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[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
Conservatives are happier than liberals. This according to a 2006 Pew Research Center survey cited in a paper published this month in Psychological Science.
But New York University researchers set out to isolate the reasons why right-wingers would have greater subjective well-being than left-wingers.
They collected data from nearly 1,200 people from the 2000 American National Election Study and found that above the effects of gender, marital status, income, religion and age, the reason for this happiness disparity can be distilled to the separate ideologies of liberals and conservatives.
The authors argue that a conservative belief acts as a psychological buffer in a world of increasing inequality. The idea is that conservatives tend to rationalize inequality as the result of a fair process in a meritocracy, whereas liberals tend to see inequality as inherently unjust.
Analyses with data from 9,000 people across 10 countries uncovered the pattern that, not only do right-wingers report greater life satisfaction across cultures, but the gap widens in those countries where quality of life is low.
Finally, the authors looked at U.S. data spanning the past 30 years, and found that increasing economic inequality is associated with the decrease in the nation’s overall happiness. But noted they found that liberals’ self-reported happiness decreased more steeply than that of conservatives.
- Christie Nicholson
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25 Comments
Add CommentSo basically... people are happier if they're in denial? This is old news. Anyone who believes a high school drop-out in the US makes more than 90% of the world due to merit is definitely in denial.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's easy to be happy when you care only about your own well-being.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI remain,
Jacomus d'Paganus-Fatuus
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Edited by jacomus d'paganus-fatuus at 06/24/2008 10:34 AM
even on a simple thing as happiness, the first two liberal comments show there disdain of any oppinon that differs from theirs and put it off as the ignorance or selfishness of others, thats why liberals are never happy they can't stand dissent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI find studies like this basically flawed. In the 60s & 70s I found things out of kilter when people could belly up to the public larder without giving anything in return. (Such as a honest day's work) Then I was a Conservative. Now when I cringe to see our young soldiers kicking down doors in the middle of the night & ordinary people that have no access to affordable healthcare I'm a Liberal. I remember in the play Camelot, King Author muttering; "Does might make right or does right make might?" Now more than ever this phrase has resonance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am much happier now that I recovered from my liberalism. As a liberal, I agonized over things I couldn't fix. As a conservative, I acknowledge that people don't want to be fixed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHmmm, so conservatives "rationalize" but liberals "see." This isn't science, it's liberal political propaganda. Sadly, it no longer saddens me because this kind of bias is so common.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt has long been my belief that as opposed to liberals, conservatives have a diminished capacity to empathize with those who hold differing view points or those outside their group. I belief that we are all born with varying capacities for empathy which we cannot change.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo liberals "see inequality as inherently unjust" - presumably we are talking about economic equality here - while conservatives view this as the "result of a fair process" . Yet we know that, in addition to being happier, conservatives are also far more generous to charities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo if a conservative is poor he knows he can get himself out of it. A liberal that is poor can see no way out - it's just "inherent".
If a conservative is not poor then he shares his good fortune and is happy to have done so. If a liberal is not poor then he doesn't share since the inequality is inherent there is nothing he can do about except complain. Then he sits around and feels guilty about his own good fortune.
No wonder liberals are sad.
Liberals are more materialistic than conservatives, and so material inequality is more important to them. I suspect that conservatives [i]favor[/i] a meritocracy and believe that free countries tend in that direction, but that a significant amount of random inequality (unrelated to merit) will always persist. It just doesn't bother them as they see material well being as only a relatively small part of what makes a successful life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWow! This article reminds me of that saying. How does it go? Ignorance is ...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy conduct these polls? Fine. Okay. What's up, are the conservatives pissed because we enjoy making love more, so they have to find something they're better at? Okay, so they can be happy, while we have good sex. We're even, so there, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. Whatever.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's funny how most of the comments here prove the point of this article - that liberals are generally unhappy, whining people and sore losers. Especially sore losers. In addition, the commenters prove another point not mentioned in the article - the liberal disconnect with reality. Observe them describing themselves as smart and conservatives as stupid - without stopping to think that by doing so they simple-mindedly illustrate the point of the article, like lab rats in a scientific experiment. Not the smartest thing to do, especially for those claiming to be "smarter than thou."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat way liberals are an endless source of fun for conservatives, adding to their overall happiness.
Could it be that conservatives are typically people who like things to stay the same while liberals want them changed? Once a liberal is happy they become a conservative. Sounds pretty simple to me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA very shrewd observation. Perhaps, happy people are that way because of a rational mindset that leads to an outlook that some categorize as "conservative." Unhappy people are also that way because of an irrational mindset that some categorize as "liberal."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEquality as a precondition to personal happiness? That's very funny. People are all born different - tall, short, blonde, brunette, bald, hairy, pasty, swarthy, handsome, ugly, smart, slow. If cutting them all to size is what would make liberals happy, they are not different from fascists. I'd rather they continue to remain sore losers.
Increasing inequality is what happens when you import poverty from third world countries like Mexico, Honduras, etc. Illegal immigration keeps wages low, just the way elitests of all political ideologies want it. Conservatives are frustrated, but find happiness and comfort in simple things like family, friends, and worthwhile activities. Another study found that conservatives give more to charity than liberals. Perhaps that is why they are happier. They are working to change peoples' lives on a consistent basis, and putting their money where their mouth is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIsn't it fairly obvious that conservatives, who want things to stay the same, are "happier" (more complacent?) than liberals, who strive for change?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSorry, but liberals can't talk their way out of this one. They also have been found to complain more about household chores, their own income, even their own hobbies. Liberalism is a debilitating ideology that will bring you nowhere but down. Read more here: http://greatrighthope.blogspot.com/2008/06/cheese-with-that-whine.html
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisConservatives are happier because ignorance is bliss. If you're sitting around and ignoring the problems of the world or not taking responsibility and ownership of the problems (insisting "nothing can be done" or "that's just the way the world works," of course you'll be happier.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Life is a tragedy for those who feel; A comedy for those who think"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps an answer to this question can be found in the fundamental values of conservatives. Many (but by no means all) conservatives hold deeply felt spiritual & religious beliefs, while many (but by no means all) liberals deride such beliefs or openly eschew them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThose who hold such beliefs will attribute their happiness and spiritual well-being to them. Many religious adherents derive great comfort from their beliefs, and have a satisfaction with their life even when living under conditions that many of us would find appalling.
I would venture to say that conservatives, by and large, are happier because they have an ethical belief system with which they can anchor their lives, and a moral benchmark from which they can measure their behavior. Liberals, who generally embrace a moral relativism of constantly changing "inclusive" values, have only a flexible yardstick with which to measure their performance. I believe that people who know where they are, and where they are going are happier than those who wander with a moral compass that constantly changes. But in fairness, "not all who wander are lost..."
"Rationalize," eh? Your bias is showing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are numerous problems that potentially affect all of us on this planet. A few can be reviewed at the links below:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/wp02/wp02-2.pdf
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http://www.pewoceanscience.org/press/press-article.php?ID=58
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3787046457101273554
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bomber
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http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvLu8qyuThUM8Iz47S5iQBMJJTHg
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http://www.unwater.org/flashindex.html
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http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo
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There are two unskillful ways to deal with these global problems. One is to deny that the problems exist:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/66237
The other is to promote hatred of some stereotype:
http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/refute081502.html
The replies I see to this article mostly fall into one of the two categories above. It is unfortunate indeed that these are the highest levels of objectivity and rational problem solving attained by the parties posting these replies.
Fortunately we live in a country where anyone with an opinion is free to express it in writing. Now that you have expressed your political perceptions of importance to you, I wonder if you might consider recognizing and attacking real problems instead of attacking stereotypes?
Pandemic disease, starvation, natural disasters, human-induced disaster, and so on cannot be alleviated by lining up on ideological sides and insulting the opposing side on this website. The problems we all face will not go away by themselves. Maybe you could put your minds to better use in service to humanity rather than in dividing humanity along mindless political lines.
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Too much knowledge and not knowing what to do will cause unhappiness, handle what you can, as the Buddha put it, thinking is the root of our unhappiness, people who think too much will be unhappy, they knew this over 1000 years ago, don't think too much and you will be happy. Nigeria was considered the happiest nation in the world with all the ethnic tensions and violence, why, they only think about what they can handle the rest is a joke.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA person who just acts will be more happy than one who considers variables, the less variables to consider the easier. Think about it how many variables were considered before going into Iraq, whilst a Clinton or an Obama would have considered too many variables. The more complex one sees the world the more the brain is used the less time for simple pleasures, simple stimulants.
Those who accept things as they are will be happy, that is just the way things are philosophy. Therefore the slave who accepts things will be happier than the slave who yearns to be free, since time immemorial, Spartacus was less happy than those who remained behind, he wanted freedom. Revolutions come from liberals people who say status quo is wrong, George Washington therefore was a liberal a conservative would have said its okay to be ruled by Britain.
The unhappiness of liberals is not necessary a bad thing, the environment is about to be cleaned up because they have stood up and said too much pollution is wrong, in Politics we have a leading black candidate because they said choose on merit rather than colour, though this has not infiltrated into academia and business. The less happy liberals are the more we will hear unfair and some change, if it was not for liberals blacks would still be segregated in the South, they stood up and said wrong, but conservatives were happy with the status quo, too bad for the blacks they deserve not to vote its their fault not societies.
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Edited by Assegai at 06/27/2008 9:01 AM
The Pew Forum is run by fundamentalist Christians. They claim that 21% of atheists beleive in a god, which is of course wrong by 21%. They Pew Forum is fraudulent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe dumber you are the happier you are.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this