Are Liberals Happier Than Conservatives?

image by donkeyhotey/creative commons via flickr

Researchers have looked at the "happiness gap" between Liberals and Conservatives before, but a piece in The Washington Post titled "Liberals might be happier than conservatives, even if conservatives say otherwise," suggests that while in prior studies "conservatives repeatedly came out as generally cheerier than their left-wing countrymen," this may not be the case. This article discusses a study in Science that looked at Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, as opposed to self-reporting, and found more genuine smiles and more positive language among Liberals than Conservatives. Why the disparity between self-reporting and Web trails? According to the report, it's because "Political conservatives have a tendency to self-aggrandize... (and) liberals were being more honest about their personal pitfalls." And why is this important? Because as the author says, "Happiness is really important to almost everybody... But it's important that we understand who is happier than whom, and that we learn how to measure that happiness comprehensively." I would like to know what you think about all of this and whether you agree with the approach being taken here? Please share your comments below. Thanks.

(Photo - http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/03/12/liberals-might-be-happier-than-conservatives-even-if-conservatives-say-otherwise/)