Yes, But, However!

LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) – An extensive study has been released of the relative happiness of these United States.  The study, released today in the heavy hitting journal, Science, was a joint effort between professors at the UK’s University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the U.S.  The analysis reveals that objective measures of happiness, such as air-quality and traffic congestion, correlate closely to participants’ state preferences.  The study relied on a 2005-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System random sampling of over 1 million U.S. citizens, in which satisfaction was measured in each states.  The researchers then attempted to link those results with objective measures of life-satisfaction, or “happiness.”

Louisiana ranked happiest state in the U.S.

The list (below) paints an interesting picture of the United States politically.  Seven of the ten happiest states voted for John McCain in 2008, with Hawaii, Florida, and Maine voting for Obama.  The bottom 12, or least happiest states, all voted for Obama.  Of the top 20 happiest states fully 15 went for McCain, 5 for Barack Obama.  Sixteen of the twenty least happiest states voted for Obama in 2008.  McCain carried a total of 22 states in 2008 with Obama winning 28, plus the District of Columbia.  Missouri is the most miserable state wearing the GOP banner.

Hold on to your hat.  Here is the list of the happiest and least happiest states in the U.S.  The list also includes the District of Columbia.

1. Louisiana – McCain
2. Hawaii – Obama
3. Florida – Obama
4. Tennessee – McCain
5. Arizona – McCain
6. Mississippi – McCain
7. Montana – McCain
8. South Carolina – McCain
9. Alabama – McCain
10. Maine – Obama
11. Alaska – McCain
12. North Carolina – Obama
13. Wyoming – McCain
14. Idaho – McCain
15. South Dakota – McCain
16. Texas – McCain
17. Arkansas – McCain
18. Vermont -Obama
19. Georgia – McCain
20. Oklahoma – McCain
21. Colorado – Obama
22. Delaware – Obama
23. Utah – McCain
24. New Mexico – Obama
25. North Dakota – McCain
26. Minnesota – Obama
27. New Hampshire – Obama
28. Virginia – Obama
29. Wisconsin – Obama
30. Oregon – Obama
31. Iowa – Obama
32. Kansas – McCain
33. Nebraska – McCain
34. West Virginia – Obama
35. Kentucky – McCain
36. Washington – Obama
37. District of Columbia – Obama
38. Missouri – McCain
39. Nevada – Obama
40. Maryland – Obama
41. Pennsylvania – Obama
42. Rhode Island – Obama
43. Massachusetts – Obama
44. Ohio – Obama
45. Illinois – Obama
46. California – Obama
47. Indiana – Obama
48. Michigan – Obama
49. New Jersey – Obama
50. Connecticut – Obama
51. New York – Obama

The lead authors of the study were professors Andrew Oswald and Stephen Wu.  Mr. Oswald said the following about the study:

“The state-by-state pattern is of interest in itself.  It also matters scientifically.  We wanted to study whether people’s feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality — of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etc — in their own state. And they do match.  When human beings give you an answer on a numerical scale about how satisfied they are with their lives, you should pay attention. People’s happiness answers are true, you might say.  This suggests that life-satisfaction survey data might, in the long run, be tremendously helpful for governments to use in the design of economic and social policies.”

Conservative pundits will read the results as proof conservatives are happier people.  Liberals will most likely see the results as those states at the bottom most clamoring for “change.”

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