[setrofim_]

> 1) Happiness is not as subjective as people think. Research suggest that what people state about their own happiness correlates very well with how friends and colleagues would describe a person as.

This just means that how happy a person feels correlates well with how happy others perceive them to be. This says nothing about whether their subjective feelings reflect objective reality.

Research actually seems to suggest that happiness is very subjective, and may in fact have a strong genetic component[0]. I.e. whether a particular person is happy is dictated less by their circumstances and more by their outlook/personality/genetics. Of course, one's circumstances also play a role (e.g. a person will be less happy immediately after the death of a loved one), but subjective factors seem to win out overall.

[0] e.g. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201302/...

[thatcat]

>happiness is very subjective, and may infact have a strong genetic component.

I agree that happiness is subjective and personality trait expression may very well have a genetic component, but I wouldn't dismiss societal and environmental factors entirely.

For example, inequality and air pollution are also associated with unhappiness.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/income-inequality-increase... https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118125955.h...