A Recent Survey States That 90% Of The Malaysians Are Happy

05 Feb 2014

According to a recent survey to understand the happiness levels, 90% of Malaysians were indicated to be happy. This is the largest in the region. But, the survey also states that compared to men, women were a little less happy.

For the participants of the poll, the 3 important factors that lead to their happiness level were: the health of their friends and family (41%), their parents’ relationship with them (46%) and their relationship with their spouse or partner (53%).

The factors which influenced the least to the total happiness of Malaysians were: migrating to another country (1%), social recognition (5%), and donating money to charity (6%).

Ipsos Asia Pacific conducted an online survey 6 months ago. The poll consisted of a total of 2,378 respondents from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and South Korea, aged between 18 and 50. Among Malaysians, around 500 participants were surveyed across all important ethnic groups.

Katharine Davis, the executive director of Ipsos Malaysia said, the survey results are proof that Malaysians connect their bond with and the wellbeing of their loved ones to personal happiness very closely.

She said that this is a reflection of the Malaysians’ national identity and strong communal culture, where the good of their community takes precedence over their sense of self.

On the other hand, people attributed their unhappiness to their lack of satisfaction in their living conditions (38%), the health of their family and friends (40%) and personal financial situation (61%).

Besides Malaysian men being less unhappy (8%) than women (11%), other differences were, women place a greater emphasis on their parents’ relationship with them (50%) than men do (38%), and women being more worried about the wellbeing and health of their friends and family.

This is possibly because women place their career on hiatus to raise a family, which automatically de-prioritizes external factors to their happiness.

However, men place more importance than women in having more friends and cultivating relationships with their friends.

The happiness levels were generally high in Singapore, China and Hong Kong, and stated that their personal health and their spousal relationship were the top two factors contributing to their happiness.

Koreans also showed a similarity with Malaysians as their top happiness factor was their relationship with their spouse or partner (44%). However, Korea was the only country where one of the top contributors to their happiness is living conditions (35%).