Eastern Europeans and Latin Americans are gaining on us... in happiness.

A recent survey of 47 nations by the Pew Global Attitudes Project highlights a correlation between increasing per capita gross domestic product and personal contentment.

The United States was among countries that led the happy meter in 2007, with 65 percent of respondents rating their lives a seven or higher on a scale from 0 - 10. But that percentage had not increased since 2002.

According to information cited in the survey, our gross national product has risen 11 percent in the past five years.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, where GDP has climbed 36 percent since 2002, 34 percent of the population rated their lives a 7 or higher this year, 11 percent more than in 2002. And in Latin America, where GDP had grown by 18 percent over the five-year period, the quality-of-life assessment grew to 59 percent from 44 percent.

The survey also draws a correlation between GDP and satisfaction with family income and national political climate. Of U.S. survey respondents, 76 percent were satisfied with their family income in 2007, compared with 74 percent in 2002. In Eastern Europe, the percentage had grown to 39 percent from 28 percent. It had grown to 62 percent from 46 percent in Latin America.

But Americans' satisfaction with the state of the U.S. had dwindled sharply, from 41 percent in 2002 to just a quarter of respondents saying they were happy with the way things were going, this year.

Not surprisingly, Eastern European confidences in their countries had grown to 20 percent from 10 percent in 2002, and Latin Americans' to 34 percent, compared with 7 percent in 2002.

You can read the entire report, here.

Sharon Altaras is an editorial assistant at Washington CEO Magazine.