• Danes happiest
• Dutchs up for a laugh
• French most miserable
• Americans and Brits not much better

Americans, Brits and French are BORN miserable: Length of gene determines how happy you will be - and Danes rank top

• Scientists at Warwick University discovered the gene responsible for serotonin levels in the brain is responsible for setting your mood
• The shorter the gene the lower the levels of the mood-enhancing hormone
• Longer the gene the higher the levels of serotonin, thus people are happier
• Danes found to be happiest, and have longest form of the gene
• But those in France are most miserable, with the shortest form

By Lizzie Parry for MailOnline
Published: 13:54 GMT, 29 October 2014 | Updated: 13:58 GMT, 29 October 2014

Brits and Americans are hardwired to be miserable scientists claim after discovering the state of mind is genetic.

Despite stable governments and good economies, those living in the UK and US will never be as happy as people in other nations, because they are simply born more miserable.

They are genetically programmed to be less cheerful than the Danes, for example, who top the list of the happiest nation.

And scientists at the University of Warwick discovered it all comes down to a gene which regulates levels of the hormone serotonin in the brain.

Short forms of the gene inhibit levels of the hormone, which can invoke depression.

Meanwhile those with longer forms of the gene are more likely to be happier, as a result of higher levels of serotonin in the body.

Scientists have found Americans and Brits are born miserable after identifying the gene which regulates serotonin levels in the brain is responsible. The shorter the gene the lower the levels of the mood-enhancing hormone in the body. Pictured are notoriously miserable pair, Larry David left and Andy Murray, right

Researchers discovered people from Denmark have the longest form of the gene, and as such topped the happiness chart.

But Professor Andrew Oswald said it could be worse, we could be French - the nation with one of the shortest forms of the gene, which may explain their reputation for being grumpy.

Annual tables of national happiness ratings, compiled by organisations across the world, tend to rank Denmark at the top, along with nations including Panama and Vietnam.

They use factors ranging from job satisfaction to economic progress, health, wealth and education standards, along with weather, war and political stability to judge nations.

Scandinavians do well as their health is good, they are educated to a high standard and they earn more. But warm weather countries can do well too.

Some wealthy Western countries fare less well because there are big divides between rich and poor or they have high unemployment rates or less job satisfaction for instance.

But according to Professor Oswald, many of these may still be miserable even if they are earning a fortune, basking in sunshine and living to 100.

His findings from 131 countries for the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, found genetics to be the most important factor but not the only one.
The study found people living in Denmark had the longest form of the gene, and as a result were found to be among the happiest nations in the world

Those who are either young or old tend to be happiest rather than those who are middle aged.

Those who are slim are happiest, with obesity levels in some developed countries making them less happy as nations.

And being married, in a job and well educated can also be a contributory factor.

Professor Oswald, said: 'Intriguingly, among the nations we studied, Denmark and the Netherlands appeared to have the lowest percentage of people with the short version of the serotonin gene.'

He added that many individual Americans were happy but they tended to be descended from immigrants who came from countries like Denmark in the first place.

He said: 'There was a direct correlation between the (US) individual's reported happiness, and the levels of happiness in the country their ancestors had come from.

'Our study revealed an unexplained correlation between the happiness today of some nations and the observed happiness of Americans whose ancestors came from these nations.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... k-top.html

Take the Danes, for instance. True, they claim to be the happiest people in the world, but why no mention of the fact they are second only to Iceland when it comes to consuming anti- depressants?

And they work amongst the shortest hours in the world.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/j ... way-sweden

the study from july 2014 http://ftp.iza.org/dp8300.pdf

excerpts

Since ..early 1990s.., it has been known, and constantly found in replication studies, that nations like Denmark and the Netherlands regularly head the league table of international life-satisfaction. Yet certain other countries, including high-GDP European countries such as France and Italy, come surprisingly low down in an international ranking

a bit difficult to understand this study - to me... many graphics, but..hm.... from page 50 on i think that chinese, korean and so on have LOTS of ppl with this happy-s-http-allele? but maybe i misunderstood it and its the other way round...

i think there is a point, UKJ...

this serotonin-blether about making happy isnt true, imo. for my findings
much of serotonin fucks ppl up big time. more than too little (in general).

imo, its a bit bold now, serotonin doesnt have to do with depression and things.
its just something triggered in the process, like estrogen, means its a highly volatile hormone thing.
its just one of many players.
but its never the cause of depression nor the cause of happiness, imo...
i might be wrong...

potty wrote:i think there is a point, UKJ...

this serotonin-blether about making happy isnt true, imo. for my findings
much of serotonin fucks ppl up big time. more than too little (in general).

imo, its a bit bold now, serotonin doesnt have to do with depression and things.
its just something triggered in the process, like estrogen, means its a highly volatile hormone thing.
its just one of many players.
but its never the cause of depression nor the cause of happiness, imo...
i might be wrong...

I think you are probably right. I have a friend who takes 2 Prozac a day. Their serotonin level must be high by now! But I wouldn't say they are happy. If they won a £1,000, they would be happy for a while. So happiness is a sort of self produced chemical, that some people only produce when they get external stimulus.

What bullshit. I'm a Yank and and I'm happier than ever.