What Makes Us Happy?- Mappiness Launches in the UK

So far, in the UK it has been a summer of discontent- volcanic ash causing chaos across our airspace, BA cabin strikes ruining many holidays, still no Wimbledon tennis champion, coupled with plummeting wealth and faced with the on-slaught of job and public sector cuts, oh and the possibility of a double-dip recession, there has not been much to make us Brits smile or make us happy. We even might be forgiven for allowing ourselves to wallow in a moment of misery. Yet, in the midst of all this gloom there is an attempt to understand how people's feelings are affected by their immediate environment, and Mappiness was launched in the UK on Monday 16 August. Mappiness, is a new free iPhone app has been created by researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) to 'track the UK's happiness across space and time' - What makes us happy?

As a global society, we hugely underplay the importance of natural environments on happiness. Increased interest in caring for the environment and spending more time outside are key to what makes people happy and Mappiness aims to turn this round, and help LSE's researchers understand how people's feelings are affected by their immediate environment. The app, which is compatible with all iPhone models works by asking users how they are feeling at a random time each day and also, asks for brief contextual information, on activity, companionship and location. It uses satellite positioning to discover their location while they answer. Ambient noise levels are measured using the iPhone's microphone, and users who are outdoors can if they want to upload a photo.

The national happiness levels will be updated in real-time on the project website, www.mappiness.org.uk, alongside maps and timelines derived from the response data. App users also get access to personalised charts analysing their own mood in return for taking part. George MacKerron, lead researcher says, "By tracking across space as well as time, and by making novel use of a technology that millions of people already carry with them, we hope to find better answers to questions about the impacts of natural beauty, environmental problems - maybe even aspects of climate - on individual and national wellbeing."

The researchers want to get at least 3,000 people on board where all the data will be sent back anonymously to a central data store, with the hope for the researchers is to ultimately publish their findings in academic journals. Professor Lord Richard Layard, Director of the Well-being Programme at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance, leaves us with the last word- "Mappiness is a revolutionary research idea. It is the best method so far devised for understanding how people's emotions are affected by the buildings and natural environment in which they move".

Photo credit: PinkMoose