Conservatives are happier than liberals because of their strong ties to
a large network of social groups, says a new Australian study.
Conservatives are happier than
liberals because of their strong ties to a large network of social groups, says
a new Australian study.
A research team from The
University of Queensland conducted a study among 816 undergraduate students at
the University to explore the link between conservatism and happiness.
UQ Psychology Professor Jolanda
Jetten said the findings indicated that conservatives were happier than
liberals due to greater access to social capital, a great source of well-being.
“The difference in happiness
between conservatives and liberals came to light in 2006, when the Pew Research
Center found that Republicans were much more likely to report being “very
happy” than Democrats,” Jetten said. “However, it was unclear how to explain
this difference.”
Jetten said that New York
University psychologists Jaime Napier and John Jost were the first to attempt
to explain this difference in happiness in 2008, arguing that conservative
ideology has a palliative (system-justifying) function that protects
conservatives’ (but not liberals’) happiness.
“Our study found no evidence that
system-justifying ideology accounted for the relationship between conservatism
and life satisfaction,” said Jetten.
Instead, it was found that those
with a higher social economic status have access to more group memberships and
this created greater life satisfaction.
“It appears that what makes
conservatives happy is not conservative ideology but rather their social and
material advantage – the same advantage that makes conservative ideology
appealing in the first place,” said Jetten.
Professor Alex Haslam said
ideology was shaped by a person’s position in the broader social system.
“To explain the relationship
between conservatism and happiness properly, we need to bring the social system
back into the analysis and examine the social structural and economic
dimensions of conservatism,” Professor Haslam said.
The article can be found
at: Jetten J et al. (2013) One Reason Why
Conservatives are Happier Than Liberals is That Higher Socioeconomic Status
Gives Them Access to More Group Memberships.
Source: UQ;
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