{"id":1706661,"date":"2022-10-22T06:09:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T10:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1706661"},"modified":"2022-10-22T07:49:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T11:49:07","slug":"liberals-are-way-less-happy-than-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/liberals-are-way-less-happy-than-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberals Are Way Less Happy Than Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fliberals-are-way-less-happy-than-conservatives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1706661&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/A-happy-family-sitting-together.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A tweet from the researcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\/profile\/w-bradford-wilcox\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brad Wilcox<\/a> recently caught my attention. \u201cLiberals,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.twitter.com\/BradWilcoxIFS\/status\/1579435031797587968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">he wrote<\/a>, \u201care about 15 percentage points less likely\u201d to be truly satisfied with their lives. On the same day that he tweeted out this compelling piece of information, Wilcox, a researcher studying family growth and economic trends, wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/thepost\/why-are-liberals-less-happy-than-conservatives\/?=frpo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an enlightening article<\/a> expanding on this topic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Liberals, he wrote, \u201care about 18 percentage points less likely to be \u2018completely satisfied\u2019 with their \u2018mental health\u2019 than conservatives.\u201d Interestingly, he added, the issue of satisfaction, or lack thereof, appears to be especially \u201cacute\u201d for liberal women. According to the author, only 15 percent of liberals are \u201ccompletely satisfied\u201d with their lives and mental health. On the other hand, 31 percent of conservative women are \u201ccompletely satisfied\u201d with their lives, and\u00a0 36 percent with their mental health.<\/p>\n<p>As Wilcox noted, two family-related factors help explain this \u201cideological gap.\u201d They are marital status and family satisfaction. In short, conservatives between the ages of 18-55 are \u201cabout 20 percentage points more likely to be married\u201d than their liberal peers, \u201cas well as 18 percentage points more likely to be satisfied with their families.\u201d Marriage and family are directly associated with happiness, psychological and spiritual growth, and fewer mental health issues. Marriage is <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/121571\/marriage-remains-key-predictor-party-identification.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a key predictor<\/a> of party identification; it\u2019s also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/320458\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a key predictor<\/a> of satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>The problem \u2014 one that is growing in size, I might add \u2014 facing liberals involves fully embracing a false narrative. Wilcox argued that too many on the left \u201chave embraced the false narrative that the path to happiness runs counter to marriage and family life, not towards it.\u201d Wrongly, they believe independence from the supposed shackles of domestic life will make them happier. They fall for the harmful narratives being pushed by mainstream media outlets, celebrating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/30\/opinion\/divorce-children.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the dissolution of marriage<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-31\/women-not-having-kids-get-richer-than-men?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-businessweek&#038;sref=0lt16h2M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the rise of childless women<\/a>. Wilcox criticized a recently published and widely read story by the author Molly Smith that appeared in Bloomberg. In the piece, Smith made a wholly inaccurate claim: Women who stay single and don\u2019t have kids get richer and will continue to get richer. In reality, stressed Wilcox, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/why-conservative-women-report-being-happiest-how-you-can-too-opinion-1748894\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">married mothers tend to be richer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, some unmarried, childless women are happier and richer than their married, family-oriented counterparts. However, as Wilcox was eager to emphasize, progressives must \u201cunderstand and appreciate\u201d that these women are extreme outliers. The key to happiness, a philosophical conundrum that has perplexed the sharpest of minds for centuries, appears to involve a healthy marriage and a life built around a strong family unit. When it comes to actual meaning in life, although employment and job titles are mightily important, <a href=\"https:\/\/healthpolicy.usc.edu\/evidence-base\/conservatives-find-more-meaning-in-life-than-liberals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">they can\u2019t compete<\/a> with the sanctity of marriage and childrearing. When lying on your deathbed, will you smile and remember closing that six-figure deal or those family vacations and Sunday dinners? Hopefully, the latter.<\/p>\n<p>Another factor that contributes to happiness, one not discussed by Wilcox, involves faith. Very few, I\u2019m sure, will be shocked to hear that conservatives <a href=\"https:\/\/centerforinquiry.org\/blog\/what-makes-conservatives-more-religious-than-liberals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">are more religious<\/a> than liberals. Like marriage, religiosity is strongly linked to happiness. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/2019\/01\/31\/religions-relationship-to-happiness-civic-engagement-and-health-around-the-world\/#:~:text=People%20who%20are%20active%20in,than%20two%20dozen%20other%20countries.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">researchers at Pew<\/a> have shown, those who actively participate in religious ceremonies (prayer, choir singing, etc.) \u201ctend to be happier and more civically engaged than either religiously unaffiliated adults or inactive members of religious groups.\u201d Although faith in a higher power certainly facilitates happiness, it\u2019s the community aspect that seems to be the key ingredient. Millions of Americans on both sides of the political aisle live <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.cigna.com\/loneliness-epidemic-persists-post-pandemic-look#:~:text=79%25%20of%20adults%20aged%2018,adults%20experience%20feeling%20left%20out.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lonely existences<\/a>. Coming together on a Sunday (or Friday or Saturday) and sharing an experience with people possessing similar values brings some much-needed joy into their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, as the social psychologist Jaime Napier has <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2008.02124.x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shown<\/a>, the way we view the world has a direct impact on our levels of happiness. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/why-are-conservatives-happier-than-liberals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview with PBS<\/a>, Napier had this to say: \u201cOne of the biggest correlates with happiness\u201d involves the \u201cbelief of a meritocracy, which is the belief that anybody who works hard can make it.\u201d This belief, more than anything else, appears to be \u201cthe biggest predictor of happiness.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, it\u2019s also \u201cone of the biggest predictors of political ideology.\u201d Not surprisingly, conservatives tend to score much higher on meritocratic beliefs than those on the left. Although we can sit around and debate the pros and cons of meritocracy and whether the U.S. is, in fact, built on a foundation of hereditary aristocracy, believing in a merit-based system is far more beneficial to one\u2019s health than believing that our society is an inherently unjust place. <\/p>\n<p>The U.S., like any other country, is far from perfect. That\u2019s because perfection is an illusion. Inequality, as brutal as it may be, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economicshelp.org\/blog\/3586\/economics\/pros-and-cons-of-inequality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a necessary part<\/a> of existence. Life is a wicked game, full of winners and losers. The sooner we make peace with this fact, the happier we\u2019ll grow to be.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and cultural commentator. Follow him on Twitter, @ghlionn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tweet from the researcher Brad Wilcox recently caught my attention. \u201cLiberals,\u201d he wrote, \u201care about 15 percentage points less likely\u201d to be truly satisfied with their lives. On the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1705201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1706661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1706661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1705201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1706661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1706661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1706661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}