Another Survey Asks: Are We Happy Yet?

It’s no secret that Americans are all about happiness, and it’s even one of our unalienable rights according to the Declaration of Independence. But after a couple of centuries of pursuing it, how are we faring?

According to at survey by the Pew Research Center, only a third of adults in the US are feeling super happy these days. Another 50% are pretty happy, while 15% consider themselves not too happy. Sadly, these numbers haven’t changed much over time.

It turns out that when it comes to happiness, not all Americans are created equal. This means that the happiness levels of different groups can tell us a lot about the kind of people we are, and some of these findings might even surprise you!

For example, despite what grandma always said about money not buying happiness, it seems like having a higher income actually does lead to greater happiness. The Pew Happy report survey found that nearly half of those making over $100,000 a year report feeling very happy, while only 24% of those making less than $30,000 say the same. But hold up, this doesn’t necessarily mean grandma was wrong — there could be many different factors at play here that influence both income and happiness.

They also found some other interesting correlations in their survey. People who are married and those who worship frequently are happier than their single or less religious counterparts. Republicans seem to be happier than Democrats, and residents of the Sunbelt are happier than those living elsewhere. On the other hand, having children or being retired doesn’t necessarily make you any happier, nor does owning a pet.

These findings come from a telephone survey of over 3,000 randomly-selected adults conducted back in 2005, so we should take them with a grain of salt. But overall, it’s fascinating to see how different demographic and behavioral traits can influence our happiness levels.

Factors They Found To Influence (or not influence) Happiness

Money?

Respondents with higher family incomes were more likely to report being very happy than those with lower incomes. However, the article also notes that the trend in reported happiness has remained relatively stable over the past few decades, despite a significant increase in average per capita income. This suggests that the relationship between money and happiness may be more complex than a simple linear correlation. Additionally, the article speculates on whether the relationship between income and happiness extends to the super-rich, but notes that there is not enough data to draw any conclusions.

Political Affiliation?

According to the surveys, Republicans tend to be happier than Democrats and Independents? This trend has been around since 1972, with Republicans consistently reporting higher levels of happiness. Interestingly, this trend does not seem to be linked to which party is in power at the time. While it’s true that Republicans tend to have more money, even when household income is taken into account, Republicans still report higher levels of happiness. It’s possible that ideology plays a role, as conservatives tend to be happier than liberals. But even when controlling for ideology, a significant partisan gap remains.

Religiousness?

Here’s a fascinating finding: people who attend religious services regularly, such as weekly or more, are generally happier (43% report being very happy) compared to those who attend less frequently or not at all (31% and 26% respectively). This correlation between happiness and frequency of church attendance has been consistent over the years according to the General Social Surveys. This pattern holds true for all major religious denominations. For example, 38% of Catholics who attend church weekly or more report being very happy, compared to only 28% of those who attend less often. The survey also found that white evangelical Protestants (43%) are generally happier than white mainline Protestants (33%), but this difference disappears when frequency of church attendance is taken into account.

Married? Kids?

The research shows that people who are married tend to be happier than those who are unmarried, and this has been a consistent finding over many years and surveys. Parents are generally happier than those without children, but this is largely due to the fact that married people tend to have children, and when marital status is taken into account, the happiness levels of married people with and without children are similar to those of unmarried people with and without children.

Race?

The survey found that blacks are less likely than whites and Hispanics to report being very happy, with an average family income being a factor. For non-Hispanic whites, having more family income is clearly correlated with being happier, but among blacks, there is no correlation between family income and happiness. It’s possible that blacks with incomes over $50,000 are happier than others, but the survey did not have enough higher income blacks for analysis on this point.

Age? Gender?

According to the data, there is no significant difference in happiness between genders, but age does play a role — the young are less happy than middle-aged or older people. Married people are happier than unmarried people, and parents are happier than childless adults, but this difference disappears once marital status is taken into account. In terms of income, non-Hispanic whites with higher family income are happier, but for blacks, income does not seem to be a factor in happiness. Healthier and better-educated people tend to be happier, and retirees and workers are equally likely to report being very happy, but those who are not employed are less likely to be happy. Rushed people are less happy, suburbanites are happier than city dwellers, and people in the Sunbelt are happier than those in colder climates.

TLDR:

In summary, factors such as being married, having good health, higher income, attending church frequently, and being a Republican are robustly correlated with happiness. Education, gender, and race do not have a significant independent effect on predicting happiness when other factors are controlled. However, even when considering all these factors, predicting an individual’s happiness is still challenging. Other individual-specific factors likely have a more significant impact on predicting happiness.

And Unhappiness?

Additionally, the data shows that people who are unemployed or not in the workforce are more likely to report being unhappy than those who are employed. Among those who are not employed, 27% report being not too happy, compared to 17% of workers and 14% of retirees.

Interestingly, the data shows that being highly educated is not a safeguard against unhappiness. Those with graduate degrees are just as likely to report being not too happy (18%) as those with a high school education or less (also 18%).

Finally, there is a slight gender difference in the prevalence of unhappiness. Women are slightly more likely than men to report being not too happy (21% vs. 17%). However, this gender difference disappears when controlling for other factors such as income, health, and marital status.

Source:

https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2010/10/AreWeHappyYet.pdf

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support me please consider becoming a medium member via my affiliated link: