...I believe that people who are really happy have no need to express the state to others. Strong family bonds, material well-being, a spiritual base or claim, freedom of movement and fairly good health are some of those qualities which I have observed to constitute the elusive happiness.

The poor woman who has just scored a win at Cash Pot may be ecstatic, but it is not so much the win as her enhanced ability to fund the family pot and send her children to school for the rest of the week.
The rich man, in flying first-class to Miami, may be happy because his youngest child just graduated from Princeton.
For the moment, both of them are in similar states of happiness.

Surveys will never capture that, simply because the researchers cannot live in people's heads and homes, day in and day out
(Mark Wignall)

Observer Link:Are Jamaicans Happy for the Wrong Reasons?
www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Are-Jamaicans-happy-for-the-wrong-reasons-_11764 035

Jamaica ranks 40 out of 156 nations in the first United Nations-commissioned World Happiness Report, edited by renowned economists Jeffrey Sachs, John Helliwell and Richard Layard, and released recently.

The findings, released in April, indicate the island was most negatively affected by corruption and lacklustre growth. However, when those measures are discounted, Jamaica ranks among the world's happiest people.

...The report has pointed to the increased importance of happiness in economic and sustainable development.

Gleaner Link:Jamaicans Among World's Happiest - UN
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120620/business/business4.html