Explorations of factors affecting happiness of Sri Lankans

Abstract

Presently multidimensional measures of quality of life and happiness levels and well being are increasingly discussed and are considered as significant parameters in measuring a country’s development. While there are many existing studies based on Western Individualistic societies, data related to the local context is seldom available. This paper establishes facts to achieve the objective of determining the factors affecting the happiness of Sri Lankans thus intend to fill the gap in knowledge. The naissance literature regarding sources of happiness is found from Bhutan, where a happiness index has been developed for the country. Canada, Australia, and USA account for many related studies, and the available literature related to Eastern Countries is largely centred on Japan, China and Hong Kong. Methodologically this is a qualitative study carried out with 202 respondents, aged between 21-60 from the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara, selected through convenient sampling. Respondents have born and lived in Sri Lanka, and thereby shared common cultural roots unique to the country. A structured interview was conducted and results were transcribed manually using thematic approach. NVivo analysis was used to identify the different factors affecting happiness. To ensure reliability of the results fifteen percent of the sample was rated by the second rater and the inter rater agreement was recorded above eighty percent. As the outcome the study identified twelve factors affecting happiness of Sri Lankans. Among these factors family was reported as the highest contributor to happiness, followed by career and wealth. Based on the findings it could be observed that as an Asian culture Sri Lanka naturally upholds collectivist values which put family first. Present study is limited to three main cities of the country, and it’s suggested that the identified factors could provide a basis for development of a happiness index applicable to Sri Lanka.