**3. Latin America case study**

To better understand the differences in data and findings regarding happiness research, it is worthwhile to consider case studies of both positive and negative outliers. Latin America has demonstrated itself to be an unusual and unexpected positive outlier in research on happiness data. A major component identified in Latin America is the priority of happiness and close relationships as a part of purpose and life value. The data from the World Happiness Reports demonstrates that in Latin America there is a focus on happiness, relationships and love as a valuable and worthwhile life endeavor. In general, this may be considered more valuable than the individual attainment of status and wealth. In essence, the belief system regarding happiness is generally different with a greater concentration and focus on daily happiness, love and connection [6–8].

The greater focus on happiness, love and connection as a daily value in Latin America is in line with some research on mindfulness which highlights that just by noticing things on a day-to-day basis you increase the frequency of the lived experience. For example, the more you focus on anxiety and attaching to feelings of anxiety, the more the anxiety escalates. The more you focus on feelings of sadness and triggers for depressive thoughts and feelings, the more these increase. Our belief system plays an important role in what we focus on and then this becomes more cemented through neuropathways in the brain. The more we have certain types, frequency and concentration of thoughts, the greater the concentration of neuropathways in the brain regarding those thought-forms. Therefore, in the case of Latin America, if there are stronger cultural norms for focusing on happiness, love and connection on a day-to-day basis, this may create more of that lived experience through perception and regular focus [6–9].
