The most recent World Happiness Report (“World Happiness Report 2023”) prepared by the Gallup Institute and endorsed by the United Nations (UN), ranked Venezuela in 88th place out of 150 countries in the sample. For those who are not familiar with this study, it is a qualitative research, based on self-reports made by a sample of citizens, who answer questions such as “how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?” ?” or “to what extent do you feel that the things you do in your life are worthwhile?”
The World Happiness Report was published for the first time in 2012, with the aim of identifying the feeling of well-being of the population of various countries. Among the attributes that are investigated in the study are personal aspects such as having someone to trust, being able to make vital decisions and generosity among citizens, all of which is later crossed with more objective data such as the country’s gross domestic product.
Of course, well-being and happiness are multi-causal phenomena, and its complexity cannot be reduced to an instrument of opinion, where, in addition, people place themselves subjectively. In fact, the subject of personal well-being and happiness has been receiving considerable attention in the field of modern Social Psychology, and an extensive line of research is currently being carried out on these subjects. But beyond the academic utility and input for the deepening of new research that these studies have, the findings of this particular report have aroused disbelief and surprise in many Venezuelans, who ask themselves: how is it that we are happy (or at least we are located in the middle range of the world ranking according to the aforementioned report) if at the same time the majority of the population expresses feeling dissatisfied with the situation of their social, political and economic environment, and frustrated with the course of the country ? Well, the news is that both realities are not contradictory.
The first thing to say is that Venezuela has been at the top of these “happiness rankings” for some time now. This feeling of subjective well-being is so long-standing that in 1970, José A. Silva Michelena spoke of the “structural optimism of the Venezuelan” as one of his central political attitudes. And most studies have shown how certain social attitudes sometimes follow a dynamic that is relatively autonomous or independent of the objective realities that characterize their political environment. In other words, many of the attitudes of Venezuelans towards themselves are relatively impervious to the perception of the economic or management performance of a government.
An example of the above can be found in the results of the well-known UCAB study on the psychosocial characteristics of Venezuelans (PsicoData 2023). According to this research, 42% of the population judges their life positively in general terms, although people without an educational level and those with incomplete primary education are the ones who show less subjective well-being. Likewise, the study shows that Venezuelans are located in a medium-high range of what is called “degree of subjective personal satisfaction”, which is the judgment related to the individual assessment that the person makes of their life history and their personality aspects.
However, and to illustrate the apparently paradoxical nature of the phenomenon we are analyzing, the same study reveals that, when asked about it, 3 out of 4 Venezuelans (73%) admit that if they had the opportunity, there are things in their lives that they would like to change. And in relation to their feelings towards the country, 90% feel worried, 73% are saddened to think about the future of the country and 79% express anger knowing the situation we have reached as a nation.
Psychologists have found that Venezuelans base their personal strategy of seeking well-being on the importance they give to interpersonal relationships and the family, on the use of humor and creativity. Venezuelans not only have a great capacity and ability to connect with others, but, according to the latest World Values Studies, we are one of the nations where family and friends are given more importance as an extension of their own person. In short, Venezuelans tend to be subjectively happy, not because they are satisfied with their surroundings, but because they have “refuge areas,” some of which, like families, have been forced to multiply their responsibilities. and functions, because there is no government in the country that is in charge of these tasks of protection, education and care.
The apparently contradictory nature of many Venezuelan psychosocial traits is a sample of its rich and immense complexity. His chronic tendency to seek happiness, to want to advance, and to pursue the well-being of himself and his family is a strength, not a weakness. It is one of the things that prevents him from resigning himself and accepting as good what he is not. An example of this is the very high percentages of rejection of the current government. Despite being suffering from it for so long, there is no resignation or passive acceptance, but rejection and aspiration for change.
The news that we Venezuelans consider ourselves a relatively happy people is therefore neither new nor surprising. The funny thing – not to call it another way – is the inveterate effort of power to give this matter a political treatment. For a long time, official propaganda has been making desperate attempts to convince the population that when the Vinotinto baseball or soccer team wins a game, when one of our athletes wins, when our musicians and artists make the palms of the most demanding on the planet, or when one of our academics or researchers asserts the name of the country in any part of the world, all this is thanks to the government. Thank God, Venezuelans learned a long time ago to mock these delusions of omnipotence of our current hegemons, and to feel sorry for such pathological signs of limitless narcissism, which even try to privatize happiness and award it to supposed government achievements. But the need to expropriate the merits of others for purposes of self-glorification is permanent, which is why it is necessary to always refine the analysis of our strengths and weaknesses for the purposes of an adequate and effective social pedagogy.