Has America gotten happier over the last generation? According to one academic survey, no.
By far the most extensive and detailed time series comes from the U.S., and the full series covering the 60 years from 1946 to 2006 shows a flat trend.
So, who is getting happier? Well, most everyone. Eighty percent of the 26 countries sampled are getting happier. India, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea are getting happier the fastest. This survey, as others do, credits deep and happy relationships – rather than material wealth – as a key to happiness.
Earlier today I read the beginning of a book review that noted:
Today’s kids aren’t smoking much pot because pot is a “social” drug, shared among peers who gather in parking lots and other hangouts; teens have less unstructured time now and tend to socialize online. They still get high, only on prescription drugs pilfered from adults or ordered off the Internet. “There’s no social ritual involved,” he observes, “just a glass of water and a pill,” which “fits well into a solitary afternoon.”
But what may appear to be a solitary afternoon on a video camera looks mighty social according to a server’s logs. Virtual communities (social networks) are populated first and foremost by the young.
Which made me wonder: is social networking making us all happier – especially our young people?