Are you happy? It may seem like a strange question, especially in a time of high inflation, a deeply divided country, and rising violence, but it’s really fundamental.
According to the latest Wall Street Journal – NORC poll, the happiest people in America have a few traits in common: They value community and close personal relationships. They tend to believe in God. And they generally are older, often in their retirement years. The poll found that a small group of Americans, just 12%, describe themselves as not just happy, but “very happy.”
Apparently, Americans aren’t a particularly happy bunch. The 12% was the smallest share of “very happy” people ever recorded in the NORC’s General Social Survey, dating back to 1972. Among all 1,019 adults in the survey, large majorities said they felt pessimistic about the economy and prospects for the next generation. This is consistent with the most recent polls from January, 2023, which said 71% of Americans believe we are on the wrong track – headed in the wrong direction. This is the eighth time in the last nine NBC News surveys dating back to October, 2021, when the wrong track has been above 70%.
Some 30% rated themselves at the lowest level of happiness, saying they were “not too happy.” A majority, some 56%, said they were “pretty happy.” All this makes the slice of “very happy” people stand out. What do they know that the rest of Americans don’t?
Overwhelmingly, the very happy value strong relationships. Some 67% say marriage is very important to them, regardless of their own marital status, compared with 43% of respondents overall. They tend to say belief in God is important. Two-thirds describe themselves as very or moderately religious, compared with less than half of adults overall. Community involvement rates as more important among the very happy than among those who report lower levels of happiness. And while many of the very happy are satisfied with their personal finances, as a group they don’t attach high importance to money.
I recently attended the funeral of a woman who died in her 100th year of life. She died in a posh retirement home surrounded by her very successful and rich son and his family, who live in a very wealthy community where she and her husband also lived until her last few years. She wrote a book near the end of her life in which she fondly remembered her early years growing up dirt poor in southern Alabama as the happiest years of her life. Money doesn’t guarantee happiness.
Characteristics of the “Very Happy”
- Value strong relationships – especially marriage
- Belief in God is important
- Community involvement is important
- They tend to be older and female
The survey and follow-up interviews pointed to what doesn’t matter to their happiness. Many very happy people say they follow politics and are distressed by the state of civic life, but the group includes both Trump voters and Biden supporters. Neither political party claims a disproportionate share of the very happy.
As a group, the very happy aren’t without challenges. Some are facing problems, such as helping a child face cancer or divorce. In interviews, many said that they felt their happiness was partly built into their personalities, partly controlled by choices they make in their daily lives. One common interest – fitness. The very happy tend to be older. Those ages 60 and above accounted for 30% of people in the survey but 44% of the happiest group. The responses of the “very happy” people seem to have little to do with the state of affairs in our nation. In other words, these people are able to rise above their circumstances when it comes to their state of happiness.
“Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The Apostle Paul – Philippians 4:11-13
