Happiness From Romantic Relationships May Dissipate After Three Years

From Uber Review.

Tracy Clark-Flory of Salon reports on new research that shows the happiness and passion of marriages and other romantic relationships tend to fizzle out after three years. Part of this information comes from a new study suspiciously funded by Warner Brothers, but to avoid the icky feeling of corporate research, the article focuses on a 2007 study that found similar results.

In this 2007 study, researchers interviewed each participant twice with six years between interviews. Some participants were single at the time of the first interview, then found a longterm relationship by the second, while some were already in a relationship, then got married by the second interview, and some were married during both interviews. Results showed that, on average, married people were happier, but that this happiness boost declined after three years. Researchers call this short-term boost the "honeymoon effect."

Kelly Musick, sociologist and one of the researchers on the study, says the decline after the honeymoon effect may be caused by shattered expectations of longterm romance. In other words, after three years, couples learn that marriage is more about doing laundry and other chores than constant romance. Musick is quick to point out, however, that these results are averages, so some couples even improve their happiness and passion over many years.

Gallup Finds "Happiest Man in America" in Hawaii

That's Alvin on the right. From the Daily Record.

Like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster, a "happiest person" in any given country might seem like a mythical creature whose only evidence is some sham photographs or an odd sighting by unreliable sources. Well, according to this story from the Los Angeles Times, Gallup has apparently done the unthinkable (or maybe unnecessary?) and found the happiest man in America:  69-year-old Alvin Wong of Hawaii.

Gallup accomplished this by first assembling data on what traits and situations make people the happiest. They found that happy Americans tend to be one or more of the following things:  tall, Asian American, Jewish, 65 or older, married with children, living in Hawaii, and running their own business with a household income of more than $120,000 a year. So a theoretical "happiest person in America" would be all of these things put together, right?

Well, Gallup found that this collection of traits is not just theoretical, but that one real person in America actually meets all of them, and his name is Alvin Wong. Alvin is a Chinese-American convert to Judaism who is 5ft 10in tall, has children, owns his own business, and all the rest. The Daily Record reports that Alvin says his life philosophy is "if you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to be pretty terrible for you." He also says, of the study itself, "This is a practical joke, right?"

Who can blame him, really? Congrats, Alvin, on apparently winning at life! Your new title carries with it a lot of expectation, but you seem like the kind of guy who can take the pressure!

Children Apparently DO Make Parents Happier, Just Later in Life

Look on the bright side:  someone else will
probably deal with messes like this after you're 40.
From the Missourian.

In spite of the common wisdom that children bring happiness to their parents, psychologists have long known that parents' happiness scores actually drop the more children they have. Now, however, Medical News Daily reports that this trend reverses after age 40. Once parents reach that age, they become happier with up to three children, and after age 50, they become happier no matter how many children they have, all independent of sex, income, or partnership status.

This information comes from a survey by the University of Pennsylvania and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR). The survey covered around 200,000 men and women in 86 countries from 1981 to 2005.

MPIDR demographer Mikko Myrskylä theorizes that the change in happiness has to do with life stages of the parents, saying, "Seeing the age trend of happiness independent of sex, income, partnership status and even fertility rates shows that one has to explain it from the perspective of the stage of parents' life." The negative aspects of early childhood--like messes, troublemaking, and safety concerns--often overshadow the positive aspects, but as children mature, parents can rest easy and enjoy the benefits. Researchers also believe that the financial burdens of early childhood weigh on young parents, because countries with better-developed welfare systems show less difference in happiness between people with children and those without.

People's decision to have children is usually independent of what science shows, but in case it does affect your decision, this stuff is good to know anyway!

Racial Identity May Be Part of Happiness

A strange old chart of racial classification.
From Associated Content.

The Michigan State University website reports on a new study that shows African Americans who identify more strongly with their race tend to be happier. The study, published in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, surveyed black adults in Michigan.

Stevie C.Y. Yap, lead researcher on the study and MSU doctoral candidate, says, "This is the first empirical study we know of that shows a relationship between racial identity and happiness," even though previous studies have made a connection between racial identity and self esteem.

Yap hypothesizes that this link may have something to do with a sense of belongingness. Do these results apply to other racial groups as well? We don't know yet, but further research might find out.

Britain Preps Study of 90,000 Children

Prime examples of British children. "Charlie Bit Me"
screenshot from cityrag.

Today parentdish reports on Britain's next phase of its national happiness program:  a study of 90,000 British children. Both children and parents will be surveyed, hopefully giving more insight into the roles that different social, economic, biological, environmental, and health factors play in the lives of children than previous studies. This phase will begin in 2012 and will cost around £33.5 million.

British Science Minister David Willetts says, "Birth cohort studies provide a unique insight into all the factors affecting people's lives and are central to our understanding of child development. They produce powerful evidence that informs government policy on a wide range of issues, including social mobility, inequality, education, and public health. This in turn has positive economic impacts through changes in the delivery of public services, earlier diagnosis of diseases, and improvements in quality of life."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg supports the program, adding, "This government is committed to the long term - to making decisions today that will promote a better future:  a more prosperous economy, and a fairer society."

China's Prime Minister Orders Officials to Make People Happy

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. From The Telegraph.

Continuing last week's China coverage, today The Telegraph reports that Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao plans to judge officials on how effectively they make people happy. He says that citizen happiness in each official's province is more important than "how many high-rise buildings and projects [the official] had been involved in." These statements are a prelude to China's version of parliament, the National People's Congress, which convenes this weekend.

However, before you start thinking that China is sincere in turning a new leaf with Bhutan-like Gross National Happiness measures, consider that this new "focus on happiness" is largely a cynical reaction to the current protests in the Middle East; a tactic meant to stop the protests from spreading. In fact, China has actually ramped up its online censorship and harassment of the foreign press, recently arresting around 100 protesters.

But that doesn't stop Chinese officials from ACTING like they care. As one official put it, "It's all about making people happy these days. Happy, happy, happy, that's the only word that counts at the moment." Communist newspaper The People's Daily also gets in on the act, writing, "Let happiness take off among the masses." The Communist Party has repeated "happiness" so often that it has replaced their previous favorite buzzword, "harmony."

So we'll have to keep an eye on China and see whether these new policies have any effect. Chinese citizens can usually see through propaganda campaigns, so Chinese officials may want to start delivering on their promises.

Happy Adolescence Leads to Happy Adulthood...and Divorce

So now when I look at pics like this, I know around 20%
of these excited kids will be divorced. Thanks science!
From English Subject Centre.

Apparently in keeping with this week's divorce theme, the Vancouver Sun reports that a happy adolescence increases the likelihood of a happy adulthood, but also increases the likelihood of divorce. This information comes from a study in the The Journal of Positive Psychology that analyzed data on 2,776 British citizens born in 1946. The data concerned teacher evaluations of students aged 13 to 15, rating them on their popularity, ease of making friends, energy levels, and overall happiness.

This interesting rating method revealed that around 20% of the kids who scored highly in multiple areas were divorced by age 53, compared to around 16% of the kids who scored poorly, even with no change in the likelihood of marriage. The difference of four percent appears small, but is significant enough to warrant further investigation. (For comparison, the divorce rate in the United States is somewhere around 43%, increasing to around 75% the more marriages a person has.)

The study, carried out by Felicia Huppert of the University of Cambridge and Marcus Richards of Britain's Medical Research Council, says, "The explanation for this is not immediately obvious and warrants further investigation. One possible factor might be that positive children have higher self-esteem or self-efficacy than their peers and are therefore more willing to leave a marriage if it is not meeting their needs."

HOWEVER, before you try to protect teenagers by making them sad, the study goes on to say that the benefits of a happy adolescence outweigh the downsides. Happy teenagers go on to become adults who are more satisfied with their jobs, more social, and 60% less likely to develop mental disorders. Whew!