特定基因長度決定幸福指數
The French are often accused of being grumpy and dismissive.
But Britons and Americans are also hardwired to be miserable, scientists claim.
Despite stable governments and good economies, those living in the UK and US will never be as happy as people in other nations, because they are simply born more miserable.
They are genetically programmed to be less cheerful than the Danes, for example, who top the list of the happiest nation.
And scientists at the University of Warwick discovered it all comes down to a gene which regulates levels of the hormone serotonin in the brain.
Short forms of the gene inhibit levels of the hormone, which can invoke depression.
Meanwhile those with longer forms of the gene are more likely to be happier, as a result of higher levels of serotonin in the body.
Researchers discovered people from Denmark have the longest form of the gene, and as such topped the happiness chart.
But Professor Andrew Oswald said it could be worse, we could be French - the nation with one of the shortest forms of the gene, which may explain their reputation for being grumpy.
Annual tables of national happiness ratings, compiled by organisations across the world, tend to rank Denmark at the top, along with nations including Panama and Vietnam.
They use factors ranging from job satisfaction to economic progress, health, wealth and education standards, along with weather, war and political stability to judge nations.
Scandinavians do well as their health is good, they are educated to a high standard and they earn more. But warm weather countries can do well too.
Some wealthy Western countries fare less well because there are big divides between rich and poor or they have high unemployment rates or less job satisfaction for instance.
But according to Professor Oswald, many of these may still be miserable even if they are earning a fortune, basking in sunshine and living to 100.
His findings from 131 countries for the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, found genetics to be the most important factor but not the only one.
Those who are either young or old tend to be happiest rather than those who are middle aged.
Those who are slim are happiest, with obesity levels in some developed countries making them less happy as nations.
And being married, in a job and well educated can also be a contributory factor.
Professor Oswald, said: 'Intriguingly, among the nations we studied, Denmark and the Netherlands appeared to have the lowest percentage of people with the short version of the serotonin gene.'
He added that many individual Americans were happy but they tended to be descended from immigrants who came from countries like Denmark in the first place.
He said: 'There was a direct correlation between the (US) individual's reported happiness, and the levels of happiness in the country their ancestors had come from.
'Our study revealed an unexplained correlation between the happiness today of some nations and the observed happiness of Americans whose ancestors came from these nations.'法國人經常被指脾氣暴躁、目中無人。
然而科學家稱，英國人和美國人天生就註定要比別人過得悲慘。
儘管英美政局穩定、經濟繁榮，然而這兩國國民卻絕不可能過得像其他國家的人民那樣幸福，怪只怪他們“命不好”。
基因決定他們天生就比其他人更容易不開心，比如名列最幸福國民榜單首位的丹麥人。
英國華威大學（University of Warwick）的學者研究發現，這都是因爲人體內有一種調節腦內血清素水平的基因。
若這種基因較短，則其會抑制這種荷爾蒙的含量，使人心情陰鬱。
同時這種基因較長的人體內的血清素水平則更高，從而更容易感覺到幸福。
研究者們發現丹麥人的這種基因最長，而丹麥人也是世界上最幸福的人。
但安德魯·奧斯瓦德（Andrew Oswald）教授表示，我們不是法國人已經是不幸之萬幸了——法國人的這種基因最短，他們出了名的脾氣暴躁大概也可以就此找到原因了。
由全球各大組織編制的年度國民幸福指數排行榜都把丹麥排在首位，隨後是巴拿馬、越南等國家。
他們在排名時考量了一個國家的多個因素，如工作滿意度、經濟發展、國民健康、財富和教育水平，以及氣候、戰爭、政局穩定性等。
北歐人的排名很高，因爲他們國民身體健康，受教育水平高，薪水也高。氣候溫潤的國家排名也不錯。
然而一些富裕的西方國家就表現欠佳了，因爲這些國家要麼貧富懸殊，要麼就失業率很高，或者工作滿意度很低。
而且奧斯瓦德教授表示，就算這裏面的很多人能賺大錢，能悠閒地曬日光浴或者活到100歲，他們也未必就過得幸福。
他的這項研究共調研了131個國家，研究成果參加了ESRC（英國國家經濟和社會研究委員會）的社會科學活動周。研究發現，遺傳雖是決定幸福感的最重要因素，但並不是唯一一個。
青年人或老年人都可能是最幸福人羣，但中年人就不太可能。
身材苗條的人幸福感最強烈，一些發達國家的幸福排名就因國民較高的肥胖水平而下降。
而已婚、有工作、受過高等教育等都可能是有利因素。
奧斯瓦德教授說：“有趣的是，在我們調研過的所有國家之中，丹麥和荷蘭國民中血清素相關基因較短的人羣比例最低。”
他補充說道，雖然許多美國人過得也很幸福，但他們的祖先可能是從丹麥這樣的國家移民過來的。
他說：“美國個人的幸福指數，與他們祖先發源地的國家幸福水平呈正相關關係。
我們的研究顯示，當今某些國家的國民幸福水平與祖先是從這些國家遷移過去的美國後代的幸福指數存在着一種無法解釋的聯繫。”
