What Defines Happiness?

What is it, really?

Money, freedom, social support, and many more factors have a substantial impact on our lives, and in particular, related to our quality of life, highlighting happiness. In a yearly study that collects data from sample populations from around the world, we seek to evaluate if there is a relationship between various factors of life and whether or not they increase or decrease happiness in 2024. The goal is to assist government policy-makers in recommending different types of sectors for the government to improve, which is more beneficial than others. We modeled happiness, and it is on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the respondent does not experience it, 10 being the respondent experiences it often). The outcome variable in this study is the happiness score, and we used a Bayesian Linear Regression Model to analyze it. The model includes several key predictors, such as variables of income, health, freedom, social support, and more. The factor that defines and correlates most with happiness, is social support, as the happiness level increases by 2.6 units, when social support increases by 1 unit.