Liberals and Conservatives differ on pretty much every issue short of the fact that kicking puppies, kittens and children is bad. But, do republicans and democrats differ on average in their happiness? And if this is the case, why?
Three studies conducted by Jamie Napier and John Jost (psychologists at New York University) that were recently published in Psychological Science tested these very questions.
In Study 1, over 1,100 Americans answered questions pertaining to their political affiliation, education, religious attendance, age and gender. They also were asked how much they have a need to think about things (need for cognition) and how much they rationalize inequality (example item: "this country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are"). Lastly, they were asked how satisfied they were with life.
The results indicated that conservatives were, on average, happier than liberals. Further, the data indicated that this was because conservatives have a higher rationalization of inequality. That is, they are less bothered by things like income inequality, gender inequality and marital inequality than liberals. Put another way, conservatism was associated with higher rationalizing of inequality, which in turn, was associated with greater life satisfaction. (In stats lingo, the relationship between political orientation and life satisfaction was "mediated by" rationalization of inequality). All other variables measured were controlled for in their analyses and did not explain the relationship between happiness and political orientation.
In Study 2, participants included people from the U.S. and ten other nations (e..g, FInland, Norway, Sweden) with over 1,000 participants per country. The results again showed that conservatives were happier than liberals on average. And again, this was found to be because conservatives have a higher rationalization of inequality.
In Study 3, it was found that as income gaps increased in the U.S. from 1970 onward, liberals' happiness declined, but conservatives' happiness did not. That is, the growing inequality only affected liberals' happiness.
So, it appears that liberals aren't as happy as conservatives. LIberals aren't as cool with inequality, and this explains why.
And alas, we are left with (on average) miserable donkeys and happy elephants.