New research disproves the myth that money can buy happiness

Representatives of isolated tribes are no less happy than residents of the rich West

Isolated from the wider world, indigenous tribes are just as happy as their wealthy Western peers, a new study claims. Surveys of people in remote communities challenge the widely held belief that money buys happiness.

People living in remote indigenous communities are just as happy as people in rich developed countries, despite having “very little money.”

According to The Guardian, researchers who surveyed 2,966 people from 19 indigenous and local communities around the world found that on average they were just as happy – if not happier! – like the average resident of Western countries with a high level of income.

“Surprisingly, many populations with very low incomes report very high average levels of life satisfaction, levels similar to those in rich countries,” said Eric Galbraith, lead author of the study, which was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Sciences (PNAS). “I would hope that by learning more about what makes life satisfying in these diverse communities, it could help many others lead more satisfying lives while addressing the sustainability crisis.”

A study by the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technologies of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) found that people in 19 isolated communities reported an average “life satisfaction” score of 6.8 out of 10, “even though most places, annual cash income is estimated at less than $1,000 (£800) per person.”

This roughly corresponds to the average life satisfaction score of 6.7 for all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Eric Galbraith, a researcher at ICTA-UAB and McGill University in Montreal, said four small communities reported an average happiness score of more than 8, higher than Finland, the highest-ranking country in OECD research, with an average of 7. 9.

The four communities are the Colla Atacameña in Argentina (8.0); pai tavitera/guarani in Paraguay (8.2); riberiños in Brazil (8.4) and farmers in the Western Highlands of Guatemala (8.6). In the Western Highlands, 30 out of 70 respondents gave a 10/10 response when asked about life satisfaction.

The average asset per capita in the Western Highlands community is $560 (£450). This compares with the UK per capita average of £305,000, according to the ONS. The UK statistics body notes that the average is much higher than the median (£125,000) due to the “unequal distribution of wealth across the population”.

The ICTA-UAB report said the findings were “good news for sustainable development and human happiness, as they provide compelling evidence that resource-intensive economic growth is not required to achieve high levels of subjective well-being.

The strong correlation often observed between income and life satisfaction is not universal and proves that the wealth created by industrialized economies is not fundamentally needed for people to lead happy lives,” says Victoria Reyes-García, ICTA-UAB researcher and senior author of the study.