Happiness and Alienation in America
January 7 2004
Two recent polls conducted by Gallup and Harris Interactive suggest that US citizens are on the whole very happy, and that they feel less 'alienated' than they did ten years ago. Both are the latest in long series charting the attitudes of Americans over several decades, and both provide interesting insights into the public mood and the differences between groups.
Happiness measure / Gallup Poll
A Gallup Poll conducted between December 11th and 14th found a slight majority of Americans saying they are 'very happy' (55%) and almost everyone saying they are at least 'fairly happy' (95%). Only 4% admit to being 'not too happy'. The question wording is: 'Generally speaking, how happy would you say you are - very happy, fairly happy, or not too happy?'
Another question in the same poll measured Americans' 'satisfaction' with their own lives - although this is similar it is for example possible to be happy because one has good prospects / feels optimistic, but not 'satisfied' with the current state of things. In answer to the 'satisfaction' question, a few more are negative about their personal situation with 11% saying they are either very or somewhat dissatisfied.
According to Gallup results show no significant difference whether considering men, women, whites, non-whites, young or old people - in each case a majority report themselves to be 'very happy'. On the other hand, those living in low-income households and those who are unmarried are generally less happy than their higher income and married counterparts.
Americans' subjective sense of wellbeing is as high today as at any time in the history of these Gallup trends. The 55% saying they are very happy today is slightly improved over the 49% recorded a year ago, and is the highest level seen across the 13 readings taken since 1956 (though the 1956-1957 readings are statistically similar to the current reading). The lowest point on this measure was seen in November 2001, just two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when only 37% said they were very happy.
There is a clear linear correlation between income and 'personal satisfaction', less so in the case of 'happiness'. The percent saying they are very satisfied with the way things are going in their lives rises from 41% among those earning less than $30,000 to 53% among those in the $30,000 to $49,999 bracket, and reaches 75% among those making more than $75,000.
Marriage is clearly associated with happiness. Only 45% of unmarried adults, compared with 62% of married ones say they are very happy. The 'unmarried' category includes people who are widowed, divorced, separated, and never married, as well as those living together with a partner, but regardless of which of these sub-groups is considered, all are less likely to be very happy than are those who are currently married.
Between 53% and 57% of people in all age groups say they are very happy.
Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats and independents to be very happy. This is not just a function of who is currently in power - of two measures during the Clinton administration one found Republicans happier and one found very similar figures for supporters of both parties.
| Happiness by Political Party ID |
| | Republicans | Independents | Democrats |
| | % | % | % |
| Very happy | 62 | 49 | 50 |
| Fairly happy | 35 | 47 | 41 |
| Not happy | 3 | 4 | 7 |
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 11-14.
Harris Interactive Alienation Index
In December every year, The Harris Poll(r) measures the level of alienation in the United States. The Index is based on the replies to five questions, designed to measure feelings of powerlessness and isolation, which have been asked regularly since 1966. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the Index fell to 47, the lowest since 1972 - in other words, fewer people felt alienated, using Harris' definition, than at any time in the previous 29 years. This was interpreted as a result of the '9/11 effect' bringing people closer together.
In December 2002, the Index had risen five points to 52, still relatively low but perhaps indicating the effect wearing off. In December 2003, the Index has risen two more points, to 54, which is still the lowest level of alienation, apart from 2001 and 2002, recorded in the last fifteen years since 1988.
In 1966 when the questions were first asked, the Index stood at only 29. By 1971 it had risen to 40, and by 1977 (because of Watergate and the Vietnam War) it had risen to 59. The Index rose to 66 in 1991, and touched its highest point ever, 67, in 1995. Between 1990 and 1999 there was only one year in which the Index fell below 60. It fell to 55 in 2000 and then fell again to 47 in 2001, after the attacks of 9/11.
While all of the answers in the latest survey were slightly different from those a year earlier, the only substantial change was an increase from 30% to 40% in the number of people who feel that they are 'left out of things going on around them'. This is close to the 39% who felt this way in 2000, the figure having fallen sharply after 9/11 and slightly further in December 2002.
The other four components of the Index are agreement / disagreement with the following statements:
- 'the rich get richer and the poor get poorer' - 69% agree in Dec 2003
- 'most people with power try to take advantage of people like you' - 60%
- 'what you think doesn't count very much any more' - 56%
- 'the people running the country don't really care what happens to you' - 46%.
Harris provide historical figures and a comparison illustrates nicely the potential of survey results to be misinterpreted. If taken in isolation, the current percentages could well be used to paint a depressing portrait of America in crisis, whereas in actual fact all the %s have fallen by between 10 and 16% since their peak in 1994-5.
One question has been added in the last 12 years, but because it was not asked before 1992 it does not contribute to the Alienation Index. It shows that 67% feel that 'the people in Washington are out of touch with the rest of the country' - an increase of seven points since December 2002 and of fully sixteen points since December 2001, but still below the 72% to 83% recorded in the 1990s.
The level of alienation varies greatly in different segments of the population. The highest levels of alienation are found among poor people with household incomes of $15,000 or less (Alienation Index 71), African Americans (68), Democrats (66) and Hispanics (64).
The lowest levels of alienation are found among people with incomes over $75,000 (40), Republicans (34), and college graduates without a postgraduate degree (38).
According to Humphrey Taylor, Chairman of The Harris Poll(r), Harris Interactive, 'It is a reasonable assumption that, everything else being equal, it helps incumbents when alienation falls and harms them when it rises. It is therefore good news for President Bush that by historic standards the Index is still relatively low. But it is good news for the Democrats that it has risen over the last two years'.
| ALIENATION INDEX: DECADE AVERAGES (MEAN) |
| The 1960s | 34 |
| The 1970s | 52 |
| The 1980s | 57 |
| The 1990s | 63 |
| The 2000s (so far) | 52 |
The Harris Poll(r) was conducted by telephone within the United States between December 10 and 16, 2003 among a nationwide cross-section of 993 adults (ages 18+). Fieldwork for the survey since the 1960s has always been conducted at the end of the year, usually in December.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
