Ofc they wouldn’t be, because of the variation within people.

But the study and especially the way it’s reported is complete and utter bullshit. The study itself looks at contentedness, not happiness. That’s very different, and when the Finnish cultural context is added, the difference is exacerbated even further.

I’m not saying Finland doesn’t have good social programs compared to other countries, but that doesn’t mean they are good social programs or that they don’t have massive systemic issues of their own.

So yeah, I can easily believe that according to subjective reports, we are the most contented country, as we have functional programs to keep everyone housed and fed at least, and it’s not in the Finnish culture to complain. So you’d go “no ei voi valittaa” = “well, I can’t complain”, meaning “it could be worse” or “I’m alright”, whatever your preferred form might be, which easily translates to “I’m content enough” which translates to a study showing “the happiest country on Earth”.

It’s much the same thing as when you see headlines saying “a glass of wine is equal to an hour in the gym” or “chocolate cures cancer” or something like that. It’s very misleading reporting.