Good mental health and strong relationships are more sought after than a pay rise, a survey has revealed.

The research, conducted by the London School of Economics, looked at responses from more than 200,000 people on how different factors impacted their wellbeing.

It found that suffering from depression or anxiety would hit individuals the hardest, while being in a relationship would increase happiness the most.

Surprisingly, on a scale of one to 10, the doubling of someone’s pay saw their happiness rise by less than 0.2. By contrast, having a partner would raise happiness by 0.6.

The researchers said this was down to people caring more about how their incomes compared to friends and co-workers than how it affected them.

The biggest inhibitor of happiness was caused by depression and anxiety. Poor mental health would cause happiness to drop by 0.7 – the same score as unemployment.

Report co-author, Professor Richard Layard, said the findings meant that the state needed to play a new role in its citizens’ happiness – focusing on “wellbeing creation” rather than “wealth creation”.

He said: “The evidence shows that the things that matter most for our happiness and for our misery are our social relationships and our mental and physical health.

“In the past, the state has successively taken on poverty, unemployment, education and physical health. But equally important now are domestic violence, alcoholism, depression and anxiety conditions, alienated youth, exam-mania and much else. These should become centre stage.”