According to a new Gallup poll, Republicans have the best mental health. Why is this?

Question

http://www.gallup.com/poll/102943/Republicans-Report-Much-Better-Mental-Health-Than-Others.aspx

Answer 1

Because we have the morals necessary to be self-monitoring and self-guiding.

Answer 2

Beardog - then why do Liberals self-report such poor mental health. Your retort to the poll is the "canned response" all Liberals are using.

Crabby B - If someone thinks they have good mental health, they are generally a happy and fulfilled person. The poll actually gives a very accurate portrayal of the state of mind on both sides of the isle. The left sees the cup as half empty, while the right sees it as half-full. The right are optimistic and with this optimism we achieve our goals the correct way, by working hard and contributing to society, not by taking from those who work hard and re-distributing to society. Oh, and the Liberals are the party of blamers, that is just what they do. Their solution to every problem is… Blame Bush.

Wyldfyre - same thing for you… Ignorance is bliss...

Answer 3

Most do not have a strong conscience or knowledge of what life is like for those that Republican policies hurt - or justify them by writing off every poor and disenfranchised person as having made bad life choices and not being responsible. I find this common in many Republican friends of mine and in the words of Republican pundits. Thus a self-reporting state of mental health, although I suspect there is some truth to it:

- not many poor people are Republicans, and most poor people cannot afford mental health treatment, much less physical health treatment. Poor people have higher stress, less nutrition, and often live in more unhealthy environments. These all contribute to having worse mental health.

Answer 4

Self-reported mental health is the key distinction here. No professional is diagnosing these people as being crazy or sane. Self-diagnosis of mental stability is an irresponsible way to promote an obvious hypothesis that Republicans are more mentally healthy. Who thought this poll was worth conducting? I want to know who wasted money on this.

The poll itself even says it is inconclusive.
"one cannot say whether something about being a Republican causes a person to be more mentally healthy, or whether something about being mentally healthy causes a person to choose to become a Republican (or whether some third variable is responsible for causing both to be parallel)"

Answer 5

This poll didn't say that Republicans HAVE the best mental health. The poll asked how people rate their own mental health. Republicans are delusional and full of denial. Actually they have the worst mental health but just think it's the best.

Answer 6

no longer taken aback on the Republicans, actual concept the type may well be greater. greater effective than a splash shocked on the Indys. fairly taken aback that some 40% of Democrats have faith in Creationism.

Answer 7

Republicans have better ideals, morals, and reality in life; That makes them happier. Liberalism, such as that of the Democrats, is a mental disorder.

Answer 8

LOL The poll didn't say that Republicans had better mental health. What it said was that Republicans REPORTED better mental health.
BIG DIFFERENCE !!

Answer 9

The people who participated in that study are RATING THEIR OWN MENTAL HEALTH. Do you see a problem with that?

I'm not sure about the intentions of those who did the study, but I think they're smart enough (unlike some of those who posted in this question) to realize that self reported mental health is invalid. They were probably trying to measure if party affiliation affects the ablility to look critically at yourself, and how honest you are with who you are.

Answer 10

Taht is not wat the poll was about. It asked people wat they felt their OWN mental health was.

Thus, what this poll tells us is that Repubicans THINK they have better mental health--NOT that they do have better mental health.

As to why--at a guess, it is because independants/Democrats are more likely to accept responsibility for problems and seek to do what is required to correct them. The current "conservatives" spend most of their time blaming everyone andeverthing for their problems, instead of being willing to admit they themselves might hbe the problem, much less be willing to do something about it.