the happy conservative

Found today. Looks like I’m out of a job.

As it goes, Arthur Brooks, a Syracuse University economics professor and author of the new book “Gross National Happiness,” began mining happiness data back in his college days.

The prevailing wisdom then, Brooks told me, was that liberal folks were happier — that conservatives were close-minded, rigid and therefore less capable of happiness.

But as he dug through the data, he found the opposite to be true: Conservative Americans are nearly twice as likely to report being “very happy” as are liberals.

Why such a big happiness gap? Brooks said it has to do with worldview.

Conservatives hold more traditional values — faith, marriage, family, freedom, hard work. They believe in the individual and just want to be left alone. Like them or hate them, the traditional values they hold, the data show, are a source of happiness.

Liberals, on the other hand, are not as likely to marry, have children or go to church. They’re far more likely to feel exploited by others. Lacking control over one’s environment is a source of unhappiness.

Check out the whole post here.