ALL COMPLAINTS aside, deep down Cypriots believe life is treating them well. In recent Eurobarometer public opinion survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission, Cypriots declared themselves happier with their lives compared to most other citizens of the European Union. When asked about their future, Cypriots rank third in optimism.
Sociologist Nicos Peristianis attributes Cypriot contentment to four main factors:
“The economy has been doing well for the past few years and the standard of living has been improving. The island has also been doing well politically and has benefited from continuous peace since 1974.” The two other contributing factors are “that Cyprus has a low crime rate and that there are few ill effects of development, for example less pollution.”
The study quizzed citizens of all EU member states, as well as 13 acceding countries (10 entering in 2004, the other three being Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey), on their quality of life.
The first question in the survey was: “In general, how satisfied are you with your life?” Respondents were asked to choose whether they were “very satisfied”, “satisfied”, “moderately satisfied” or ” not at all satisfied”. The rate of those who were “very satisfied” and “satisfied” in the 15 member states is at 80 per cent and in the 10 acceding countries it is at 64 per cent.
Cyprus exceeds the above percentages, with the number of Cypriots respondents claiming to be “very satisfied” and “satisfied” at 84 per cent. The percentage of Cypriots who claimed to be “moderately satisfied” was 13 per cent, which is lower than the average of the 10 acceding countries (an average of 25 per cent) and lower than that in the 15 member states (19 per cent).
It must also be noted Peristianis added, “that Cyprus lacks the impersonality and anonymity of big cities, people here are overall friendly and relations are warm and humane.”
There are a number of theories that may explain why Cypriots say they are happy psychologist Stavros Stavrou said. One of them being “a person who is actually unhappy may claim to be happy in an effort to convince himself.”
Only two per cent of Cypriots claimed to be “not at all satisfied” with their life, which is the lowest percentage of all the countries, which participated in the survey.
Peristianis also referred to the ideal of democracy of the ancient Greeks having been based on a “democracy of small scale” and that direct participation of the people in a democratic society is easier when the society is small. “Politicians are a part of our daily lives and people do not feel isolated from political institutions.”
As for the proverb ‘money doesn’t buy you happiness’, this is confirmed with 65 per cent of the Turkish population claiming to be “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with an average income is of 5,900 euros per capita. They ranked being of countries like Hungary or Slovakia whose average income is 11,500 and 10,800 euros respectively.
“If a person has fulfilled the goals they have set they may feel happy,” Stavros added. Cypriots also declared that their life has improved over the past five years by 43 per cent – once again the highest figure in Europe. While in member states of the EU, 41 per cent claimed that their life has gotten worse in the past five years, and 33 per cent declared they saw no change.
As for the future, when asked if within the next five years they expect their condition to “improve”, “remain the same” or “get worse,” 50 per cent of the Maltese believe their lives will improve, followed by the Turks (47 per cent) and Cypriots third (46 per cent). Thirteen per cent of Cypriots believe that their condition will worsen within the next five years and 23 per cent believe it will not change at all.
