Gross National Happiness: A Case Example of a Himalayan Kingdom’s Attempt to Build a Positive Nation

Type Journal Article - Positive Nations and Communities Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology
Title Gross National Happiness: A Case Example of a Himalayan Kingdom’s Attempt to Build a Positive Nation
Author(s)
Volume 6
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2014
Page numbers 173-191
URL http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-6869-7_10
Abstract
This chapter discusses positive nations through the lens of political philosophies and the metrics of the Gross National Happiness, exemplified with the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. The richness of its open-minded and informed analysis drives from the intense direct experience of the Australian author, George W. Burns, who has served in Bhutan as a volunteer clinical psychologist 12 times in the last decade, studying the national processes inherent to the GNH. The author presents his point describing this case study as one possible way to build a positive nation. Questions regarding values and measuring issues, policies for happiness, type of institutions and tools to implement those policies, and feedback for policymakers are raised in a simultaneously instantiated and intimate narrative.

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