Gross national happiness

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a measurement of the collective happiness in a nation.

In the 1970s, developing countries were focused on increasing economic success to help develop prosperity.Bhutan's King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, however, believed an economic approach dehumanized the development process. Wangchuck instead decided to focus on a concept that he called "Gross National Happiness". In Bhutan, happiness was to be pursued by limiting access to foreign culture. The success of a country would be measured by its remaining citizens' happiness.

The GNH concept evolved through the contribution of international and local scholars and researchers to become an initiative beyond the borders of Bhutan.

In 2005, Med Jones, an American economist, proposed a second generation GNH concept also known as Gross National Well-being or GNW, the first GNW / GNH Index and the first Global GNW / GNH Index Survey. The proposal served as a blueprint for the later well-being development frameworks and happiness econometric models.

In 2006, the International Institute of Management published a policy white paper calling for the implementation of GNH philosophy in the US and inviting scholars to build upon the GNW/ GNH Index framework.

In 2010, the Centre for Bhutan Studies developed a survey instrument to measure the population's general level of well-being under the leadership of Karma Ura (). Two Canadians, Michael and Martha Pennock played a major role in developing the Bhutanese survey, which took a six- to seven-hour interview to complete. They developed a shorter international version of the survey which has been used in their home region of Victoria BC as well as in Brazil. The Pennocks also collaborated with Ura in the production of a policy lens which is used by the Bhutanese GNH Commission for anticipating the impact of policy initiatives upon the levels of GNH in Bhutan.

In 2012, the Center for Bhutan Studies further defined the original four pillars with greater specificity into eight general contributors to happiness—physical, mental and spiritual health; time-balance; social and community vitality; cultural vitality; education; living standards; good governance; and ecological vitality. The Bhutan GNH Index. In 2010, The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative OPHI at the University of Oxford in UK, launched the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for the United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP). Similar to the GNH Index of 2005, OPHI promotes collection and analysis of data on five dimensions including Quality of work, Empowerment, Physical safety, Ability to go about without shame, Psychological wellbeing. In 2011 UN General Assembly Resolution 65/309, titled "Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development".

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