Americans on the whole are no happier than they were three decades ago, according to new findings from the University of Pennsylvania. But happiness inequality–the gap between the happy and the unhappy–has narrowed dramatically. “For every unhappy person who became happier,” explains economist Betsey Stevenson, co-author of the study along with economist Justin Wolfers, “there’s someone on the other side coming down.”

Who’s up? Who’s down? Non-white Americans are significantly happier than they were in the early 1970s. In contrast, whites are a little less cheerful. Overall, the happiness gap between these two groups has narrowed big time, by about two-thirds.

Men on the whole are feeling up; women are down. College educated people are more likely to report feeling happy. Those with only a high school education report lower happiness levels.

Happiness would seem to be tricky trait to measure, given that many of us, like the stock market (and sometimes because of it), may be up one day and down the next. The University of Pennsylvania research team didn’t get bogged down in the subtleties of terminology. Their findings are based on data from the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, which asked participants, “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days–would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?”

Not too happy?

In fact, the results seem to suggest that the collective happiness meter doesn’t swing very far one way or the other these days. We’re becoming a nation of the tranquil. Between 1972 and 2006, the proportion of people choosing “pretty happy” has increased from 49 percent to 56 percent. The percentage of people who reported feeling either “very happy” or “not too happy” decreased in proportion. Interestingly, this shift toward the middle showed up in nearly all demographic groups.

Why happiness inequality has narrowed so dramatically is anyone’s guess. As PDQhealth recently reported, findings show that happiness is contagious. So it may matter who you hang with.

While happiness inequality has narrowed, income inequality has reached historic highs. Noting that, the University of Pennsylvania researchers helpfully suggest that “a useful explanation may lie in the nonpecuniary domain.” Money, in other words, doesn’t seem to buy happiness.

With record numbers of Americans being diagosed with and treated for bipolar disorder, which used to be called manic depression, we couldn’t help but wonder whether there’s a pharmaceutical explanation for the dramatic trend toward “pretty happy”-ness. But seriously. It’s good news, of course, that groups which have historically been “not too happy” are moving into the “pretty happy” category. But it is discouraging to see the “very happy” losing ground. Given the headlies these days, though, maybe being “pretty happy” is about all we can reasonably expect.

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: happiness, happiness gap