Apparently Working Long Hours Makes Americans Happier?

From Static.

Yeah, this one's just crazy enough that it might be true. The Daily Mail reports that Americans who work long hours are happier than those who don't, while in Europe, that trend is reversed. This information comes from a study at the University of Texas at Dallas. The study's authors could not conclude whether work actually CAUSES happiness in America, but they speculate that the results have more to do with worker expectations and the pursuit of income than with their actions.

American and European survey respondents were asked to rate themselves as "Very Happy," "Pretty Happy," or "Not too Happy." Results showed that "Very Happy" Europeans dropped from around 28% to 23% as work hours increased from under 17 a week to more than 60. American happiness, on the other hand, stayed the same as work hours increased, while their sense of "bliss" increased. This holds true despite other factors, such as age, marital status, and income.

Economics professor Richard Easterlin, who was not involved in the study, but comments on it anyway, theorizes that Americans believe more in the rewards of hard work. "It's not really that hard work brings more success in the U.S. than in Europe; it's what people believe in," he says.

You can read the actual study in the April issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Beautiful People Are Apparently Happier Than the Rest of Us

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. From Painting Here.

In news that may be disheartening to most of the population, the University of Texas at Austin reports that beautiful people are generally happier than their plain-looking or ugly counterparts, no matter what their gender or culture. This information comes from a new paper entitled "'Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness?'" by Daniel Hamermesh and Jason Abrevaya.

The authors analyzed data from five surveys conducted in America, Canada, Germany, and Britain. These surveys asked more than 25,000 participants about their levels of happiness while an interviewer either rated their attractiveness in person or by photograph. The results of this analysis showed that people in the upper 15% of beauty ratings were over 10% happier than people ranked in the bottom 10%.

Hamermesh says, "Personal beauty raises happiness. The majority of beauty's effect on happiness works through its impact on economic outcomes." His previous research showed that beautiful people make more money. The economic impact of beauty may account for around half of the happiness boost shown in his current research.

The actual paper goes into much more detail, using charts and graphs over its 47 pages. You can read it for free in PDF format by clicking here.