People who self-identify as ‘liberal’, especially women, are significantly less likely to be happy with their lives or satisfied with their “mental health”, compared to their conservative peers aged from 18-55.
That’s according to the 2022 American Family Survey, from YouGov and the Deseret News, which found that liberals are about 15 percentage points less likely to be “completely satisfied” with their lives.
The survey goes on to find that liberals are about 18 percentage points less likely to be “completely satisfied” with their “mental health” than conservatives.
The problem appears to be especially acute for liberal women, who register the lowest levels of satisfaction with their lives and mental health. Indeed, only 15% of liberal women in the age group surveyed are “completely satisfied” with their lives, compared to 31% of conservative women; likewise, only 15% of liberal women are “completely satisfied” with their mental health, compared to 36% of conservative women.
Commenting on the findings, sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox said two family factors appear to have a lot to do with this ideological gap: marital status and family satisfaction.
“Given that conservatives aged 18-55 are about 20 percentage points more likely to be married, as well as 18 percentage points more likely to be satisfied with their families, the lesson here is obvious. Marriage and family are strongly linked to happiness and to personal mental health in particular”.
He said, “The problem facing liberals, then, is that too many of them have embraced the false narrative that the path to happiness runs counter to marriage and family life, not towards it.”
