Mapping Social Happiness in Kabul: A Case Study of Educated People between 15 and 40 Years Old

Abstract

Happiness has been studied from philosophical, social, religious, cultural, and economic perspectives. According to global statistics, Afghanistan was ranked as the saddest country in the world in 2021 and 2022. The current study aims to study social happiness and the factors that have affected it among people in Kabul in the age range of 15–40 with academic degrees since the Taliban returned to power. It is based on an applied survey conducted with quantitative methods. The data were obtained by means of the Oxford Happiness questionnaire and analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Social happiness among this population is significantly related to the variables of gender, ethnicity, occupation, income, household, religiosity, social hope, and anomie. However, marital status, ethnicity and occupation do not appear to play a central role. The general level of happiness was found to be below average (47.5), which is influenced by the overall situation in Afghanistan. Regression analysis indicates that gender, household, income, religiosity, and social hope significantly affect social happiness.