happiness

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We Need $75K to Be Happy

Study finds that's the magic number

(Newser) - Money can't buy us love, but it can, apparently, buy us happiness—so long as we make $75,000 a year or more. A new study examined the responses of 450,000 Americans to a poll, and found that as income increased (from, say, $35,000 a year to $45,...

Republicans Happier Than Democrats

Polls also show old happier than young

(Newser) - If you believe the polls, Republicans are consistently happier than Democrats. In a recent Pew survey, 45% of Republicans said they were happy, compared to only 30% of Democrats—and they've been on top since 1972. So the Daily Beast decided to look at some other happiness polls, to find...

Hey, Ladies: Happiness Is Overrated
 Hey, Ladies: 
 Happiness 
 Is Overrated 
OPINION
May 10, 2010 11:12 AM CDT

Hey, Ladies: Happiness Is Overrated

Women need to remember: discontent can be good

(Newser) - Achieving happiness has become a national obsession, but no two studies seem to agree on what women need to do to "be happy": Get married as soon as possible! Wait until you’re 25 to get married! Have kids! Don’t have kids! Eat more salmon! “You know...

Would You Trade an Oscar for Marital Bliss?
 Would You 
 Trade an Oscar 
 for Marital Bliss? 
DAVID BROOKS
Mar 30, 2010 2:14 AM CDT

Would You Trade an Oscar for Marital Bliss?

Why Sandra Bullock's loss matters more than her win

(Newser) - Professional success has nothing on personal happiness—just ask Sandra Bullock. She won big at the Oscars, but she lost big at home. That's no fair trade, writes David Brooks for the New York Times . A growing body of research shows that professional success "exists on the surface of...

Want Happiness? Go West, Young Man

Boulder, Colorado tops 'well-being' list

(Newser) - A huge new study has ranked Boulder, Colo., as the happiest, healthiest city in America, and finds Western cities in general are more content than the rest of the country. The new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index rated 162 cities based on interviews with 353,000 people, who answered questions about their...

NYers Saddest in US? Fuhgeddaboutit!
NYers Saddest in US? Fuhgeddaboutit!
OPINION
Dec 22, 2009 4:30 AM CST

NYers Saddest in US? Fuhgeddaboutit!

Contentment is overrated, according to New Yorker

(Newser) - New York state came rock bottom out 50 states and DC in a recent study of happiness, prompting Clyde Haberman to ask not what's wrong with New York, but what's so great about happiness. "Might contentment be overrated?" he wonders in the New York Times . "Seriously, isn’t...

Least Happy State: New York


  Least Happy State: New York 
The Smile List
Dec 18, 2009 11:54 AM CST

Least Happy State: New York

Enough already with those Hawaiian jerks and their 'sunshine'

(Newser) - New Yorkers are the least happy Americans, according to a new study. Researchers compared residents’ self-reported happiness with “objective” measures of wellbeing, like sunshine, congestion, and air quality—and found, to their apparent surprise, that the two matched up. The states with the highest reported happiness, including sunny places...

Studies Agree: Happiness Comes With Age

Mental health keeps improving even into one's '90s

(Newser) - Greater happiness and better mental health may be the big payoff for aging. Exceptions abound, of course, but people generally get happier as they get older because they've learned how to tune out all the negative stuff, say researchers. A spate of new studies suggests that older people have better...

Women of the Future: Powerful, Stressed

Women feel overworked amid gains in economic clout

(Newser) - Women are gaining economic clout, but they’re also feeling overburdened, a survey of 12,000 women in 21 countries finds. Women spend some 70% of consumer dollars globally and are set to produce 70% of household income growth in the next 5 years—meaning entrepreneurs who can help them...

'Hedonometer' Gauges US Mood Via Blogs, Tweets

(Newser) - If you think blogs are useless, think again: Scientists have developed a “hedonometer,” or happiness gauge, that analyzes personal online statements to pinpoint the overall contentment of the US population on a given day, the Discovery Channel reports. The program looks at sentences beginning with “I feel”...

Recession's Silver Lining: We're Content With Less

(Newser) - Americans are embracing the no-frills attitude necessitated by the recession, USA Today reports. One-third say they are spending less and plan to keep up the practice as their “new, normal” way of living, according to a study. A whopping 47% of Americans say they have all they need, another...

Uncertainty, Not Poverty, Behind Recession Blues

It's not the lack of funds, it's the lack of knowing that brings us down

(Newser) - Americans are worrying more than they were last year, and happiness is down while sadness is up, writes Daniel Gilbert in the New York Times. But it’s not the lightness of our pocketbooks that’s weighing on us; it’s the uncertainty of the times. While most of us...

Kids May Inherit Parents' Joy
 Kids May Inherit Parents' Joy 
May 14, 2009 1:31 PM CDT

Kids May Inherit Parents' Joy

Life experiences could change the genes passed on

(Newser) - Kids with a sunny disposition may have inherited that attitude from happy parents, a scientist hypothesizes based on research showing that personal experiences can change the traits parents pass on to their kids. This could mean that parents’ pre-conception mental state influences the child, he contends. If that proves true,...

How To Be Happy: 'Social Aptitude' Helps

(Newser) - The secret to a happy life? It's ... complicated. Joshua Wolf Shenk of the Atlantic examines an extraordinary and still continuing 72-year study of 268 Harvard men—JFK and Ben Bradlee are two of the well-known participants—designed to shed light on how to lead a successful life. The subjects were...

Utah, Hawaii Happiest States; W. Va. Not So Much: Poll

Happiness poll links bliss to wealth

(Newser) - Money can't buy happiness? Tell that to 350,000 Americans surveyed in a Gallup study. The jolliest congressional districts were also among the wealthiest, the gloomiest among the poorest. Researchers also attributed contentment to factors like outdoor recreation and a young population, the AP reports. Utah, Hawaii, and Wisconsin ranked...

Fast Thinking Makes People Happy

Rapid thoughts can make people feel happier

(Newser) - Happy people think fast thoughts, say researchers at Princeton and Harvard. They asked two groups to perform the same tasks—problem-solving, reading, and watching TV—at different speeds. Those forced to move along briskly felt more elated, creative, even powerful, Scientific American reports. The findings suggest a crossword puzzle or...

Stop Shopping, Spend $$$ on Good Times: Study

You'll be happier buying experiences

(Newser) - Can you buy happiness? Maybe, but don't try buying it at the mall, according to a new study, which concludes that spending money on experiences—like a vacation or a night out—will make you happier than spending it on shoes. Researchers say that’s likely because experiences tend to...

Empty Nesters Fly High
 Empty Nesters 
 Fly High 
Dec 4, 2008 2:01 PM CST

Empty Nesters Fly High

(Newser) - With their children grown and gone, couples find their love lives more satisfying, new research reveals. Some of the 123 women in a long-term study switched partners and some remarried, but regardless, they were happier in their relationships after the child-rearing was complete. Marriages generally improve with time, and the...

Unhappiest Watch Boob Tube the Most

Happy people socialize, pray, in free time: study

(Newser) - Unhappy Americans watch more TV, or TV-watching makes Americans unhappier—a new study isn't sure which. But the survey of nearly 40,000 people shows that those who watch 30% more television are less happy than those who pass their time in other ways. Sex, sports, and playing or reading...

Bronze Medalists Happier Than Silver Winners

2nd place a letdown, 3rd is a thrill

(Newser) - Newly minted gold medalists are ecstatic, second-place finishers slightly less so, and bronze winners the least happy—or so conventional wisdom would have it. But psychologists find that bronze medalists are usually happier than those who finish with silver, the Washington Post reports. Why does this Olympic paradox play out...

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