Jun/090
Shouldn’t I be happier?
I found this 2006 Pew report about happiness and I noticed some trends. Here's a snippet from the survey results:
But through this admittedly limited prism, we found some fascinating correlations.
Several of them stand out: Married people are happier than unmarrieds. People who worship frequently are happier than those who don't. Republicans are happier than Democrats. Rich people are happier than poor people. Whites and Hispanics are happier than blacks. Sunbelt residents are happier than those who live in the rest of the country.
We also found some interesting non-correlations. People who have children are no happier than those who don't, after controlling for marital status. Retirees are no happier than workers. Pet owners are no happier than those without pets.
[...]
There is virtually no difference in happiness by gender and only a bit of variance in happiness by age. [...] It turns out that the young are less happy than the middle-aged or old. [...] [H]ealthier people tend to be happier, and so do better-educated people. [...] Recent immigrants are about as happy as those who have been here for generations. People who often feel rushed are less happy than those who don't. Suburbanites are a bit happier than city folks [...]
All things being equal:
- I'm married: +1
- I'm not poor: +1
- I'm white: +1
So that puts me three "points" above average right?
Well, I'm also:
- Not a frequent worshiper: -1
- Not republican (or democrat): -1
- Not living in the sunbelt: -1
So now I'm back to zero - unhappy.
Am I really unhappy? Probably not. I'm mostly happy. I'm likely in the 50% of the survey that said they were "pretty happy." So why am I not "very happy?" It's an interesting question.
I think infrequent worship is a big part of it. I'm not at piece, and I know that. I'm just not sure how to fix it. When I go to Mass, I don't feel right. I feel disconnected. When I pray, it feels fake. I'd like to figure out how to re-engage with my faith, but I don't know how.
I don't think I'm alone. I suspect this is a fairly common thing.
