Ruut Veenhoven – Empirical Study of Happiness

“What is happiness?” has long been considered a philosophical question. From a sociological perspective, Professor Ruut Veenhoven explains his definition of happiness and discusses his inquiry into its application. Happiness is a measurement of the distance between one’s reality and one’s ideal reality, Ruut says, and it is by quantifying this interval that we are able to compare factors that lead toward or away from happiness, including civil rights and income equality. But why is Ruut among only a scant community of sociologists studying happiness? The answer has something to do with profit.