How Happy Are We?
Do you feel any pressure to be happy? What messages exist about chasing happiness? In yourtextbook, you encountered some of the information below. Please prepare a product that addresses the information below. If you choose to write a paper, please make it a minimum of 1 or 2 pages. You may, however, choose to create a PowerPoint presentation or something entirelydifferent. FIRST: How Happy Are We?What Do You Think? Would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?a)Very happyb)Pretty happyc)Not too happyAfter selecting your answer, extrapolate what contributes to your choice and level ofhappiness? NEXT: What Does America Think?
In 1972, 30 percent of respondents identified themselves as very happy; in 2016, theproportion of Americans identifying as very happy was exactly the same30 percent again.But, when we examine these data over time, it is clear that trends in Americans self-assessedlevels of happiness have been far from static. If we consider only the years 1972 and 2016, wemight assume nothing happened in the intervening years. But levels of happiness have actuallyfluctuated quite a bit.Like many valued resources, happiness is not evenly distributed throughout the population. Thevarious identities we each occupy shape different amounts and possibly levels of access to evensomething as intangible as happiness (at least as happiness is measured here). Consider howmen and women of two separate racial groups answered this question differently. While theproportions of respondents classifying themselves as very happy move around from year toyear, the general trend remains the same: White men are the happiest group shown here, andblack women are the least happy. When we compare each group to everyone sampled as well, wesee that white men consistently identify as happier than the average person in the population,while white women and black men and women are more likely below this line. Interestingly, wealso see that what we might call the happiness gap (the gap in happiness between white men4
and the rest) appears to be closing. In 1972, 29.5 percent of white men identified themselves asvery happy; that same year, only 22.9 percent of black women, 34.8 percent of white women,and 15.6 percent of black men claimed the same. By 2016, 29.9 percent of white men identifiedas very happywhereas 30.0 percent of black men, 31.4 percent of white women, and 18.6percent of black women identified themselves at the same rate.DISCUSSIn your product, after sharing how you answered the first question, consider and respond to thefollowing: 1.Is happiness inequitably distributed throughout the population?
Explain.2.How might your level of happiness depend on your gender, race, and other socialidentities? 3.Do you think this survey question is a good measure of how happy people feel? Or isthere a better way to operationalize how happy people are? (Hint: Consider various waysthat researchers could collect this type of data. Is this the best approach, why or why not? 4.Look through chapters 1-5 select up to six (6) terms, concepts, or theories that you seeclearly relating to this topic. Define the terms and make a case for them. Provide a strong conclusion that shares what it was like to do this activity. Include a discussionof why you selected this assignment (Action Plan) and what you hoped to learn compared towhat you did learn.
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