The Effect of Education in Happiness: Lower at the Micro Level of Individuals than at the Macro Level of Nations

Investments in education are growing, not only in the first phase of life but also throughout life. However, the million-dollar question is: does more education make us happier? The relationship between education and happiness is assessed on two levels: at the micro level of individuals and at the macro level of nations. At the micro level, the results of 86 studies were analyzed, in which most results point to a weak positive correlation between happiness and years of schooling (r = +0.06). This is considerably lower when controlling the values for the effects of education, such as income (partial r = +0.02). At the macro level, the correlation between education and happiness in 146 nations was assessed, and a strong positive relationship was found (r = +0.61). These results suggest that the effect of education on happiness is indirect and not direct; people who live in modern societies are happier, but this means that they need a higher level of education. Apparently, education alone is not satisfactory, at least not the school education that has been provided thus far.