family not sex is pinoys no 1 source of

Family, not sex, is Pinoys' No. 1 source of happiness

First posted 06:31:34 (Mla time) October 10, 2007 / Kate V. Pedroso /

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Family, health and religion are the three most

important sources of happiness among Filipinos, while sex, sports,

politics and cultural pursuits rank among the least important,

according to a recent study by the National Statistical Coordination

Board (NSCB).

But sounding incredulous, the NSCB official, who released the results

of the study Tuesday, observed: "Could it be that the respondents were

just too shy to reveal their true feelings about sex? Or (is it) time

to shift stories away from the birds and the bees?"

Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary general, reported that Filipinos ranked

family as the most important source of happiness, with a score of 9.45

on a scale of 10. Health came next with 8.95, while religion ranked

third with 8.59.

Other important sources of happiness include friends (8.57), financial

security (8.3), education (8.25), love life (8.2) and work (7.94).

The study was based on a nonrandom poll of 167 respondents conducted

during the National Convention on Statistics held on Oct. 1-2.

Nonrandom sampling means that the questionnaire was given only to

those who wanted to answer it during the convention without a specific

target group in mind, Jessamyn Encarnacion of the NSCB Social

Statistics Office explained in a phone interview.

`Quite surprising'

In a statement, Virola said it was "quite surprising" that sex (6.39)

was not an important source of happiness, and that at 14th place, it

was ranked among the five least important.

"Also, leisure and sports, surprisingly, is the sixth least important

domain. I thought we loved Manny Pacquiao," he said, referring to the

Filipino boxing sensation who posted his latest ring conquest on

Sunday.

Politics was the least important source of happiness with 5.84. "I

wonder if our congressmen and senators realize this," Virola noted.

Other unimportant domains of happiness are cultural activities (5.88),

community and volunteer work (6.24), and government (6.53).

"The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Philippine

Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency and related (offices) obviously

need to do something if they want our countrymen to appreciate what

they are supposed to promote," the official remarked.

Levels of happiness

In terms of "level of happiness," the NSCB study also found that

Filipinos were happy with their family lives with a happiness index

rating of 88.5 percent. They were also happy with friends (83.6

percent), religion (79.8 percent) and love lives (79.4 percent).

"Health, which is supposed to be the second most important source of

happiness, unfortunately gets only 78 percent, meaning that people are

not getting any healthier or that we worry too much about our health,"

NSCB noted.

While sex life did not rank as an important source of happiness, the

respondents gave it an index rating of 72.6 percent, meaning they were

happier with sex than they were with work (71 percent), leisure and

sports (70 percent), financial security (68.8 percent) and cultural

activities (66.6 percent).

The study also found that people were happier "with domains that are

within their control than those not within their control, like

politics."

Six out of 10 respondents also agreed that "progress is synonymous

with happiness."

Women happier

The study also showed that Filipino women tended to be happier than

men, and that "happiness rises with income."

Encarnacion also coauthored a paper, "Measuring Progress of Philippine

Society: Gross National Product or Gross National Happiness," which

was presented during the convention.

The questionnaire listed the following factors: family, friends,

religion, love life, health, education, sex life, work, leisure and

sports, community and volunteer work, technological know-how, income

and financial security, cultural activities, environment, economy,

government and politics.

The NSCB conducted two pilot tests of the questionnaire, which was

formulated in relation to a proposed Philippine Happiness Index.

On a list of 95 countries, the Philippines had landed on the

"middle-range" of the World Database of Happiness Index. From 1995 to

2005, the country's average rating of 6.4 placed it in about the same

bracket as India (6.2), Iran, (6.0), Poland (5.9) and South Korea

(5.8.)