Evangelical Christians are Happiest??

[freemonkey]

I happened to catch an interview this morning on The Today Show. The guest was talking about "happiness" research. What makes us happy, what we think makes us happy, what would make us happier, etc...

She made the comment that faith plays a big part in people's happiness and that Evangelical Christians are the happiest of all. Katie Couric then directed the interview elsewhere.

This has been bugging me all day. I looked at the NBC website and can't find any reference to this guest or the study. I'm really curious about this. I would like to know who conducted this research, where and when it was done, how wide the demographic was and who paid for it.

Does anyone have any info?

[Mallow o' the Marsh]

She made the comment that faith plays a big part in people's happiness

This makes some sense, to me at least. Not that faith = happiness, but that it plays a large role.



and that Evangelical Christians are the happiest of all. Katie Couric then directed the interview elsewhere.


I am guessing her argument was more faith = more happiness? Evangelicals certainly have more faith...


As far as studies go, a quick Google didn't turn up anything, so you're on your own :p

[braces_for_impact]

From my experience as an evangelical Christian, I must say there was selective pressure to appear happy.

[Alter]

Evenagelicals are the SECOND happiest.

Those with Downs' Syndrome are the happiest.

[Anne Fidel]

Well sure! I'd imagine that if you can delude yourself into thinking that even the most horrific events are part of some huge plan and are therefore actually a 'good' thing, you'd be happier. If you lose a loved one, you can tell yourself that he/she is better off, living in heaven. If life gets you down, you can 'Give it all to God' and he'll fix it for you. And, if he doesn't fix it for you, it's for your own good and suffering will just bring you closer to heaven.

I would imagine that they are happier in a way. I think I'd rather be sane than happier, though.

[freemonkey]

I am guessing her argument was more faith = more happiness? Evangelicals certainly have more faith...
She came right out and implied that the study proved this, which sounded more like propaganda than genuine scientific research. Which is why I'm curious to know more about this alleged study.

[Julian]

Of course they are happier. They live in a dreamworld and lie to themselves every waking moment. People are also happy while shooting heroin. Unfortunately, in both cases, there is nothing real about it.

Julian

[RaymondR]

When I was an Evangelical Christian I was not very happy.
Dealing with the rules and the guilt and all the stupid events and gahh!

I am a much happier freethinking atheist. :D

[Face]

They aren't happy; They are blissful. There is a difference.

[Ebonmuse]

I have to agree with braces_for_impact on this one. Although I don't know of any scientific survey finding that evangelical Christians are more happy than other groups, I'd be skeptical of those results even if such a survey was published, because many evangelical Christians believe they're supposed to feel happy whether they actually are or not. Their answers to a survey might well reflect that. In my own admittedly anecdotal experience, strength of religious belief correlates negatively with happiness, if anything. The most intensely religious people I've known have also been, without exception, the most depressed, unhappy people I've known.

[Queen of Swords]

Braces is quite right. No matter what happens, you're supposed to smile and say "thank you, lord, and may I have another?"

[Godless Wonder]

I happened to catch an interview this morning on The Today Show. The guest was talking about "happiness" research. What makes us happy, what we think makes us happy, what would make us happier, etc...

She made the comment that faith plays a big part in people's happiness and that Evangelical Christians are the happiest of all. Katie Couric then directed the interview elsewhere.

This has been bugging me all day. I looked at the NBC website and can't find any reference to this guest or the study. I'm really curious about this. I would like to know who conducted this research, where and when it was done, how wide the demographic was and who paid for it.

Does anyone have any info?
I wonder if it has anything to do with this (metafilter link) (http://www.metafilter.org/mefi/38494). I've noticed that I often will see some interesting but obscure tidbit on metafilter, fark, or slashdot, and then within a week it shows up somewhere on TV, even on the local news as one of those crappy little filler stories they have.

[HaysooChreesto!]

Someone once said that, "Anything worth doing is worth asking someone else to do it for you". I believe that thinking is worth doing but it can lead to some less than fulfilling questions and answers.
In many ways (not all) the truly faithful have their thinking done for them. Any deep questioning about things is fine because they have a ready made series of answers to turn to. They can be directed to some comforting biblical passages, they can turn to their priest, minister, or pastor for advice and answers to disturbing questions.

What's so nice is that the crux of every answer is, "It's going to be okay because God will take care of you." And the answer to the ultimate question is always there; when you die you're not really dead. There's a wonderful and perfect place that has been prepared for you where you will never hurt or see loved ones suffer ever again.

But it's not only the BIG questions that are taken care of. There's also the aspect of structure for daily living. For example, they are told every Sunday how they should approach life's everyday problems. There is enough wisdom in the Bible to provide some kind of framework for believers.

Atheism simply doesn't provide these things. It doesn't mean that we can't be happy but it does mean that we have to find and create our own meaningfulness. And I think that most on these forums would agree that it can be a difficult process that doesn't always give us the answers we seek.

[lisarea]

I wonder if it has anything to do with this (metafilter link) (http://www.metafilter.org/mefi/38494). I've noticed that I often will see some interesting but obscure tidbit on metafilter, fark, or slashdot, and then within a week it shows up somewhere on TV, even on the local news as one of those crappy little filler stories they have.

I found the Journal of Happiness Studies and the World Database of Happiness (both linked a leetle ways down on the page you linked to), and couldn't find anything that seemed to support the claim about evangelicals.

I'm betting the lady just made it up or twisted something up in her head, just because if there were any kind of study, no matter how flawed, that supported this claim, it'd be splattered all over the place by now.

[Atheos]

Maybe evangellical christians are happy on the whole. I wasn't when I was one. Regardless, if they're truly evangellical their happiness is at the expense of everyone around them who wishes they'd just shut up and keep their religion to themselves.

-Atheos

[RawData]

They aren't happy; They are blissful. There is a difference.
Right on the money. Ignorance is bliss. If you can't see beyond the blinders put up by Fundamentalism, you see only how wonderful gawd and jebus are...Bliss
RawData

[HelenM]

TIME Magazine's cover story this week is about happiness and one of the articles is about people who have faith and happiness. I'm not sure it cited any specific studies, though.

Helen

[Eldarion Lathria]

Sheep, on the whole, are happier than humans. But I don't want to be a sheep.

Eldarion Lathria

[Stacey Melissa]

The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
-- George Bernard Shaw

I, for one, was happy as a Christian, and happier still once I became an atheist.

[JoyJuice]

Maybe she meant Christian Evangelists, specially the TV type, who are being financially blessed everyday the mailman shows up.

[I_pity_the_fool]

Another one:

Socrates unsatisfied is better than a pig satisfied

I must say I'm skeptical of this evangelical christian happiness thing. Isn't there a study about relative divorce rates for Xians/non-Xians?

[ImGod]

A majority of christians get happiness from coming together as a group, reaffirming and projecting a "moral superiority", and having the tough questions of life handwaved away with easy answers. Look at most sermon topics, or TV interviews. They tend to be projected outward (i.e. culture, society, individual groups, persecution) rather than inward. They tell you how to resist the evil around you and give you hints on how to be a good christian in today's society. They rarely focus on topics that require major introspection other than topics like you should pray more.

You go in, sing some songs, say you're sorry for the week, get forgiven, throw a couple of bucks in the till for "charity" (usually the building fund or a kids christian ski trip), affirm you'll try harder the next week to be a good christian, and you come out "better" than the people who didn't attend.

Most people try harder to be a good christian at least until they get stuck in the parking lot because everyone is leaving at the same time.

It's a combination of stroking your ego, making you feel like you're charitable and tolerant of other less desirable people, and making you a part of a group.

[someotherguy]

How does one quantify happiness? :huh:

[Diogenes the Cynic]

How does one quantify happiness? :huh:
That's what I was wondering and how do you verify it without having to rely on self-reporting?

I don't see how this can be any sort of valid scientific study, although I suppose a survey might show that people of faith are more likely to describe themselves as being "happy" than non-believers but that doesn't mean they are happy, just that they say they are, and part of that could be a result of social or psychological pressure to appear happy no matter what.

Maybe non-believers are just more likely to be honest.

What does "happy" even mean?

This whole thing just sounds like a evangelistic tactic to try to sucker people into converting. What a crock. I'm way happier than that bitch. :mad:

[Dean Anderson]

I remember a proper experiment reported in New Scientist (but, alas, I no longer have that issue).

Some researchers wired up a statistically significant sample of people to brain activity scanners and then showed them various pictures - some happy things (flowers, laughing babies, etc.) and some unhappy things (car crashes, people crying, etc.), along with various "neutral" things (rocks, tables, etc.).

They then recorded how much response there was in different parts of the brain - the parts known to be active when people are happy or unhappy.

The result was that there was no significant difference amongst people of most mainstream religions (including atheists) - with the exception of Buddhists.

The brains of Buddhists were the only ones that responded more positively to "happy" pictures and less negatively to "unhappy" pictures in a statistically significant manner.

Unfortunately, I don't have the exact details of this experiment - I am telling you this from memory.

[Stout Drinker]

Evangelical christian churches provide a great deal of community. There is a shared purpose in associating with like minded people. There are picnics pot luck suppers and barbeques.

Humans are social animals and community fits into our psychic needs. I can see how people who belong and feel a shared sense of purpose can report themselves as being happy.

[True_Orb]

If you are willing to believe some old man in a robe who tells you that everything will be alright if you do what he says, then yeah I can see how that can make one happy.

I on the other hand am condemned to believe otherwise. :(

[southernhybrid]

If the evangelicals are happy, then I'm happy for them. I'm much happier without having to deal with them and I'm much happier as an atheist than I ever was as a Xian. They obviously never met my chronically depressed father and sister, both evangelicals, but whatever....

As long as they leave me alone, I'm happy that they're so fucking happy. :)

[Matt the Medic]

Evangelical Christians are Happiest??

They also have one of the highest divorce rates out of any group sorted by religion (or non-religion). I guess that can be interpreted both ways. :)

[SEM]

There's an article in Psychology Today (I think it must be the January 2005 issue) that talks about: What makes us happy? I just flipped through it at the pharmacy, but I did notice that the caption said: it's not money or fame or good looks or faith that makes us happy...

According to them, it's friends and free time. :) <--See? I'm smiling already.

A while back, I got some spam similar to the OP from a Southern Baptist friend of mine. It went something like this:

1. Women are happier than men
2. Married people are happier than single people
3. Church-going people are happier than non-church-going people

I threw this one at her:
How does one quantify happiness?
And she hasn't sent me any of that crap since.