Posted by Jaime Lopez
People in Costa Rica are being marketed a new treadmill, and not just because more Ticos are joining the ranks of the overweight and obese around the world. This treadmill is behavioral, and if its marketing forces are successful, Ticos will lose their status as citizens of the happiest country in the world. The hedonic treadmill being peddled to Ticos is a direct result of globalization and the nation's wish to escape the Third World.
The hedonic treadmill theory is often used to explain the "have more, want more" phenomenon that has been widely observed since the 20th century. The concept looks at how humans quickly adapt to economic or financial improvement, only to turn around and seek more. This quest for improvement places new demands in life, and when we don't meet these demands -for any reason- we become disgruntled.
The antithesis to the hedonic treadmill was once voiced by Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, when he said "very little is needed to have a happy life." This came from a man who had it all, and under whom the Roman Empire began its decline, but many centuries later the pursuit of happiness became closely related to materialism.
When the New Economics Foundation (NEF) announced the results of the Happy Planet Index earlier this year, Costa Rica once again topped the list of the 151 nations surveyed. That was the second time since the NEF began compiling the index back in 2006 that Costa Rica was crowned the happiest country in the world. While news reports of the 2012 Happy Planet Index were highly publicized, analyzed and dissected by English-language media outlets around the world, the reaction from Ticos was lukewarm.
The administration of President Laura Chinchilla welcomed the news, particularly since our leader has been involved in supporting an initiative presented by the Kingdom of Bhutan before the United Nations to give preference to developing Gross National Happiness (GNP) over Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Another part of government that was pleased with the news was the Costa Rica Board of Tourism (ICT in Spanish), an agency that effectively uses happiness as a marketing tool to attract international visitors to our country.
The Naysayers
When news of Costa Rica's reprise as the world's happiest nation in 2012 were published online by newspapers La Nacion and El Pais, many Tico readers left a string of comments that indicated that they were not entirely happy with the happy news. Some were incredulous as to how a country with roads that are filled with potholes, where import taxes are ridiculously high, consumer prices are higher than in developed countries, crime is on the rise, wages are low, and where corruption and bureaucratic inadequacy run rampant in the ranks of government, be considered happy. Others thought that the Happy Planet Index was a ploy by the current administration to boost its approval rate, which is among the lowest in the Americas.
Are the naysayers of Costa Rica's first place in the Happy Planet Index already on the hedonic treadmill, or are they on to something? According to the United Nations and the esteemed Earth Institute at Columbia University, Costa Rica is not such a happy place. As reported in The Costa Rica Star back in April, our country only ranked 12th in the first World Happiness Report, which enjoys the support of the UN. On that report Denmark topped the list, followed by Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. The United States, a nation that is generally believed to be a prime manufacturer of the hedonic treadmill, ranked 11th, one spot ahead of Costa Rica.
The Happy Planet Index and the World Happiness Report take different data approaches. While the NEF places great emphasis on ecological efficiency with subjective human well-being to come up with the Happy Planet Index, the Earth Institute is more interested in self-reported views on wealth, political freedom, social safety nets, employment, etc. In the World Happiness Report, the top twenty countries are developed and can be considered rich -with the exception of Costa Rica on 12th place. Another interesting factor to consider in the World Happiness Report is that it uses Gallup World Poll data, and Costa Rica is ranked number on reported average life satisfaction.
A common aspect of both the Happy Planet Index and the World Happiness Report is that both depend on empirical data obtained through reports of subjective well-being. This seems to be an area in which Ticos are leading the world; they seem to be content despite the myriad issues brought up by naysayers. This should give an idea that the population of Costa Rica has not yet chosen to get on the hedonic treadmill, but that could be coming to an end.
The Byproducts of Development
Costa Rica is the jewel of the Third World, and the nation's happiness is a reason many expats have chosen to leave the comforts of the developed world and settle here instead. The fact that Costa Rica's relative high rank on subjective well-being around the world is not widely celebrated in the country might be a signal that the hedonic treadmill is already a fixture in many Tico households.
A burgeoning consumer culture is finding firm ground in Costa Rica, as evidenced by the proliferation of large shopping venues, fast-food outlets, and even retail chain stores that are displacing traditional institutions like pulperias. There's also the issue of personal transportation, with more Ticos opting to take a multi-vehicle per household approach. The theory of consumerism, whereby an increasing consumption of goods is beneficial, has been debunked in the 21st century by the global financial crisis, and yet it continues to develop in Costa Rica.
Economists often point out that globalization has brought increased employment opportunities and competition, two factors essential to Costa Rica's development, but it seems as if those factors are contributing to a new trend in emotional well-being among Ticos.
According to an investigative report published in La Nacion earlier this year, Costa Rica's public health care system -La Caja- issued 40,779 workers compensation slips to Ticos who needed a break from the workplace due to stress and depression linked to job performance. Just months before that report, newspaper La Prensa Libre printed a story about the peak of psychiatric hospitalizations in December, mostly from Ticos who felt pressured and inadequate about not making enough money to purchase nice gifts for their families.
It is not just Tico workers who are feeling the blues. A 2011 report in La Nacion revealed that 15 percent of elderly people in Costa Rica suffer from depression, and their concerns are tied to byproducts of development: concerns about their families not having enough time to dedicate to them because they are too busy working. Physicians are also seeing a major increase in postpartum depression among adolescents, and the most common cited reason is fear about their financial future as young mothers.
Based on the situations mentioned above, it may be difficult to see Costa Rica hold on to her title as a happy country. Development is taking shape and seems as if it will continue with certain intensity, particularly because this is an area in which most politicians, public officials and community leaders seem to agree on, but marketing the hedonic treadmill seems to be a consequence of pushing for greater development.
There may be a solution, which was posited by Lhaba Tsering, Senior Program Officer of Sustainable Development in Bhutan, when he visited Costa Rica not long ago. Mr. Tsering believes that Ticos should not conform to international parameters of happiness; they should rather get organized to define what their own happiness should be like and ask their government for help in achieving it.
Important Notice: The views and opinions shared within this news article are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of The Costa Rica Star news network. If you have any feedback or questions pertaining to this article, please use the contact form at the top of the website to get in touch with our editors
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