The pursuit of happiness is clearly alive and well. Two recent studies on that subject based on Gallup's data have been generating a fair bit of chatter.

A study by behavioral economists and Gallup senior scientists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton reveals that, while people rate their lives more positively the more money they make, day-to-day joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection increases with pay only up to $75,000 per year. The analysis, based on data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, also underscores the extent to which making less money makes life's tough moments tougher. You can read more about these findings fromThe New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and more.

The other study by the Charities Aid Foundation revealed that happier people worldwide are more likely than wealthy people to give money to charity. The analysts used publicly available Gallup global data to rank 153 countries on a "Global Giving Index," which incorporates the propensity to donate money, volunteer time, and help strangers. You can read more about these findings from BBC News, Time, The Financial Times and more.

To access Gallup's public dataset yourself and make your own discoveries, sign up for free access. If you'd like us to do the digging, send your story ideas to gallup_news@gallup.com.

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