Some 45% of all Republicans report being very happy, compared with just 30% of Democrats and 29% of independents. This finding has also been around a long time; Republicans have been happier than Democrats every year since the General Social Survey began taking its measurements in 1972. Pew surveys since 1991 also show a partisan gap on happiness; the current 16 percentage point gap is among the largest in Pew surveys, rivaled only by a 17 point gap in February 2003.
Could it be that Republicans are so much happier now because their party controls all the levers of federal power? Not likely. Since 1972, the GOP happiness edge over Democrats has ebbed and flowed in a pattern that appears unrelated to which party is in political power.
For example, Republicans had up to a 10 and 11 percentage point happiness edge over Democrats in various years of both the Carter and Clinton presidencies, and as small as a three and five percentage point edge in various years of the Reagan and first Bush presidencies. Also, we should explain here a bit about how our survey questionnaire was constructed. The question about happiness was posed at the very beginning of the interview, while the question about political affiliation was posed at the back end, along with questions about demographic traits. So respondents were not cued to consider their happiness through the frame of partisan politics. This question is about happiness; it is not a question about happiness with partisan outcomes.
Of course, there's a more obvious explanation for the Republicans' happiness edge. Republicans tend to have more money than Democrats, and -- as we've already discovered -- people who have more money tend to be happier.
But even this explanation only goes so far. If one controls for household income, Republicans still hold a significant edge: that is, poor Republicans are happier than poor Democrats; middle-income Republicans are happier than middle-income Democrats, and rich Republicans are happier than rich Democrats.
Might ideology be the key? It's true that conservatives, who are more likely to be Republican, are happier than liberals, who are more likely to be Democrats. But even controlling for this ideological factor, a significant partisan gap remains. Conservative Republicans are happier than conservative Democrats, and moderate/liberal Republicans are happier than liberal Democrats. Hmmm, what other factors might be at play? Well, there's always...
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/301/are-we-happy-yet
2007-06-14 13:34:34 · 12 answers · asked by mission_viejo_california 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Yes, show them some love, it may make them happier
2007-06-14 13:37:11 · answer #1 · answered by Brian 7 · 4⤊ 3⤋
I lean a bit to the conservative side, but I don't get the point of this question. Why do we keep trying to say one side is better than the other in some way? All the divisiveness...that's why everyone's so freakin unhappy ! (You think 45% very happy is a GOOD number?)
2007-06-14 20:48:25 · answer #2 · answered by Schleppy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe its because they are brain dead, happily swilling the swill from Rush Limbaugh and not paying attention while the value of their savings and their pay and their pension plan and medical coverage evaporate because of the bogus bush economics. And obviously no decent Republican could possibly care about the 3,800 dead Americans in Iraq or the 650,000 dead Iraqis in Iraq. So you see, Democrats and Liberals look at the world realistically and see that it has problems while Republicans live, like Rush Limbaugh, in delusional fantasy. Limbaughs come out of a jar of oxycontin, the synthetic opiate, and his listeners just get a contact high.
2007-06-14 20:42:17 · answer #3 · answered by jxt299 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Democrats depend on the Government to do everything for them. Republicans depend on themselves.
Depending on the Government for everything makes you unhappy. This is the reason Reservations have a suicide rate that is 2 times that of normal.
2007-06-14 20:38:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 4⤋
save the world, SHOOT a liberal
i thinks its only right to get rid of stupidity
2007-06-14 20:48:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
liberals are unhappy cause conservative save stupidity and it's depressing so to save the world shoot a conservative, hang a republican burn a dixiecrat southern dem they think like republicans...ahhh the thought of that has me happy.
2007-06-14 20:41:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
I rather not hug them.Their disease may spread like zombies!
2007-06-14 20:57:47 · answer #7 · answered by ak6702 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
But afterward be sure to take a long hot shower.
2007-06-14 20:38:32 · answer #8 · answered by TRUE PATRIOT 6 · 8⤊ 2⤋
Yes, hug 'em until they can't breath. Show your love.
2007-06-14 20:41:25 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
They think the govt should hug them.
2007-06-14 20:38:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 3⤋