blog

I’m not out to offend anyone’s political sensibilities, but some research analysis by Arthur Brooks suggests that conservatives are more happy than liberals. Conservatives were about twice as likely to call themselves “very happy” when compared to liberals. And you can’t blame it on President George Bush; according to the pollsters, conservatives have considered themselves happier than liberals for more than 35 years. It’s not due to income either. Despite stereotypes to the contrary, conservatives aren’t richer than liberals.

What is it then? Well, Brooks says that part of the answer is that conservatives are more likely to attend church every week. When you compare religious conservatives to secular liberals, the happiness gap grows ever wider. Secular liberals are, statistically speaking, as likely to say they are “not too happy” as they are to say they are “very happy.” Religious conservatives are ten times more likely to report being very happy than not too happy.

Brooks goes on to suggest that one of the fundamental reasons for the red v. blue happy gap is that conservatives are more apt to buy into the “work hard and whatever you want will be yours” philosophy. This sort of self-empowering, optimistic attitude is bound to keep anyone relatively hopeful and happy.

I consider myself a liberal — a very happy one — so this news took me a bit by surprise. That said, I have to concur that the liberal point of view is often one of “woe is me; woe is society.” Perhaps a bit more “trading up” among my fellow liberals can help turn this around. Maybe President Bush was right: we just need to keep shopping.