For thirty years Denmark has been voted the country with the happiest citizens in the world.’ But before you sell everything you own and move to Denmark, it would probably be a good idea to find out why the Danes are so happy. Think about it: they are not the richest country in the world, their weather is so-so and they are heavy drinkers and smokers. You will be disappointed when you find out why they are such a happy bunch.
It is because they have such low expectations! When Professor Kaare Christensen at the University of Southern Denmark decided to find out what the Danish secret to happiness was, he found the answer after studying the people. "What we basically figured out was that although the Danes were very happy with their life, when we looked at their expectations they were pretty modest," he says.
Christensen said he found that Danes are so glum, they get really happy when things don’t turn out quite as bad as they expect! It is like when you expect the apocalypse, and you only get a hurricane - you suddenly feel lucky and it makes you happy.
But there’s another catch to Danish happiness. They are also Europe’s second largest consumer of anti-depressants! Does this mean that Denmark is truly the happiest country in the world, or are they just well medicated people with low expectations?
