally responsible) use of
alcohol in Denmark - in short, being self-deprecating.
Do note that if the survey had asked specifically whether Danes were
Happy, not just Satisfied, I predict the levels would be much different -
as a Dane you wouldn't want to admit to something that positive or
demonstrative. Being Satisfied (tilfreds) means that you are above
average, but not necessarily at the top, and that is indeed the comfort
zone for most Danes. That would be in perfect accordance with the
unpublished but widely headed Danish "Jantelov": that you shouldn't think
you're better than others.
However, something which was mentioned but not highlighted in the
article, may hold the real key: the survey was taken in Spring and
Autumn, with a 38% difference in responses, and averaged. If any part of
the survey had been done in Winter, say February, I suspect the calculated
average Danish response would plummet. Winter has a profound negative
effect on Danes' moods, and I dare say that Spring responses are so high
(ca. 70% plus half of 38% implies an average near 90%) mainly because
Winter is finally over.
That "relief effect" is probably higher in Denmark than Sweden and Finland
because those countries have prettier winters with more snow, mountains
and sunshine than the typically grey, cloudy and slushy winter the Danes
bask in for 3-4 months, as the authors humorously point out. Summers are
often disappointingly rainy and less sunny than hoped for (though global
warming seems to have improved them in the last decade), so again the
Danes' response could well be lower.
To test the validity of 30 years of seemingly consistent results, I
would suggest conducting the survey in February and August one or more
years, then see how the numbers compare. :-)
Competing interests:
Dane living in Southern California
Competing interests: No competing interests
The belief that danes drink all day long is out of date. In the
eighties you started day with a "Gammel Dansk" and had a beer for lunch,
but today that is completely finshed.
Having travelled the world for 30 years I also wonder why Danes feel
so happy, but I think it is because there is no real thread to life or
welfare, but a lot of small things to complain about - and complaining
makes you feel so good!
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Why Danes are smug: comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union
Could Dr Eiken please tell us whether the Danes, all ages, both sexes, consume rather less mood elevating drugs prescribed by the doctors and also, whether alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, opium and similar things are less popular in Denmark, than in other Euroean countries?
Thank you.
Competing interests: Happy as can be