Happiest man likely to be Steve, 60, from Edinburgh

The study found that Edinburgh topped the table of Britain's happiest cities. Picture: PA

A UK-wide study by Cadbury’s revealed the most content individual is married, has grey hair, blue eyes, wears glasses and loves spending time with his family and friends.

The confectionary giant questioned more than 2,000 people to find out where the happiest people lived, what they looked like, their age and what they were called.

Their study found Edinburgh topped the table of Britain’s happiest cities, along with Southampton and Cardiff. The unhappiest people were found in Newcastle, Liverpool and Norwich.

The study, published yesterday, came as much of the country heads towards a sunny Bank Holiday weekend – with researchers also finding that the moods of 30 per cent of men in Britain are directly affected by the weather.

Ironically, though, as most parts of Scotland ware set to experience downpours this weekend, the peak of happiness was found to be a male from  the Scottish capital nearing retirement after many years of teaching.

Cadbury’s found that, broadly, men tended to be happier than women. The happiest ones were those who are married. Older residents were also noticeably happier than those in their 20s, the study found.

The researchers said: “Along with the sunshine, we also found men were found to be happier than women, while singletons –who may be footloose and fancy free – were not as happy as those who were married.

“Those in their mature years of 60s and 70s were happiest of all compared to their 20-year-old counterparts.”

To arrive at the results, researchers cross-referenced first names, age, professions and the areas where people lived, and also took into account physical descriptions of the men, such as hair colour and if they wore glasses.

Edinburgh has been named the “most desirable” place to live in a number of surveys in recent years, winning best UK city in 2009 and Europe’s leading destination in 2012.

Steve Cardownie, the city’s festivals and events champion, said he believed a combination of factors had led to the Scottish capital topping the charts.

“I can fully understand why the happiest people live in Edinburgh, because it’s a fantastic, vibrant city,” he said.

“It has nice parks, clean, open spaces, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. We have great festivals and events here and it’s only 20 minutes to the countryside. People are also friendly, they talk to strangers, and we welcome people from across the globe when they visit or settle here.”

He added: “All the major surveys find Edinburgh is top or nearly top when it comes to liveability. Of course, we don’t sit back and rest on that and we keep improving.”

Cllr Cardownie added that he himself nearly fitted the criteria, as he is three weeks from his 60th birthday, previously worked as a lecturer and is married.

“It’s a bonus for me that I’m a Steve, I’m almost 60, lectured in industrial relations before entering politics – and I’d say I’m pretty happy.”

Cadbury’s also found people who see their family and friends the most often were the most happiest, with the unhappiest in the survey saying that not seeing loved ones impacts their cheerfulness.

Names also play a big part, the study claimed.

Those named Tina, Rebecca, Gary or Chris stood out as being linked to doom and gloom, compared to “chirpy chappies”who were likely to be named Steve, Tom, Wendy or Mary.

Those with blonde hair were happiest and the lighter someone’s colouring, the happier they were.

Blue-eyed people see things through rose-tinted glasses and there is no blurred vision when it comes to being content – with people who wear glasses cheerier than those who do not.