If you felt that you've not been as happy living in Singapore as of late, you're not alone.

According to a 2022 Quality of Life survey, Singaporeans were less happy and satisfied with the quality of life in Singapore in general over the past few years.

The survey was published in the book “Happiness and Wellbeing in Singapore – Beyond Economic Prosperity”, authored by National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School associate professor Siok Kuan Tambyah, honorary fellow Tan Soo Jiuan, and PhD student Yuen Wei Lun.

According to a Jan. 11 NUS press release about the book, some issues that caused respondents' dissatisfaction included household income, standard of living, and jobs.

Details of the survey

The 2022 survey is the sixth in the series of studies, and was conducted from June to July 2022.

Previous Quality of Life surveys were conducted in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.

1,905 Singapore citizens across different demographic groups, aged 21 and above, participated in the 2022 edition.

The authors compared its results to those of previous surveys conducted in 2011 and 2016.

Less happy, less satisfied

The study highlighted that there was a "significant decline" in Singaporeans' sense of happiness from 2016 to 2022.

"From 2016 to 2022, Singaporeans have become less happy, enjoyed life less, and felt a decreased sense of achievement, control, as well as purpose," the press release said.

Satisfaction with life was measured across a set of 15 life domains, which includes relationships with parents and children, housing, studies, education attained, health, and standard of living, among others.

The study found that Singaporeans were most satisfied with their relationships with their children, parents and siblings, spouses and partners, as well as their spiritual lives.

However, they were most dissatisfied with bread-and-butter issues, including household income, standard of living, jobs, health and relationship with neighbours.

Who were the most happy and satisfied?

So who were the happiest lot?

According to the study, those who male, married, older, have higher education and have higher income "tend to have greater levels of happiness, enjoyment, achievement, control and purpose in their lives," the press release wrote.

Similarly, those who are male, married, and with higher education and income tend to have higher levels of satisfaction with life.

Richer Singaporeans are happier, generally...

The study found that household income seemed to have a positive relationship with Singaporeans’ satisfaction with life and overall quality of life.

While there were some exceptions, higher household incomes typically came with increased levels of happiness, enjoyment, achievement, sense of control and purpose.

The study noted that "perception of financial sufficiency is also important" for one's satisfaction with life, as some people with higher household incomes may still report lower levels of wellbeing than those who are less financially well-off.

But those who prioritise material possessions aren't

Respondents were also clustered based on how much they valued family values, sustainability, traditionalism, materialism or a balance among them.

However, Singaporeans who placed a large importance on material possessions seemed to be more unhappy.

"Despite having a higher income, those who tend to pursue materialistic values were the least satisfied with their lives and were least happy among the four clusters," said the authors.

Singaporeans don't care that much about fun and enjoyment

Notably, Singaporeans gave the lowest priority to "fun and enjoyment", which was seen in both 2016 and 2022 surveys.

Participants also ranked security and self-respect as their top two values in the two surveys.

However, these two values were found to have no significant impact on Singaporeans' satisfaction with life.

On the other hand, the values of sense of belonging and excitement did have a positive influence on how happy participants were.

Other values which were ranked by participants included warm relationships with others, self-fulfillment, being well-respected, and a sense of accomplishment.

Purpose of the survey

The authors explained that there are "limitations in using GNP and GDP as a measurement for or indicator of the quality of life" and noted the need for a "more holistic perspective of wellbeing".

Aside for the above indicators of wellbeing, the survey also looked into participants' views about democratic rights and politics and what they experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Bright spots"

“The findings of the 2022 QOL Survey may be discouraging," noted Tambyah.

However, she added that "there are some bright spots".

Tambyah pointed out that Singaporeans are "very satisfied with their familial relationships".

Furthermore, "certain clusters of Singaporeans with prosocial values are also happier".

"This underscores the importance of a strong social and family fabric in building a cohesive, caring and inclusive country," she said.

“Singaporeans can also nurture and integrate the right mix of values, trust, openness and democratic processes that will provide a common ground for making Singapore a happy and fulfilled society”, she added.

Soft-copies of the book, “Happiness and Wellbeing in Singapore – Beyond Economic Prosperity” can be downloaded here.

Top image via Mimi Thian / Unsplash.