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| Are we really the second unhappiest state in the union? A new study, published in the journal Science, says so. It says that Louisiana is the happiest, followed by Hawaii and Florida. The bottom three are New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. Sure, Northeasterners have a reputation for being reserved, but are we really unhappy? We went to Westfarms mall, figuring that lunchtime there on the Friday before Christmas would be as good a test of happiness as there is. Despite subfreezing temperatures, a traffic jam on I-84 and more than 300 years of not being able to buy beer on Sunday, Nutmeggers seemed fairly content. (Of course, those who are willing to discuss their feelings with a stranger on a busy shopping day tend to be in a good mood, anyway). Many of the people we spoke to said they were happy, but they could understand how Connecticut might produce a low score. "I can see that - Connecticut's such a go-go-go state," said Dave McEntire, 48, of Cromwell. He counts himself as very happy. Even the question itself seemed to make him happy, as he pondered its philosophical implications. "Everyone's in such a hurry, they don't have time to be nice." Guilford's Ron Moleski, 63, took a break from trying to figure out the Bluetooth that he and his wife had just purchased. "There's so many people who are caught up in commerce, business, that they lose sight of the things that do make them happy," he said. "I was born and raised here and, to me, there is no place better than here. It's all a frame of mind." Katrina Kerger, 46, of Glastonbury, questioned how any study could accurately measure something so subjective and fluctuating as happiness. "It depends on so many things," she said. "What mood you're in could be one thing, and an hour later different." How about right now? "Oh, I'm very happy," she said. "I have my coffee, and my shopping is done." One of the study's co-authors, economist Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., said the worth of self-reported surveys has long been debated by academics. But he points out that his study is based on two sets of data. One is subjective, in which more than a million people were asked to rate how satisfied they are with their lives. The other is based on existing data that ranks states by objective measures such as pollution, transportation and economy. He said the fact that two sets of data correlate so well lends credence to self-reported surveys. One thing these studies show is that people really like happiness studies. On its website Friday, Atlantic Monthly reported that its most read story of the year was "What Makes Us Happy," an article about a 72-year study of happiness. Wu says the interest in measuring happiness makes sense. We can measure to a fine point practically everything else - economy, climate, health "People want to know, 'How does that translate into how well I feel?' " he said. "It has important implications, and often will predict such things as health outcomes." |
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