Originally Posted by mopek1

You say that based on an article from the NY Times reporting on a study which happens to be re-printed all over the net.

The study concludes that marriage and religion correlate to happiness. Not political ideology.

It so happens that more conservatives are married and religious. Mainly due to pressure from their culture. Not due to freedom of choice.

Now, correlation is NOT the same as causation. A correlation just means there may be a link to the result not a CAUSE.

Also, the study "asked" people whether they were happy and didn't evaluate them psychologically, which would have been much more effective. They also asked which way they leaned politically which to me taints the study. People in questionnaires can lie or give answers they feel others would approve of, or answers they are more comfortable giving. You really have to ask many different questions in many different ways that are not so obvious to get a more truthful answer and that amount can be up to 200 questions. They are then analyzed for consistency.

According to psychologists people who are religious/conservative are also most likely to repress their emotions and so just 'say' they are happy all the time. Most people right or left feel that things are okay when they are not allowed to access their deeper feelings. Feeling sad and depressed is almost sinful to a religious conservative which would result in the disapproval of the herd and possible exclusion from it as well. The idea of needing psychotherapy is a frightening one for the reason just stated so of course they will 'SAY' that they are happier.

Keep trying. It will take a lot more than that to convince me.

Oh and about your first comment ... 'no' ... I realize that you have blinders on and see in only one direction and don't want to see anything else.