Happiness in BRICS

Happiness has gained prominence worldwide in assessing well-being. In this context, the investigation of happiness seems particularly relevant to BRICS not only because economic growth tends to be underscored at the risk of other important aspects of our living as with developed nations, but also because its impact on happiness would be represented more revealingly in its transition. As much as economic growth does not move together with happiness, it is essential to examine how happiness has been affected in the emerging economies. This chapter will as a result review the past publications on happiness in BRICS comprehensively and elicit some lessons. Although each country has unique features and determinants of happiness, some commonality will be found in the similar stage of economic development. More broadly, some convergence will be also found between the determinants of happiness over time (subjective assessments) and the requirements typically set for a good living (objective assessments).