HISTORY ENDED WITH THE WHOLE WORLD ADOPTING OUR IDEAS, WHAT'S NOT TO BE HAPPY ABOUT?:

At least according to a new study from researchers at Brock and Ryerson Universities that links conservative ideologies to feelings of well-being. According to the 237 Canadian students surveyed for the study, an inclination toward "right-wing authoritarianism" and "social dominance orientation" tends to correlate with personal contentment. [...]

A sweeping Pew survey from 2006 found that 47 percent of conservative Republicans would call themselves "very happy" -- versus a mere 28 percent of liberal Democrats. The phenomenon isn't confined to the United States, either: An analysis of research from nine additional countries found a consistent "happiness gap" in each. [...]

We still don't totally get, however, the exact cause-and-effect relationship between psychology and politics. Ideology could lead to psychology, as this Canadian study suggests. Or your individual psychology -- and genetics and brain structure and personality -- could influence your politics. To quote the Post's David Montgomery, "Do happy people get married, attend weekly religious services and vote for John McCain? Or does devotion to marriage, God and McCain cause them to be happy?" Chicken, meet egg.

Among the theories in that second camp: Conservatives tend to be married and religious, two traits that correlate to happiness. Conservatives possess an "ideological buffer," to quote New York University's Jaime Napier and John Jost, that immunizes them against the world's depressing inequality. This latest Canadian study goes further, suggesting that a strong sense of order and hierarchy makes people happy -- even when that order and hierarchy appear to disadvantage other people. [...]

Research has also identified dramatic personality differences between liberals and conservatives, the latter of whom are generally more conscientious and emotionally stable -- but less open and agreeable, and less comfortable with ambiguity. (For a fun and pointless exercise, you can even take the University of Maryland's Cosmo-style test of ambiguity online.) 

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