Mirror mirror on the wall Who is the happiest in the whole city?/ShutterStock
How satisfied are you with your life?
If the answer is 'very', there is a high chance that you are an upper class married woman who thinks she looks good.
At least this is the conclusion reached by researchers from the University of York, who revealed the key factors that contribute to happiness.
And what about money you (and we) ask?
Although past studies have suggested that money is related to happiness, the new research indicates that this is not always the case.
"While income certainly plays a role, it is certainly not the only or even the most important factor," the researchers wrote.
The researchers tried to understand through the study which variables lead to the highest degree of life satisfaction.
Over 12,000 participants were recruited for the study, including adults, without work and with work, aged 25-64.
Participants were surveyed in a variety of categories, including family, work, education, social interests, social status, income and life satisfaction.
"We wanted to examine several factors that can influence life satisfaction, not just one factor, such as income, work or family life, independent of the other influences," said the researchers, led by Professor James Chauhan.
"Our research is unique in its scope, but also in that it looks at non-working adults alongside working adults without treating them as a niche category."
According to the researchers, one of the most surprising findings was the importance of physical appearance to life satisfaction.
Is this the happiest woman in Israel?/Photo processing, Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images
"While others may rate someone as 'very attractive', what matters more is how satisfied a person is with their appearance, something that has become more difficult in the world of social influencers and social media where looks play a large role," the team said in a press statement.
Spending time with the family or being part of a community outside of work and being dependent on people has also been found to have a high impact on life satisfaction.
And while income did play a role, it wasn't the most important.
"Often in the literature, we see that income is really important, or your job is really important, but it was really the family social factors that were more important," Professor Chauhan explained.
"In our research, we discovered that work has a low value in relation to family and social outcomes. It's not that all aspects of work are ranked poorly, but overall, family and community dominated."
Social status was another determining factor in how satisfied people were with their lives.
"You can earn what would be considered an excellent salary or wage anywhere else in the country, but in these big cities, you feel like you're just middle class," Professor Chauhan said.
And those are the winners
In addition, it was found that the quality of health plays a large role in life satisfaction.
"The degree to which you rate your overall health really contributes to your life satisfaction," adds Professor Chauhan.
Being married was also an advantage on the life satisfaction scale compared to being widowed, separated or single.
In addition, women were happier with their lives than men.
So how do you conclude?
"The best-case scenario for the highest life satisfaction?'
The researchers clarified. 'You are married, happy with your personal appearance, you have good family and community support, you have excellent health, and you consider yourself to be of the upper class.'"
Surprised?
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Confirmed