This index is expressed in the following formula: IAH = 8.28 (m – s) + 17.2, where m is the mean response to a question on happiness in a nation and s is the sample standard deviation of the responses, happiness being measured with a 0 to 10 scale ranging from most unhappy (0) to most happy (10).
On this index a score of 100 means that everybody is completely happy; e.g. that all respondents in the sample rated their happiness 10 on a 0 to10 scale.
This measure was first presented at the conference of the International Society for Quality Of Life Studies (ISQOLS) in Frankfurt, July 2003. It is presented in more detail in Veenhoven, R. & Kalmijn, W. Inequality-Adjusted Happiness (IAH) in Nations. Egalitarianism and Utilitarianism Married in a New Index of Societal Performance. in: Journal of Happiness Studies, 2005, vol. 6, pp. 421-455 .
A more elegant computation was proposed in 2011 in the paper Index of Inequality Adjusted happiness (IAH) improved. This latter method is applied in this rank list.
Cite as:
Veenhoven, R.,
Inequality-Adjusted Happiness in
149 nations 2010-2018
. World Database of Happiness, Rank report Inequality of Happiness, Internet:
worlddatabaseofhappiness-archive.eur.nl/hap_nat/findingreports/RankReport_InequalityHappiness.php