Why Koreans are so unhappy? > 영어토론방

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The problem, it seems, is not a lack of money

The word of the year must be “happiness.” In bookstores, to start with, 26 of the books published since June have dealt with the topic of happiness, according to the bookseller Kyobo. Some say a sound mind and body brings happiness; others urge laughter, even if it’s faked. Some say there is a specific gene in your body that controls happiness. Others say you can learn to be happy by attending cultural lectures or reading certain books ― theirs.

Turn on the radio, your television set, and there’s more talk about being happy. It seems the whole country is desperate to become happy. Korea has always ranked low on global surveys of happiness. Koreans, clearly, do not think of themselves as the happiest people in the world.

But what about the happiness index among rich and the socially respected Koreans? Shouldn’t that have a slightly different outcome? A team of JoongAng Ilbo reporters selected 100 Korean CEOs as samples of “highly placed figures” to find out.

The result: The CEOs were not very happy either. Their happiness index was lower than that of Forbes’ top 400 richest people in the world; the average Swede is happier than the average Korean CEO. But their index was still higher than that of ordinary Koreans. Hwang Sang-min, a psychology professor at Yonsei University, explained that the result shows that Korean society implicitly believes that to be successful is also to be happy.

According to the Satisfaction with Life Scale, a short, five-item indexed poll designed to measure global cognitive judgments of one’s lives, the CEOs interviewed averaged 73 points. Ordinary Koreans, at least the 835 people we asked, scored an average of 51. Koreans were less happy as they got older, in contrast with people in most other countries.

The highly educated, however, were a bit happier. College graduates received 55 on the index, high school graduates 48 and middle school graduates 44. Residents of Jeju Island were happier, scoring 58, and those in Gangwon province came in second, with 56. Seoul was far behind at 51, as were the other major cities. Women and men scored the same: 51.

Aside from the scaled test, interviewees were also asked, “What do you think is the most important factor in having a happy life?”
Both CEOs and non-CEOs placed health and happy homes at the top of the list. Over 88 percent of the CEOs listed their personal health, and 73 percent included a good family life (respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer). Among the ordinary Koreans, 83 percent said health, and 73 percent said a happy family.

Following the two criteria, CEOs named fame as the most important value, with wealth and social status following. The non-CEOs said they considered wealth to be most important, following by friendship, hobbies and fame.

Question
1. A presider is going to give you some questions related to the article.
2. Please define a word 'Happiness' in your way and
   What is your criterion of happiness?
3. Nowadays, Are you happy?
   If you are happy (or unhappy) , Please tell us the reason.
4. How can all of us be happy?
   What is the best solution to make people happy?

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