Will Wilkinson - Latest Comments in United States of Happiness

Re: United States of Happiness

Pixelfish — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:12:49 -0000

So very very very late on this, but I have to say as a WOMAN who grew up in Utah (20 years of my 32 spent in that state) that Will's characterisation of the ideology of happiness being emphasised is far from wrong. I remember countless lessons in church about how one could only be truly happy if one was following Heavenly Father and the correlation was that sin causes unhappiness. When you've got that bred into the bone, you are going to have a lot of people who self-select for stating that they are happy. Because admitting otherwise could be admitting to a state of sin. And young women in particular are REALLY REALLY hit over the head with this--women who are given the cookie of approval are those who are happy and smiley and seemingly righteous. If you are sad, SOMETHING must be causing your sadness, and possibly something you are falling short on in life, because righteous people are happy!

(I can tell you I'm much happier outside of Utah than I was inside of it. But you know, maybe it was all that sinning I was doing inside of Utah. Certainly it couldn't have anything to do with condescending Priesthood holders telling me that I had natural potential to raise children and should not have a career and that I should get married as soon as possible and have kids without waiting to see if I would be financially stable and that I would know real happiness by having kids.)

Re: United States of Happiness

david_zenciti_com — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:17:04 -0000

You say money and happiness are correlated, but according to your graph the correlation is VERY WEAK. The correlation between money and happiness is documented only for low to moderate incomes. Once people have "enough" money, there is no correlation. It's pretty simple, and pretty widely documented: http://www.google.com/searc...

Re: United States of Happiness

astorasls — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:08:29 -0000

Good answer, I am looking for the solution of the same question. Find the movies or mp3 you are looking for at central-mp3.com the most comprehensive source for free-to-try files downloads on the Web

Re: United States of Happiness

bookscout — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:58:21 -0000

(yawn) Correlations do not equal causation. Any thoughts on happiness causation without dipping into the logical fallacy of the wealth happiness correlation?

Re: United States of Happiness

Mike — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:33:38 -0000

Um ... y'all are aware that 40% of the population of Utah isn't Mormon, right? And that Salt Lake's Democratic mayor makes NYC's last two mayors look like the gestapo? (And that the 40% is growing daily?)

A bunch of non-Mormon's must be awfully happy with their quiet neighbors.

Also, scientists have shown: complaining makes you sad: http://www.happiness-projec...

And pretending to be happy will make you happy: http://www.slate.com/blogs/...

Also, if any of you actually KNEW any Mormons, you would discover there is an exceptionally interesting demographic switch that is beginning to occur among older college educated Mormon women who's children have left home (which they do at a young age). Many are starting careers for the first time and our often OVERLY supported by their husbands. I guess if you don't smoke or drink, don't get divorced (a GIGANTIC drain on resources and happiness) and living healthily into your 80s you can do all sorts of things.

PS: Social researchers please check this out because I have noticed this anecdotely but don't have stats. And I'm a writer so I'm not gonna do it. :)

Re: United States of Happiness

lyca — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:37:32 -0000

You know, maybe we need to rethink the idea that reported happiness = well-being. You could argue that the people who have it the best also have the highest expectations for satisfaction in their lives, and so report themselves as unhappy. I know I'd rather be a rich, well-educated complainer than a poor stoic. (And I'd rather be a harried scientist than a beaming stay-at-home mom.) The Woody Allen thing is right. As a matter of fact, I think I complain more the better my life is going; when you get a great job offer you feel confident enough to be entitled to complain about the little things.

That's an argument for looking at revealed preferences over reported happiness.

Re: United States of Happiness

johnny — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:46:16 -0000

Up here in the northeast, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they are living happy lives; in fact, I've never said it myself. I don't think I've ever thought of "living in happiness" because it is simply too much of an unquantifiable measurement that can change minute-by-minute. Maybe being an agnostic Catholic points to that kind of thinking, rather than subserviant Mormonism.

That said, I've always been very content at my Connecticut life, as most people around me are, I suspect. I think it's just common for us evil liberal northeasterners here to complain about many aspects of life to those who visit, but then when asked the inevitable "Why don't you move?" we say that we still kind of like it here.

Call it the Woody Allen effect: content to live out life's miseries, secretly enjoying all thrown our way.

Re: United States of Happiness

Claireo — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:17:47 -0000

I don't get it, you would think that the weather would have something to do with it to. You would think there would be a north south divide also. Sun = Vitamin D = Happiness.

There are two reasons why this could be happening:
• Those who live in the sun have become immune to the Vitamin D from the sun
• Those in colder, more wintery places, make up for the happiness when the sun comes out, and appreciates more - also perhaps go on holiday more to the sun, maybe.

Re: United States of Happiness

me-me — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:53:05 -0000

My Mormon sister has a graduate degree and works as a stay at home wife and mother (disclaimer: I am no longer LDS.) One day she told me that no matter what happens to her, she just tries to keep a "happy face" because that's what her Father in Heaven has commanded. I guess that as a child she interpreted "If you chance to meet a frown" as scripture, not just a silly primary song.

Re: United States of Happiness

Todd — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:41:27 -0000

Haha, I'm Mormon and grew up in Salt Lake City, and there's definitely some truth to your comments about Mormon Mother blogs. The top student in several of my pre-med science classes at BYU was a girl who decided to get a master's degree in biochemistry, rather than pursuing a PhD or MD, specifically because she felt that would be more compatible with her primary responsibility of motherhood. The few girls I knew who were planning on med school had all had the experience of friends, family, or church leaders questioning their priorities in pursuing such an "obviously" motherhood-unfriendly career, instead of something more appropriate like nursing (people forget that a doctor can work 20 hours per week and make twice as much as a nurse working full time). As a result, the nursing school at BYU was extremely competitive, filled with girls with stellar academic records, most of whom could easily have gotten into medical school if they'd applied.

That said, I've known Mormon women who were outstanding neuro-ophthalmologists, toxicologists, pediatric surgeons, academic professors, etc, and were phenomenal mothers at the same time.

After spending the last ten years on the East Coast, I agree that people in Utah are happier. They are much less neurotic than easterners, and are almost completely free of the strange, obsessive fear of being "disrespected" that seems to dominate the lives of so many in the East Coast cities where I've worked.

Re: United States of Happiness

mlpslc — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:33:43 -0000

Mormons do the whole keeping up with the Joneses thing than most people realize. Up until recently bankruptcy rates were VERY high in Utah. Having a big SUV to drive around and a nice big house is very much a part of Utah Mormon culture for many (not all, but many).

Re: United States of Happiness

Will Wilkinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:21:13 -0000

This is correct, and I missed this, misled by the NYT piece. I know Richard Florida's team is running the regressions with just the life satisfaction and emotional wellness measures, and I'll point you to his results if he makes them available online.

Re: United States of Happiness

Dan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:15:50 -0000

Will

I think you have missed the point with your graph of happiness against wealth. The point is not that being richer doesn't make you happier - it is that absolute wealth doesn't make you happier (above a certain minimum line). If the income of West Virginia doubled over the next 5 years but the income of the rest of the USA tripled, you wouldn't expect to see people getting happier in West Virginia.

The upshot of this is that if you want more happy people you should focus on inequality rather than absolute wealth. Obviously there are also non-income related factors. But i liked the bit about the Mormons

Re: United States of Happiness

adbomaha — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:32:35 -0000

Are Mormons uncool? By the standards of many, yes. But is it possible that being uncool correlates positively with happiness? The whole concept of being cool depends on being motivated by the reactions of others to your adaptation to shifting standards. (What was cool 5 years ago is not cool today) And wouldn't it be reasonable to believe that happiness correlates positively with living up to unchanging values?

I may not agree with everything the Mormon Culture values, but it's entirely reasonable to believe that living the way they do could offer better returns to happiness than living in Greenwich Village (or Greenwich, CT) and trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Re: United States of Happiness

Deborah — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:45:16 -0000

I clicked on (very happy) Hawaii and discovered that they rank 50/50 in work-related happiness, but they crush the competition on all other measures. Do people in tourist-industry jobs hate them? I wanted to explore more, but can't seem to disengage from HA--but hypothetically you can put different happiness measure filters on the country or states.

Re: United States of Happiness

tyler — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:11:52 -0000

I'm a native of Utah, a fifth generation Utahn, and I can testify that a key element of the Utah ethos is cheerfulness. Kvetching is discouraged; children are scolded for it. Expressions of niceness and cheerfulness are regarded as tonic whether they are genuine or faked. There is general discomfort with 'airing dirty linen.' To undertake the kind of psychotherapy that would be routine in New York, and to discuss its discoveries, is met with uncomfortable silence in Utah. It is a state in which nobody sings the blues.

Since this study is based on self-reporting, I suggest that an equally valid conclusion that might be drawn from its findings is that Utah is the state where residents are least likely to complain.

BTW, I had "issues" with Utah, moved away for good in 1986 and never looked back.

Re: United States of Happiness

John Neverwin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:01:45 -0000

A friend of mine from high school is a married Mormon woman with 3+ babies. At first I thought Will was quoting her.

Re: United States of Happiness

anon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:56:14 -0000

Strictly speaking, all that data shows (I am not aware of what other studies have to say, though) is that people who live in rich states report themselves as happy on average, which is not the same thing.

Re: United States of Happiness

Scientist — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:38:40 -0000

If you read about how they determined "happiness", you'll find that they include the following factors:

# Affordable fruits and vegetables
# Enough money for food
# Enough money for shelter
# Enough money for healthcare
# Visited a dentist recently
# Have health insurance

So they use wealth as a metric of happiness, and you take the result to mean that there is a correlation between happiness and wealth...

http://www.ahiphiwire.org/W...

Re: United States of Happiness

David F. — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:22:03 -0000

I'm a Mormon and I wouldn't self-report that I'm particularly happy these days. I work too much in a high stress sector living in a cost of living metropolitan sector and studying 20 hours a week on top of that. Our family has 3 kids (a new baby) and is building a house which is pretty stressful too (and strangely satisfying). As for my faith, I'm doing it but would like to make some personal adjustments to live it more fully.

All that said, the happiest periods of my life have been when I was living my Mormon faith to the fullest...and yes, I felt pretty chipper.

Re: United States of Happiness

Deborah — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:59:36 -0000

The unofficial Alabama state motto, "Thank God for Mississippi," appears to still be in effect.

And that scatter plot has a positive correlation, but not a real impressive one.

Re: United States of Happiness

Sam M — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:43:08 -0000

"... the expectations and pressures of Mormon culture lead large numbers of women (and men, but mostly women) to squander their potential and adjust themselves to diminished lives."

Is this true of other cultures? Take out "Mormon" and try "academic" or "professional" or "farming" or "arts." Most cultures have ridiculous aspects that wear on people after a while. How many people who go to law school end up "squandering their potential"? What about people who enter medicine or politics? I think these cultures hardly ever deliver what people hope they will. That's life.

The key difference seems to be that Mormons "adjust themselves." The fact that Mormons gloss over those difficulties and try not to bitch about them too much seems admirable, in a way.

Nothing's worse that listening to a rich lawyer moan about how he should have been a novelist. Except maybe listening to a novelist moan about being broke.

Seriously. Wouldn't the world be a lot better if everybody just stopped bitching so much? Mormon women make some trade-offs and accept them. I think libertarian-minded folks might find something refreshing in that.

Re: United States of Happiness

Bob Smith — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:26:48 -0000

Wasn't it just reported that Utah has the highest per-capita consumption of online porn? Happy Endings = Happiness

Re: United States of Happiness

Lisa — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:05:13 -0000

The Mormon women I know (very statistically insignificant sample!) fit this description to a tee. It's not that they're miserable and hiding it. It's more that they seem compelled to present an extremely rosy, cheerful picture in public, while being very hard on themselves for completely understandable negative emotions they might actually feel from time to time--like most of us do. It's impressive and kinda scary at the same time.

Re: United States of Happiness

Justin Talbot — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:52:05 -0000

The Wellness Index is made up of six components. Two of these, Emotional Wellness and Life Expectation, are roughly self-reported happiness scores that could capture Will's hypothesized Mormon chipperness. If Will's right, Utah should score disproportionately higher on these components compared to the other four.

The data suggest otherwise. The only component on which Utah is above average (conditioned on its overall Wellness Index) is Work Quality. On the rest, including Emotional Wellness and Life Expectation, Utah is average or below average.

Plots here: http://justintalbot.org/?p=89