A new study from researchers in England and the U.S. has found that misery really does love company, according to a study entitled in Dark Contrasts: The Paradox of High Rates of Suicide in Happy Places published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
People living in the world’s happiest countries – including Canada – are more likely to commit suicide, say researchers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and Hamilton College in New York.
The troubling paradox explored by researchers shows that a number of countries, including Canada, the United States, Iceland, Ireland and Switzerland, with "relatively high happiness levels," also have notably high suicide rates.
They suggest people struggling with self-esteem may get even more discouraged when they see others around them thriving.
"Human beings are creatures of comparison," Prof. Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick told Postmedia News. "[It could be that] if you feel very low with your life, it’s very dangerous to be surrounded by happy people."
"This result is consistent with other research that shows that people judge their well-being in comparison to others around them,” said Professor Stephen Wu at Hamilton College. “These types of comparison effects have also been shown with regards to income, unemployment, crime, and obesity."
Due to variations in culture and suicide-reporting systems, researchers caution that it’s hard to make comparisons from one country to another.