A new pilot study has found that subjective happiness among Ghanaians is moderate, with the country's composite Happiness Index averaging 4.70 out of a possible 7.00.

The study, titled “A Pilot Study of a Subjective Happiness Index in Ghana,” examined well-being across psychological, social, economic, environmental, and institutional dimensions.

It was conducted by researchers Ishmael D. Norman, Eric S. Afli, Saralees Nadarajah and Emmanuel D. Kpeglo.

The researchers surveyed 833 respondents from rural and urban households across six regions — Ashanti, Bono East, Eastern, Greater Accra, Oti and Volta — between February 1 and March 31, 2024.

The study used the Happiness Alliance 62-item Happiness Index, which assesses 10 areas of well-being, including psychological well-being, healthcare access and quality, time balance, community belonging, social support, education and culture, environmental quality, governance, material well-being and work satisfaction.

The findings suggest that material well-being, governance, community belonging and work satisfaction were among the strongest contributors to the overall happiness structure.

Psychological well-being and access to healthcare also recorded meaningful contributions.

All 10 domains showed a positive association with overall happiness. Material well-being had the strongest correlation with overall happiness at r = 0.79, followed by work satisfaction at r = 0.74.

Community belonging recorded the weakest, though still positive, association at r = 0.48.

Psychological well-being emerged as the highest-scoring dimension, with a mean of 5.76 out of 7.

More than 70% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with statements relating to having a sense of purpose in life and positive interpersonal relationships.

Social support also emerged strongly, with more than 85% of respondents saying they felt understood and supported by friends and family.

The researchers linked this finding to the continued importance of extended family systems in Ghana.

Governance recorded the lowest domain mean at 3.45, with respondents expressing concerns about trust in public institutions, accountability and efforts to combat corruption.

Environmental quality also recorded widespread dissatisfaction.

Respondents raised concerns about pollution control, land degradation and biodiversity loss — issues the researchers said reflect wider national debates over environmental governance and illegal mining.

Material well-being produced a mixed picture.

While many respondents indicated that they could meet basic needs such as food and clothing, financial security, savings and asset ownership remained limited.

Work satisfaction was moderately high, with respondents reporting feelings of personal fulfilment and achievement. However, concerns over compensation and reward structures affected overall satisfaction.

The study also found differences in reported happiness across regions and demographic groups.

The Eastern Region recorded the highest mean happiness score at 4.99, followed closely by Ashanti at 4.97.

The Volta Region recorded the lowest mean score at 3.64 among the six regions covered by the study.

Men reported a slightly higher mean happiness score than women, at 4.76 compared with 4.63.

Married respondents recorded the highest mean score at 4.82, while widowed respondents recorded the lowest at 4.52.

Income was also positively associated with reported happiness.

Respondents earning more than GH¢60,000 annually recorded a mean happiness score of 5.57, compared with 4.49 among those earning below GH¢20,000.

Larger households also reported higher levels of happiness. Households with six or more members recorded a mean score of 5.02.

The researchers suggested that extended family structures could provide emotional and material support that contributes to well-being.

The researchers cautioned against viewing income as the sole explanation for differences in happiness.

“Although material well-being emerged as one of the strongest contributors within the composite happiness structure, its influence operated alongside governance quality, community belonging, and work satisfaction,” the study noted.

The authors said the findings are consistent with research suggesting that increases in income do not necessarily produce equivalent increases in subjective well-being.

They therefore highlighted the importance of effective public institutions, economic stability and social cohesion alongside material conditions.

The researchers reported strong measurement properties for the index.

The overall scale recorded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.824, indicating good internal consistency, while domain-level scores ranged from 0.753 to 0.930.

An Exploratory Factor Analysis also supported the study's 10-factor structure, which explained 67.8% of the total variance.

However, the researchers cautioned that the findings should not be interpreted as a nationally representative picture of happiness in Ghana.

The study relied on non-probability convenience sampling and covered only six of the country's administrative regions.

“Future research using nationally representative probability samples and broader regional coverage would be required to validate and extend these findings at the national level,” the researchers stated.

The study recommends the institutionalisation of a multidimensional happiness measurement tool as a complement to conventional economic indicators.

The researchers argued that regularly measuring subjective well-being could help policymakers track changes in social, institutional and environmental conditions over time.

They said such data could provide insights that measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may not fully capture.

“Embedding subjective well-being metrics within national development planning and monitoring frameworks could strengthen evidence-based policymaking, enhance public accountability, and better align development priorities with the lived experiences of the population,” the study concluded.

The research was approved by the Research and Publications Ethics Review Committee at the Institute for Security, Disaster, and Emergency Studies (ISDES), with participants providing written informed consent.