We reported previously that the Happiness Gap between conservatives and liberals world-wide was continuing to grow, and new data from the Pew Research Center say that October’s gap is the biggest ever. Unlike the previous report, which focused on differences in attitudes towards “social injustice,” the Pew survey was much more comprehensive.
Republicans Have Been Happier For Years
According to Pew, here are some of the differences between Republicans and Democrats that might account for the gap:
- Republicans have more money.
- Republicans have more friends.
- Republicans are more religious.
- Republicans are healthier.
- Republicans are more likely to be married.
- Republicans like their communities better.
- Republicans like their jobs better.
- Republicans are more satisfied with their family life.
- Republicans like the weather better. (Okay, this one is truly weird, isn’t it?)
- Republicans have fewer financial worries (This poll was in OCTOBER!!!!!!)
- Republicans are more likely to think they’ll live better than their parents did.
- Republicans are more likely to believe in an internal locus of control (my life is under my control) as opposed to having an external locus of control (life is a matter of chance or luck).
- Republicans have more of what they value in life (and no, this doesn’t mean money–this is life satisfaction).
We still don’t know if being a Republican makes you happy, or if being happy makes you a Republican, or if some other variables lead to being both happy and Republican. But if Republicans can be happy in spite of the current polls and economy, it’s likely that there is something big going on here.
8 Comments
C_Ritter · November 2, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I volunteered this past weekend in a political headquarters making calls to registered voters to gather information for a political poll. I spoke to hundreds of people, but I found an interesting trend among many registered Republicans. Many of the registered Republicans are breaking with party lines and voting Democrat (especially for the office of President, state senates seats, & even CA’s Prop 8). Maybe a portion of those Republicans who claim they’re happy despite the economic downturn are hopeful because they’re not voting Republican this election and are looking forward to change. Or, for those voting Republican, they may believe that this election will bring change regardless of the winning party.
joshpollitz · November 5, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Doesn’t it sound that Republicans just have it better? But one thing that disappointed me was that they never even mentioned age. Republicans tend to be older, I thought at least, and contrary to popular belief, college students are among the most depressed age group in the country, along with the most liberal. Being a democrat, means you are more liberal, ready for change. I don’t I am probably going to butcher the quote, but it goes something like…. If you aren’t liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. And if you aren’t conservative when you’re old, you are not wise….It’s based on the fact that when you are young you should want to the world to change for you. You still have plenty of time and youthfulness to change the world around you. And then the second part follows, since if you were liberal when you were young, you should have changed the world to fit you. Meaning you don’t want it to change anymore. So I just think maybe it’s age, it’s hard being a student.
Laura Freberg · November 9, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Sorry, Josh, but depression is lowest in youth and people older than 50 (probably why your professor generally has a smile on her face, even at 9 am!). Apparently, depression is worst in your 40s: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7213387.stm
For me, the most important variable in the Pew Study was the internal/external locus of control. I have been telling students for 30 years that having an internal locus of control is the key to stress management, but I have never, ever heard that it was related to political ideology. These are correlations, so we can’t say that being a Republican makes you have an internal locus of control, or having an internal locus of control makes you Republican.
timerding · November 16, 2008 at 11:57 pm
In my opinion, it seems that number 13 on the list made the most sense. Republicans do have more of what they value in their life because it seems that Liberal values extend a lot further outside their control than those things that Republican’s values. For example, in terms of social stratification, Republicans tend to view that as a fact of life and a problem that individuals should deal with mostly on their own. Every man for himself. However, Liberals tend to value this stratification as a problem within humanity that we are morally obligated to consider and help. Republicans have more of what they value because more of what they value is within reach. Their families, their money, and their jobs get complete attention and therefore return fairly successful results. However, Liberals of course value these things as well, but are substantially more upset and connected to larger problems within a global family, rather than just their close friends and family.
I am also confused by number 12 because it states that liberals have an external locus of control, but aren’t liberals typically the ones out there protesting and seeking change? Why would a group of people who feel powerless go out and fight for change? Also, highly religious people seem to fall under the category that would believe in a higher power under control, I believe this is why Republicans do not worry as much about global issues, because they believe it is in the hands of a higher power. This, however, would fall under the category of an external locus of control point of view. Whereas liberals feel empowered to take control of bad situations in their life and society and bring them to states that are more satisfying… which is an internal locus of control.
As you stated in your last post, the locus of control is simply a correlation. I think that perhaps Liberals are showing up as external because overall global stratification is high and happiness is low in this day in age. I think it is this rather which cause liberals to feel out of control, even though they strive to be in control. I don’t think they are inherently external, but in fact internal. I just think they just choose to be up against a much larger opposition than Republicans, making them seem hopeless in comparison.
jessberry · November 23, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I find this gap in happiness between conservatives and liberals to be very interesting. It contradicts my intuitive thought, that liberals would be happier and it also contradicts my personal experience with the two different groups. From my personal perspective I feel that conservatives are very self-interested when it comes to money and therefore seem to be stressed more often. While the liberals I know are very content with what they have, but stress more about social problems such as poverty and such. Maybe this is where the gap of happiness lies, perhaps it’s possible that the two groups judge happiness differently in terms of what they value.
tltaylor · March 10, 2009 at 10:16 am
In regard to all of these blogs, not just this one in particular, but if anyone is interested, there is a great NPR program called WNYC’s Radiolab. There is a different topic each week and the two hosts take the topic and analyze it in terms of biology, psychology, politics, philosophy, ect. (all in people friendly terminology). It is an extremely entertaining program and if anyone has any interests in science, psychology, and especially philosophy, you’ll find yourself spending hours of your day listening.
Some of my favorite episodes include: Mortality, Diagnosis, Sperm, Choice, The (multi) Universe(s), and many many more.
Check them out at http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/, or subscribe to their free podcast. Hours of entertainment.
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