TEHRAN, Iran — According to the recent "World Happiness Report," Iran is far from being a happy nation. Being ranked 115th among the 150 nations which were surveyed is a huge disappointment for Iranian society. This is the country in which Khayyam, one of the greatest classical Persian poets, about 1,000 years ago wrote: “Drinking wine and being happy is my rite.”

For this research, in addition to surveying the citizens of these countries in regard to their psychological health, other factors such as people’s hope for a healthy life, level of corruption, gross domestic product (GDP), freedom of choice, level of social support and level of generosity have also been calculated and taken into consideration.

Ali Akbar Mahdi, professor of sociology at Ohio Wesleyan University, who has done extensive research on societies in the Middle East, believes that the policies of the government after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 are the reason behind Iran’s low rank in this international diagram. He told Al-Monitor, “Given the revolutionary atmosphere of Iran in the past three decades, and heavy restrictions of all types placed on citizens’ private and public life, it is not surprising to see such a low level of happiness among Iranian citizens.”

Mahdi continued, “There is a direct correlation between happiness and self-expression. In a society where widespread inhibitions are placed on individual behavior and spontaneity and unregulated expressions of joy are considered immoral, it would be hard to find anyone to either feel in control of his or her life or excited about his or her state of being.”