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December 15, 2004
Happiness
By Tara Regan
Most Americans (78%) are happy "most" (61%) or "all" (17%) of the time, according to the latest Time Poll. While only 13% believe that they've lived the "best" possible life so far, another 70% rate their lives as "good (33%) or "very good" (37%).
Can money buy happiness? Perhaps. About 9 in 10 (89%) of Americans with $100,000 or greater in annual household income report feeling happy "all" or "most of the time." This compares to a lesser 68% of those with an annual income of $35,000 or less reporting being happy all or most of the time. Almost 1 in 3 lower-income Americans (31%) report being happy only some of the time or not often.
(By Annual Household Income) |
|||||
| Happiness Rating | |||||
| All of the time | |||||
| Most of the time | |||||
| Just some of the time | |||||
| Not very often | |||||
Sources of Happiness and Unhappiness
Even though money does seem to increase happiness to some extent, the main key to happiness seems
to be through one's personal life, rather than money, job or career. A large majority (75%), report
getting more satisfaction from their personal life than their job or career (13%). In open-ended
probing, most indicate that their greatest source of happiness is their children, grandchildren (35%)
and families (32%), particularly a spouse or partner.
The source of greatest reported unhappiness and disappointment is the death of a loved one (24%). Other sources of unhappiness include the actions of family members/loved ones (7%), divorce (6%), job/career (6%) and poor health or illness (6%).
Religious worship contributes to happiness. Frequent church-goers are almost twice as likely to report being happy "all the time" (22%) as those who rarely (14%) or never (13%) go to church or other houses of worship. Almost 2 in 5 Americans (39%) report going to church or another house of worship once a week or more.
Mood Enhancers
When Americans do feel down, what do they do to elevate their mood? Talking to a friend or loved one
(57%) and listening to music (54%) are the "most often" used methods to improve one's mood. Other major
mood enhancers are prayer (45%), helping others (42%) and taking a shower/bath (41%). About 1 in 4 or
more Americans cite going out with friends (28%), exercise (27%), eating (25%), and sex (21%).
Men and women do cope differently when feeling down. Women are much more likely to say they do the following "often" to enhance their mood: pray (51% women-38% men), talk to a friend or loved one (63%-51%), take a bath or shower (47%-35%) and shop (22%-11%). Men on the other hand are more likely to report doing the following "often" to enhance their mood--having an alcoholic drink (12% men- 4% women), having sex (25%-18%) and exercising (30%-24%).
| (Used "Often") | ||
| Talk to friend/family | ||
| Listen to music | ||
| Pray/Meditate | ||
| Helping Others in Need | ||
| Take a bath or shower | ||
| Play with a pet | ||
| Exercise/Work out | ||
| Go Out with Friends | ||
| Eat | ||
| Take a Drive in Car | ||
| Have Sex | ||
| Shop | ||
| Have an Alcoholic Beverage | ||
Happier in Crowds or Alone?
A majority (62%), indicate they are happier being around just a few people as opposed to being in
larger groups (24%) or alone (10%). A little less than a quarter (22%) say they "have more friends
than most," other people, while a third (33%) indicate they have less friends compared to others. A
little more than two-in-five (44%), would say they have the same number of friends compared to others.
Spirituality and Happiness
Spirituality does appear to abound in America. More than 1 in 3 Americans (37%) consider themselves
very spiritual, with another 46% considering themselves somewhat spiritual. Only 17% consider themselves
not very spiritual or not at all spiritual.
Are spirituality and happiness linked? Not necessarily. Spiritual people report the same levels of happiness as those who are not spiritual. Almost 8 in 10 of both groups consider themselves happy all or most of the time.
Reported spirituality seems to increase with age and decrease with income. More than one-third (38%), with annual income below $35,000 say they are "very spiritual;" while, less than one-quarter (22%) with annual income $100,000 or greater report the same. One-third of Americans between the age of 18-34 describe themselves as "very spiritual" compared to 43% among those age 65 or older.
Happiness and Politics
Politics plays a role in people's happiness. Bush's victory last month left many Republicans happy and
many Democrats unhappy. Overall, about two-in-five (39%) indicate that the outcome of November's
presidential race made them "happy", while an almost equal number (36%) indicate that the election result
made them feel "unhappy." About one-quarter (24%) say the election had no impact on their happiness level.
Not surprisingly, a large majority of Republicans (80%) report being happy with the outcome of the election.
Only 13% of Democrats report the same.
Although most (78%), indicate their childhood experiences have made them happier people in general, a little more than one-in-ten (15%) feel less happy because of their childhood. People with unfavorable childhood memories tend to be less optimistic (68%) and more unhappy in general (39% report feeling happy only "sometimes" or "not very often").
Methodology
This Time Magazine poll was conducted by telephone December 13-14, 2004 among a random sample of 1,009 adults, age 18 and older throughout America.
The margin of error for the entire sample is approximately +/-3 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for subgroups. Surveys are subject to other error sources as well, including sampling coverage error, recording error, and respondent error.
Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs designed the survey and conducted all interviewing. The full Time questionnaire and trend data may be found at: www.srbi.com.
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