Happiness Is ... Being Old, Male and Republican (Fox News)

[underpants]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520536,00.html?test=latestnews

Happiness is a complex thing. Past studies have found that happiness is partly inherited, that Republicans are happier than Democrats and that old men tend to be happier than old women.

And even before the economy got nasty, seniors were found to be generally happier than Baby Boomers. Some of that owes to the American Dream being lived by past generations, while Boomers work two jobs and watch the dream wither.

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural Science Center. <---- :spray:

If you're thinking that Republicans are happy just because they perhaps make more money, that does not seem to be the case. The study that found Republicans to be happier than Democrats also showed that it held true even after adjusting for income.

Now for the good news: A study in January found that key groups of people in the United States have grown happier over the past few decades, while other have become less so.

The result: Happiness inequality has decreased since the 1970s. Americans are becoming more similar to each other on the happiness scale.

This post would not be complete without a link to "Happiness Machines"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PLFMIdMv2c

From the "partly inherited" link (I thought they mentioned "White" in this article but they didn't)
http://www.livescience.com/culture/090126-happiness-gap.html

The U.S. happiness gap between whites and non-whites has narrowed by two-thirds, the new study found. Non-whites report being significantly happier than they were in the early 1970s, while whites are slightly less happy. The happiness gap between men and women closed as well. Women have become less happy, while men are a little more cheerful.

From the "happier than Democrats " link
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060315_happiness_pew.html

Overall happiness among U.S. residents has not changed much over the years, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center that finds 34 percent of adults are very happy.

Among 3,014 telephone respondents, half reported being pretty happy, and 15 percent said they are not too happy.

The survey, released this week, points out several disparities based on lifestyle, beliefs and political persuasion:

* Republicans are happier than Democrats.
* People who worship frequently are happier than those who don't.
* The rich are happier than the poor.
* Whites and Hispanics are happier than blacks.
* Married people are happier than the unmarried.
* Dog owners and cat owners rate the same.
* Sunbelt residents are happier than everyone else.
About 45 percent of Republicans said they were very happy, compared with 30 percent of Democrats. Republicans have been happier in surveys going back to 1972, the Pew study notes. --there has been a concerted effort (particularly on talk radio)to promote themselves as happyhappyhappy while "liberals" are dour sad shoegazers