France's ‘happiness GDP’ is rising faster than its economic counterpart

THE LATEST quarterly findings on the ‘GDP of happiness’ show that it is growing faster than everyday economic GDP, despite a ‘climate of people turning in on themselves’.
There is, the quarterly study by Paris think-tank Fabrique Spinoza found, an impression that the French are starting to find a renewed sense of peace.
Fear of terrorism remains, the report said, but people were no longer worrying about it on a daily basis, as much they had previously.
It also found that with the presidential elections approaching, a sense of ‘serenity’ among candidates would be an important factor.
Considered to be among the top dozen think-tanks, Fabrique Spinoza offers initiatives like master classes on ‘the positive business’, or ‘the
science of wellbeing’; ‘happy culture’ dinners and ‘positive lobbying’ to remind leaders to prioritise citizens well-being, as well as inviting people to get involved with setting up groups to investigate matters related to the nation’s happiness.

What does a ‘chief happiness officer’ do?
I work with our volunteers and it’s all about being there to listen to their needs.
We call them passeurs du bonheur [passers-on of happiness].
I try to develop their confidence, motivation and skills. So, I might put in place training for people who run working groups, to help them learn better how to run meetings and activities.
I also help group members to cooperate better, for example by putting in place internet platforms which they can use to exchange and making sure they have easy access to people at the Fabrique, so it’s not hierarchical.
I also try to make sure our volunteers feel appreciated, because volunteering can be quite a fragile relationship and people can leave if they feel what they are doing is not recognised.

Your passeurs are all around France in different groups?
Yes, and they can either be for reflection or for action. We call group leaders passeurs-pilotes and other members passeurs.
Our association includes scientists as well as ordinary citizens and acts as a linchpin.
So, for example, we might have a group of citizens who meet up to reflect on an issue, but making use of scientific research as well – and they might produce a report.
We’ve had ones on happiness at work or in the public sector. Because they have input from experts, the report will be more useful and structured both for the authorities and the general public. We want it to have an impact.
The problem is today there is a science of happiness – happiness psychologists, happiness sociologists, happiness economists. But their knowledge is not spread around enough and stays in universities and doesn’t have enough impact on society – so our role is to help to change that.

Are our leaders in France still too focused on the economy?
Yes. There is huge emphasis on the GDP, but Easterlin’s paradox [named after American economist Richard Easterlin] shows it’s not necessarily right. He showed that when the GDP of a country increases, after a certain level, the happiness felt by its citizens doesn’t increase any more.
So chasing increases in GDP at all costs is not necessarily going to make people happier.
That’s one reason we are part of a commission that’s working on alternative indicators [of the country’s success].
We are especially pushing for happiness to be included as a criterion for evaluating government policies.

Does that not happen already? Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz was calling for it some years ago…
There’s a certain will to do it – for example there was also the Attali commission for a positive economy which partly works on this [this working group presented a 2013 report recommending finance should have a supportive role to long-term social and environmental goals, instead of these being seen as constraints to short-term economic growth].
It’s not really been adopted yet, but it will come.
We’re regularly consulted by MPs interested in our work, so things are starting to move.
When we started around seven years ago, people took us for unrealistic dreamers and do-gooders but now we’re taken really seriously.

You have published reports saying happiness levels in France are starting to pick up, after a year marked by terrorism in 2015. What’s your diagnosis of the mood now?
We have a working group that monitors the quarterly happiness indicators of the French, though that’s not my speciality.
My impression is that, as a nation, there’s a certain underlying sense of worry and collective pessimism and yet on an individual level it’s a different story.
If you ask a French person what they think about the state of France they will give a pessimistic response and say it’s a catastrophe. But, if you ask how they feel generally, they are quite optimistic and happy. It seems quite typically French.
I find that when people think about the world they have a tendency to think of everything that’s wrong, but to forget all the things that are going right.
We think the media has to take some of the responsibility. We’re not saying everything’s great – there is fundamentalism and profound inequalities – but there are positives, too, for example in terms of improving health and in the fact that we in Europe have never before had such a long period of peace. I think partly what is happening is that there is still suffering in the world but we are becoming more intolerant towards it, which is in some ways a good thing. If we are intolerant towards suffering we will try to reduce it.

How can happiness levels be boosted in France?
A key element in happiness is good social links – we saw how after terrorist attacks people felt the need to gather together.
The state needs to look further at what can be done to improve this, for example by looking at how they can improve town planning to maximise opportunities for meet-ups and exchanges to take place.

What is your advice for expats?
I’d advise joining associations and groups where they can make good links with people in their community; above all don’t stay too isolated.
Also, one of the key things about happiness is not feeling you must at all costs be happy all the time. If people are worried about the Brexit, rather than denying you have worries and uncertainties, accept that we sometimes go through such periods and it’s OK to have these feelings. I’d suggest the way to look at it is to say, ‘I accept this element of uncertainty, but I’m also going to think about things that are going well and my opportunities and advantages’.

What can readers do to find out more about your activities and get involved?
They can register on our site fabriquespinoza.fr for our free newsletter, which has all the dates for meetings of different working groups.
Plus, on the website, you can find a presentation of our different groups with contact details. The main ones are in Paris but there are others in areas like Reims, Lyon, Bordeaux and Aix-Marseille.
For people who work, we have a team platform dedicated to happiness at work at bonheurautravail.org
There are also new groups being set up each year. Last year in Paris, we ran Happiness in schools days and someone who took part decided to run the same thing in Nice.
Some groups are about reflection and producing reports, others are about action.
The school happiness group organises workshops but is reflecting on how we can put in place survey materials to measure pupils’ wellbeing, which have to be worked out scientifically.
Plus, any citizen can come to us with an idea for a project and we’ll support them to make it happen.