Study: If You Want To Be Happy, Get Off The Sofa

A while back we wrote about Harvard's most popular class, Positive Psychology, in which students learn how to make themselves happy.

Should they load up on pre-law courses instead? Would making a lot of money make them happier?

A study by the Pew Research Center, "Are We Happy Yet," offers some insight into the 34% of Americans who say they are "very happy" -- and the 15% at the other end of the scale who say they are "not too happy."

If those Harvard students want to be happy, they should stay healthy. After isolating and correlating variables such as income, political party affiliation, race, gender, and the like, they Pew researchers concluded "... the factor that makes the most difference in predicting happiness is neither being a Republican nor being wealthy - it's being in good health."

The reason they mention Republicans and income is that those are also strong predictors of being "very happy." The other major factors are church attendance and being married.

The Pew researchers note that their study "did not look at life events or psychological characteristics," but rather at the correlation between self-reported happiness and various demographic factors. So the study won't tell you whether a promotion at work, birth of a child, or other life event will make you happier. But it can tell you in general what characteristics happy people have in common.

The Five Characteristics of Happier People

Health was overwhelmingly the primary driver of happiness. Good health was the primary factor associated with being "very happy," and conversely, being unhealthy was the #1 predictor of whether someone considered themself to be "not too happy" -- the lowest category. 55% of people who say their health is poor also give themselves the poorest marks for happiness.

Income is another major factor. Money may not buy you love, but it gives you a head start on happiness. Half of people earning $150k / year or more said they were very happy; only 23% of those in the lowest income group, earning under $20k / year, said the same.

An interesting result is that Republicans are happier than Democrats -- and not just because they tend to have higher incomes. At every income level more Republicans are "very happy" than Democrats and Independents. And this has been true for over a generation -- ever since the survey started in 1972, so it includes the Democratic Carter and Clinton presidencies.

The reason may be that Republicans attend religious services more frequently, and religiosity -- as measured by weekly attendance at services -- has a major correlation with being "very happy." 43% of weekly church (and synagogue, etc) -goers say they are very happy; only 26% of those who seldom or never attend fall into that group. This trumps higher income -- even though frequent church-goers earn less than people who seldom or never attend, they are happier.

Marriage also helps. 43% of married people are very happy, vs 24% of unmarrieds. If you're unmarried, just wait until you're 65 and your odds of being happy will improve -- 34% of unmarrieds 65+ are very happy, up from about 21% - 22% for all other ages.

What Else?

Who's unhappy? Aside from people in poor health, single parents with children at home, and young men. Only 26% of young men ages 18-29 were "very happy," which explains where rock and rap lyrics come from.

In some cases expectations weren't born out by the data. For instance, gender, age, education, and race were not tied to being "very happy," although some were linked to unhappiness. And retirement doesn't seem to increase happiness; about the same percent of retirees say they are "very happy" as people who are employed.

Having kids has little effect on happiness -- if you're married. But only 19% of single parents with minor children are very happy, and 27% are "not too happy."

So What?

These are correlations, not prescriptions. Becoming a Republican won't make you happier. Being single doesn't mean you'll be miserable.

But there is one prescription to take from the study -- stay healthy. The survey shows that good health is the primary determinant of happiness. Unfortunately, this is they type of observation people hear but don't internalize -- until they have a problem. And by the time they understand its truth, it may be too late.

If you maintain good health -- which you can impact via diet and exercise -- you're positioning yourself to be in that "very happy" group. And if you have poor health, then income, religious ties, and a strong marriage may not be enough to help.

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Please don't think we're downplaying the positive psychology movement -- we think it holds tremendous potential. The Pew study is a snapshot and offers only correlations, not recommendations on how to move up the happiness scale. For more, see our stories with a "positive psychology" tag.