The Happiness Alliance is a nonprofit which studies and promotes happiness and well-being through survey research and advocacy. The organization created the Happiness Index, a social science survey which measures happiness and well-being. The Happiness Alliance defines happiness in terms of satisfaction with life, feelings, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with the circumstances in a person’s life. ¹

The organization was founded in 2012 after splitting away from Sustainable Seattle, a nonprofit which created the Happiness Index in 2010 to support environmentalist research in Seattle. ² Its executive director is Laura Musikanski, and the president of its Board of Directors is Rhonda Phillips, who is the Dean of the Honors College at Purdue University. ²

History

The Happiness Alliance began in 2010 as a project of the nonprofit Sustainable Seattle, which created the Happiness Index as a way of measuring sustainability in the Seattle area. ² The organization based the Happiness Index on a national happiness survey from the country of Bhutan, and it began to conduct the survey across the United States in 2012. ² The Happiness Alliance became an independent nonprofit in 2012 to further its mission of promoting happiness and continuing to conduct research based on the survey. ²

Mission

The Happiness Alliance studies the causes of both happiness and unhappiness, and its mission is to understand happiness and promote human flourishing. ² To accomplish this, the organization developed the Happiness Index, a survey which measures people’s happiness and well-being on a scale of 0-100. ¹ The organization also publishes the survey results of groups of individuals based on demographics such as sex, nationality, ethnicity, and spirituality. ³

The Happiness Alliance says its results are scientifically valid based on social science research which validates the reliability of subjective well-being surveys. ¹ It defines happiness as satisfaction with life, feelings, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with the circumstances in a person’s life. ¹

The Happiness Alliance says that practicing gratitude, generosity, and mindfulness will make a person happier and improve their well-being. ⁴

1. Happiness Alliance. “About the Happiness Index.” https://www.happycounts.org/happiness-index-frequently-asked-questions-faq.html. Accessed April 9, 2023.
2. Happiness Alliance. “About Us.” https://www.happycounts.org/about-us.html. Accessed April 9, 2023.
3.  Happiness Alliance. “Home.” https://www.happycounts.org/. Accessed April 9, 2023.
4. Happiness Alliance. “Cultivate Your Happiness.” https://www.happycounts.org/grow-happiness.html. Accessed April 9, 2023.