A new survey indicates that 56.4 percent Beijing citizens feel unhappy, Beijing Times reports.
The report regarding the happiness of Beijingers was released at a conference held by the Beijing Municipal Commission on Population and Family Planning on Wednesday.
The investigation was conducted from March to June by Professor Wo Jianzhong from Beijing Normal University. Of the participants aged between 20 and 79 from all 16 districts and counties in Beijing, only 0.08 percent felt extremely happy, 2.5 percent felt very happy, 22.8 percent felt happy, and 56.4 percent felt unhappy.
The report showed that eight factors influenced happiness to a large extent. They were income, living conditions, living environment, health, job, education, marital status and sex life.
In addition, the greatest psychological pressures and concerns for Beijing families came from food safety, economic conditions, fast changing society, education and natural disasters. Food safety tops the list because it is directly related to people's health.
Age is also related to a general feeling of happiness. According to the report, Beijing citizens between 20 and 29 are the happiest group. Wo explained that people at this age are more ambitious about their careers and life, have confidence in themselves and have hope for future. People in their forties are under the greatest pressure from work, and people in their fifties worry most about their child's education, thus resulting in low levels of happiness. The report also shows that as age increases, happiness decreases. People in their sixties had their lowest ratings.
As for health's relationship to happiness, the results are positive. However, there is no direct relationship between happiness and income. There is also no direct relationship between education and happiness, either.
Wo Jianzhong explained that in order to improve people's happiness, the government should improve living and economic conditions, raise the level of medical care, improve working conditions and provide job opportunities. At the same time, citizens should keep an optimistic and healthy state of mind, read more optimistic books and make more friends.
