What Makes People Happy

 

Americans are a somewhat miserable group right now.

The share of people who say they're 'very happy' has tanked this past decade to just 12 percent of the population.

But there are some trends among those cheeriest 40 million Americans from which the rest of the nation can learn.

They tend to be older women who believe in God. They also value marriage, community, and close personal ties.

That's the finding of a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll, which follows other research that shows the happiest people have strong emotional ties to others.

A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll found that the happiest Americans are older women.

The survey of 1,019 adults found that 56 percent of Americans rated themselves as 'pretty happy,' and 30 percent selected the glummest option of 'not too happy.'

The sliver of 12 percent of 'very happy' Americans stands out.

First, women are broadly happier than men, and those aged 60 and above are happier than younger adults.

Overwhelmingly, they value strong relationships.

More than two-thirds say marriage is important to them — even those who have not tied the knot — compared to 43 percent of respondents overall.

They also tend to be more spiritual. Two-thirds say they are very or moderately religious, compared with less than half of adults overall.

Researchers found that the happiest Americans are more keen on community involvement.

Strong neighborhoods are crucial to all of these elements. They build community, nurture close personal relationships, support families, and underpin houses of worship. 

American culture has become very self-absorbed. We choose television shows and social media posts over relationships. We choose our relaxation and our entertainment over loving our neighbors. 

Sometimes we just have to get busy with our neighbors to grow our love for others and overcome our sin of selfishness.

The happiest Americans also attach little importance to money.

The same goes for politics — there's little difference between the scores for Republicans and Democrats.

Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, said happiness levels are linked to age.

“As we get older and realize that death is a real thing, rather than making us depressed, it makes us prioritize well-being,” said Waldinger. “Women may fare better in happiness rankings because they tend to live longer than men.”

In his separate study, Waldinger tracked the lives of 724 Boston men for 80 years from 1938 and then went on to study their Baby Boomer children.

He found that relationships are more important than money and success for happiness.

Waldinger's TED talk, 'What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness” has been watched 24 million times. Give it a listen.

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Contact the blog author, David L. Burton at dburton541@yahoo.com.