A Nation of Happy People

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Happiness. As in, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of." The nation's founders considered happiness to be one of the ultimate objectives of life, so when Gallup asks Americans how happy they are it's no trivial matter.

Using the happiness standard, one would have to say the country is thriving. A Gallup Poll conducted Dec. 11-14 found a slight majority of Americans saying they are "very happy" and almost everyone saying they are at least "fairly happy." Only 4% admit to being unhappy.

Generally speaking, how happy would you say you are -- very happy, fairly happy, or not too happy?

A slightly different question in the same poll measured Americans' satisfaction with their own lives. In answer to this, a few more are negative about their personal situation with 11% saying they are either very or somewhat dissatisfied. However, the vast majority of the nation's adults are satisfied.

In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in your personal life at this time? Are you very [satisfied/dissatisfied], or just somewhat [satisfied/dissatisfied]?

	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Very dissatisfied	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2003 Dec 11-14	58	30	7	4	1

With so few Americans being unhappy, the degree of happiness serves as the major discriminator between groups. A majority of most major groups in society -- men, women, whites, nonwhites, young, old -- tell Gallup they are very happy. Gallup finds no significant difference in the percentage of people falling into these categories who say they are very happy.

On the other hand, those living in low-income households and those who are unmarried are generally less happy than their higher income and married counterparts.

Contentment Today Is Historically High

Americans' subjective sense of well-being is as high today as at any time in the history of these Gallup trends. The 55% saying they are very happy today is slightly improved over the 49% recorded a year ago, and is the highest level seen across the 13 readings taken since 1956 (though the 1956-1957 readings are statistically similar to the current reading). The lowest point on this measure was seen in November 2001, just two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when only 37% said they were very happy.

Happiness Trend

Gallup first asked about personal satisfaction in 1979, and has updated it fairly frequently. The following graph ranks these ratings from high to low, showing that across the 45 ratings, the current one, with 88% saying they are satisfied, is the most positive. This is statistically similar to several readings of 87% and 86% recorded between 1988 and 2000. The least positive was recorded in July 1979 when only 73% were satisfied.

Personal Satisfaction Trend Ratings Listed From High to Low

Does Money Buy Happiness?

The higher one's household income the more likely one is to say he or she is satisfied with the way things are going in his or her personal life, but the correlation between income and happiness is less clear.

Deep happiness is found in roughly equal measure among a majority of adults living in most household income groups (between 55% and 60% say they are very happy), and only drops below this level among those earning less than $30,000 per year (44%).

By contrast, there is a clear linear correlation between income and personal satisfaction. The percent saying they are very satisfied with the way things are going in their lives rises from 41% among those earning less than $30,000 to 53% among those in the $30,000 to $49,999 bracket, and reaches 75% among those making more than $75,000.

It appears that Americans are more likely to think financially when asked to reflect on their "personal lives," than when asked to rate their "happiness."

Happiness and Satisfaction: by Income

Dec. 11-14, 2003

Marital Bliss?

Marriage is clearly associated with happiness. Only 45% of unmarried adults, compared with 62% of married ones say they are very happy.

Happiness by Marital Status
	Married	Not married
	%	%
Very happy	62	45
Fairly happy	35	48
Not happy	3	6

The "unmarried" category includes people who are widowed, divorced, separated, and never married, as well as those living together with a partner. But regardless of the exact situation, all of these groups are less likely to be very happy than are those who are currently married. Nor is age an explanatory factor. As noted earlier, age is not correlated with personal happiness, as between 53% and 57% of people in all age groups say they are very happy.

The Politics of Contentment

Even when accounting for partisan differences in marital status and household income, Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats and independents to be very happy.

Happiness by Political Party ID
	Republicans	Independents	Democrats
	%	%	%
Very happy	62	49	50
Fairly happy	35	47	41
Not happy	3	4	7

Why Republicans are happier is not clear, but the result has been the same in nearly every asking of this measure since 1996, including one reading under former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and three under Republican President George W. Bush. Only in 1996 did Republicans and Democrats express about equal levels of happiness.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 11-14. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

4. In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in your personal life at this time?

	Satis- fied	Dis- satisfied	No opinion			Satis- fied	Dis- satisfied	No opinion
	%	%	%			%	%	%
2003 Dec 11-14	88	11	1		1990 Oct 11-14	82	16	2
					1990 Sep	85	13	2
2003 Jan 13-16	85	14	1		1990 Aug 30-Sep 2	86	12	2
2002 Dec 5-8	83	16	1		1990 Jul	81	17	2
2002 Jan 7-9	85	14	1		1990 Feb	83	16	1
2001 Dec 6-9	84	15	1		1990 Aug 9-12	85	13	2
2001 Jan 10-14	85	14	1		1988 Sep	87	12	1
2000 Oct 6-9	87	12	1		1988 May	80	16	4
1998 Dec 28-29	86	13	1		1987 Aug	83	15	2
1996 Mar 8-10	86	12	2		1986 Sep	84	14	2
1993 Dec 4-6	82	17	1		1986 Mar	84	15	1
1992 Feb 28-Mar 1	79	20	1		1985 Nov	82	17	1
1992 Jan 3-6	77	22	1		1984 Dec	79	17	4
1991 Nov	79	19	2		1984 Feb	79	19	2
1991 Oct	81	18	1		1983 Aug	77	20	3
1991 Aug	82	16	2		1982 Nov	75	23	2
1991 Feb 28-Mar 3	87	12	1		1982 Apr	76	22	2
1991 Feb 14-17	84	15	1		1981 Dec	81	17	2
1991 Jan 17-20	86	12	2		1981 Jun	81	16	3
1991 Jan 3-6	84	14	2		1981 Jan	81	17	2
1990 Dec 13-16	82	18	*		1979 Nov	79	19	2
1990 Nov	85	13	2		1979 Jul	73	23	4
1990 Oct 25-28	87	11	2		1979 Feb	77	21	2

5. Are you very [satisfied/dissatisfied], or just somewhat [satisfied/dissatisfied]?

COMBINED RESPONSES (Q.4-5)

	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatis- fied	Very dissatis- fied	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2003 Dec 11-14	58	30	7	4	1
2003 Jan 13-16	58	27	9	5	1
2002 Dec 5-8	50	33	11	5	1
2002 Jan 7-9	56	29	9	5	1
2001 Dec 6-9	54	30	10	5	1
2001 Jan 10-14	56	29	10	4	1

6. Generally speaking, how happy would you say you are -- very happy, fairly happy, or not too happy?

	Very happy	Fairly happy	Not too happy	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2003 Dec 11-14	55	40	4	1
2002 Dec 5-8	49	44	6	1
2001 Nov 8-11	37	52	11	*
2000 Oct 6-9	47	47	5	1
1996 Mar 8-10	49	46	5	*
1992 Feb 28-Mar 1	43	47	9	1
1991 Feb 21	44	45	10	1
1982 Dec 10	50	43	6	*
1981 Dec 11	44	51	5	*
1981 Jun 5	46	43	10	1
1977 Nov 4	42	48	10	1
1957 Mar 5 ^	53	43	3	*
1956 Sep 20 ^	53	42	5	*
* Less than 0.5%.
^ Third response category different wording: "or not very happy."