David Montgomery, writing in The Washington Post, reports survey results from the Pew Research Center and they are fun. In short, their finding is that conservatives are happier than liberals, Republicans are happier than Democrats, and this is even true today in tough times for Republicans.
Montgomery puzzles at length about why this might be so. As is often the case in correlational studies, he has the causal arrow pointing in the wrong direction. Being Republican doesn't make you happy, being happy makes you Republican.
If life is working out just fine for you, you are likely to believe it doesn't need changing. Not changing the status quo is a decent working definition for "conservative." On the other hand, if you aren't happy with your lot, then change might make your situation better.
If you have life under control and working for you, you don't feel a need for government help and won't want to pay for same. You'll become a Republican. If, on the other hand, life isn't working out very well for you, government help would be welcome and you probably won't have to pay for it anyway, the Republicans will. You'll become a Democrat.
So, fellow conservatives, go read the article and have even more fun in your life.
