PUBLIC OPINION > Most People Consider Themselves Happy
SodaHead Living
2012/04/19 22:00:00
A recent study conducted at Harvard found that happiness is actually good for your health. It cuts the risk of a heart attack in half, and is strongly associated with improved blood pressure, low cholesterol, healthy sleep patterns -- basically, there's a whole list of positive correlations. Honestly, the findings were a little bit obvious. But we wanted to know how many people actually consider themselves "happy."
Happy days are here at last! Life has its ups and downs, but for the most part, the human race appears to be in great shape. And most people think it's all about perspective. You know, is the glass half empty? If so, flip it over! Wait, no. Don't do that. But you get the point. One commenter wrote, "Happiness comes from the inside. You are responsible for being happy, so get to work!" You heard the man. Get happy!
Crushing Complications
The highest percentage of unhappy people, by far, was found in the relationship category. It wasn't singles. They were just 9% less happy than those in relationships and 15% less than married voters. The real downers were those in "complicated" relationships. Like George Washington said, "It's better to be alone than in bad company."
One Thing Money Can Buy
Mama always said you can't buy happiness... but approximately 16% of respondents did just that. Granted it's not a huge gap, and it might take a certain type of person to put in the work to get there, but higher incomes did in fact correlate with happiness. You win again, MasterCard.
Atheists Are Unhappy
Personal beliefs are complex and often get bogged down by apologetics and proof, but there's more to it than that. Christians often claim they feel a greater sense of belonging or comfort than those who don't believe in God, and the results support that claim. However, agnostics were much happier than atheists, and we didn't have an option for Tarvuism.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about happiness. We'd love to hear from you!
Top Opinion
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AttilaTheHun 2012/04/19 22:44:33
+7I'm an atheist and I'm happy as a clam. Can't vouch for the rest of your survey, but this part doesn't make sense to me.
Carl Sagan
"Sisyphus as personifying the absurdity of human life, but Camus concludes "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" as "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart."
Sisyphus.
Intelligent people are happy because they understand the absurdity of life. When one understands it is a joke, there is happiness.
to find jobs and they tell you, "No, I won't do that kind of job." Meaning they are too
good for the job. I did all kinds of jobs when I came to the states.
No job is bad, only bad workers.
But today and tomorrow Im going to be happy :D ;)