So you’ve been thinking that people in the good ol’ U.S. of A. aren’t as happy as they could be. The 2013 World Happiness Report to the United Nations confirms it.
许多美国人可能一直觉得生活在伟大的美国没有那么幸福。现在，联合国发布的《2013世界幸福报告》（2013 World Happiness Report）确认了这一点。
The U.S. came in 17th among 156 nations surveyed. In the top 10 are much of Europe plus Canada and Australia. Mexico and Israel, countries not always known for lives of ease, are happier than we are, and the U.S. is only slightly ahead of Venezuela.
美国在所调查的156个国家中排在了第17。前十名中有许多欧洲国家入围，加拿大和澳大利亚也跻身其中。通常不以生活安逸而著称的墨西哥和以色列，其幸福感也高于美国，而美国的排名仅仅比委内瑞拉略微靠前一点。
The study was conducted by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network and released in time for the U.N.’s General Assembly session this week. “More and more world leaders are talking about the importance of well-being as a guide for their nations and the world, ” says Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of SDSN and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
该研究是由联合国可持续发展方案联盟（Sustainable Development Solutions Network，简称SDSN）所做，其发布及时地赶上了本周的联合国大会。“越来越多的世界领导人正在探讨将民众的福祉作为自己国家和世界发展方向的一个重要指引。”SDSN和哥伦比亚大学地球研究所主任杰弗里•D•萨克斯（Jeffrey D. Sachs）说道。
Researchers examined six factors that contribute to individual happiness: (1) GDP per capita, (2) healthy life expectancy, (3) perceived corruption in government and business sectors, (4) citizens’ perceived freedom to live the lives they wanted, (5) generosity (i.e. whether they had recently given to charity) and (6) “social support, ” namely whether they had a friend or relative to count on in case of emergency.
研究人员考察了有助于个人幸福的六个因素：（1）人均国内生产总值（GDP）；（2）健康预期寿命；（3）对政府和商业部门的腐败感知；（4）公民过自己想要生活的自由感；（5）乐善好施（比如，他们最近是否有过慈善捐助行为）；（6）“社会支持”，即在紧要关头是否有可以依靠的朋友或亲人。
By these measures, Denmark is the world’s happiest country, followed by Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia round out the top 10. Click on the slide show to see them all.
衡量下来，丹麦是世界上最幸福的国家，接下来分别是挪威、荷兰、瑞士和瑞典。其他进入前十名的国家还有加拿大、芬兰、奥地利、冰岛和澳大利亚。
In the next tier: the U.S. at No. 17 is joined by (in order) Israel, Costa Rica, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Panama, Mexico, Ireland, Luxembourg and Venezuela. You can read the full report here.
第二梯队的国家有：美国（名列第17），以及（按排名先后顺序）以色列、哥斯达黎加、新西兰、阿拉伯联合酋长国、巴拿马、墨西哥、爱尔兰、卢森堡和委内瑞拉。
At the bottom of the happiness heap were nine Sub-Saharan African nations and Syria, which is currently in the news daily for fierce fighting. Still, the report also showed happiness generally on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in Latin America & the Caribbean.
这份幸福排名中垫底的是九个撒哈拉以南的非洲国家和叙利亚，后者目前由于激烈的战斗每天见诸新闻报道。不过，该报告也显示，撒哈拉以南非洲国家的幸福感总体上升，同样的情况还见于拉丁美洲和加勒比海地区。
Happiness does more than just make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Higher levels of subjective well-being can both directly and indirectly influence health, ” the study says, alongside more recognized factors like exercise and not smoking, which can also increase life expectancy. The study also correlates stress and depression with unhealthy practices such as obesity and smoking.
幸福不仅使我们的内心感到温暖舒适。“主观幸福程度的提高还能直接和间接地对健康产生有利影响。”该研究表示，而其他被认可的、能够增加预期寿命的因素还有锻炼和不吸烟等。该研究还认为应激和抑郁与如肥胖和吸烟等不健康状态存在关联。
The U.S. didn’t place in the top 10 for any category except GDP (we’re No. 8). So what are other countries doing right that we’re not? The data “show the largest gaps to be in perceptions of corruption, freedom, healthy life expectancy and social support, ” says the report’s co-editor, John Helliwell, senior fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
除GDP排名（美国现在排名第8）外，美国没有在任何排名中挤进过前十。那么哪些方面是其他国家做得不错，而美国没有做好的呢？数据显示“最大的差距要数对腐败、自由、健康预期寿命以及社会支持的感知”，该报告的联合编撰者、加拿大高级研究所的高级研究员约翰•海利维尔（John Helliwell）说道。
|
