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Happiest Person In America: Whats Sex Got To Do With It?
Who is the happiest person in America? USA Today featured Happiest Person in a cover story in its USA Weekend magazine. Bad news: it's not you. Nor is it me. Just how did they find Happiest Person and determine that he is indeed the happiest person in America? The USA Today research team appears to have used an elegantly simple three-step process. First, they identified "the world's leading authority on happiness", Martin Seligman ... which must have come as a wee bit of a surprise to several of his equally well-known and equally well-respected peers. How they picked Seligman remains more of a mystery than how a land-locked nation of mountains and yodeling became home to the holy grail of yachting, but we are working feverishly to crack the code. Next, they asked Seligman to name six principles of happiness. Seligman listed couple strengths, a win-win approach, savoring success, playing to one's strengths, opening doors to opportunity and finding meaning in life. Finally, they applied Seligman's principles to determine who best matches them. Naawww, just kidding. That would make way too much sense. Instead, USA Today created a make-believe process of its own that stands out from Seligman's list like the Jolly Green Giant at a dwarf convention. Here is the USA Today process. Geography. It seems that Happiest Person must live in the best place to live, which is Virginia Beach, in case you didn't know. If somebody even happier than Happiest Person lives in San Francisco or Vermont, the USA Today research team does not want to know. Why confine their search to one town? Could geography be the secret to happiness that Seligman failed to mention? True, research does show that people living in free societies tend to be happier than others, but there is no evidence that where you live within the free world makes a difference. Sex. Women are prone to higher emotional highs and lower emotional lows, whereas men are prone to more constant emotions. So Happiest Person must be a man, concludes USA Today. While the science does hit the bull's eye, the conclusion misses the barn wall. I suppose they'll be telling us that Seattle is the sunniest spot in America because the weather fluctuates less than in The Sunshine State. Family. Happiest Person is married, has children, and is healthy. People with intimate relationships do tend to be happier, and marriage is a fairly good indicator (especially for men). And health is important. These may not be among Seligman's six principles, but let's not argue against good health. Money. Happiest person has a "good, dependable job" as a stockbroker, a 2,300 square foot house (with an eat-in kitchen and a deck!). The truth comes out - money does buy happiness, according to the USA Today research team. In fact, studies show that money makes a difference only if it elevates a person above the poverty level. When a person has means enough not to struggle for basic necessities, money rarely buys happiness. Brand-awareness. This one must have made the big ad agency tycoons drool in their Corn Flakes. Happiest Person is for real because he likes all the right brands! He "digs" Coca-cola, so he must be the real thing. And he loves Craftsman tools and Dell computers. Say no more. Where does the USA Weekend exposé leave the rest of us? If you are a little old lady enjoying retirement in Atlanta or a student conquering new fields of knowledge in Ann Arbor, you clearly are not happy enough for USA Today. But cheer up, even The Happy Guy eats "donuts" rather than "Krispy Kremes". About The Author David Leonhardt is the Happy Guy, author of "Climb your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness". Sign up for your free "Daily Dose of Happiness" at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html, or visit the Self-actualization Resource Center at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articleshtml.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. Help News pick Stadium's greatest moment (New York Daily News) The News is marking the countdown to the final game at The House That Ruth Built by reflecting on Yankee Stadium's greatest moments - and we're asking you - the reader - to help us pick out the best of the best. JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (> required at line 14, column 29) in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/scholarlyarticles.org/happiness/magpierss/rss_fetch.inc on line 238 Site: Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/scholarlyarticles.org/happiness/inc/ads-body.inc on line 52 MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for happiness 'Harvest Moon' sows little happiness at 10 (USA Today) Originally launched on the Super Nintendo, the "Harvest Moon" series of video games is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the release of "Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness" for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, unless you have extreme patience, you will not experience much happiness with this software title that suffers from difficult controls and tedious game play. Gretchen Rubin: Balanced Life: Happiness Project: Dig deep. (HuffingtonPost) I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you should have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit.... Taller people have the edge when it comes to happiness (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Taller people are happier on average than shorter people, with each extra inch in height giving as much satisfaction as a four percent increase in income, according to a U.S. study. The price of happiness? £365 a year I'd say (Times Online) In Birmingham once, I was given a peek inside a majestic Victorian bank that had been closed for years. It's probably a dodgy nightclub now. In which case, its new punters may be a little startled by the stern admonishments emblazoned on its marble walls. ?Thrift radiates happiness? one declared. Pursuit of Happiness (The Moscow Times) The upcoming theater season is guaranteed to be full of the usual thrills, spills and creative performances. John Freedman reports. Ben Lewis proposes that jokes had a role in the end of the U.S.S.R. Famous Comedian's Cousin Says Happiness is Half Genetic (PRWeb) Rima Rudner, first cousin of top standup Rita Rudner, says the reason some people are happier and more fulfilled than others is at least 50% in their genes. "This does not necessarily mean that a woman who wears size 4 jeans is happier than one who wears size 16 jeans," says Rudner, author and happiness coach. "It means that happiness can be as hard to achieve for a genetically unhappy person ... Happiness and Wellbeing at Work Conference (Australian Policy Online) Follows the success of last year's conference including seminars and workshops facilitated by some of Australia's leading experts on psychology, leadership and workplace relations, The aim of this conference is for our expert speakers to provide strategies that will allow the mindful leader to create solutions for generating increased productivity through the dominant value of employee ... Happiness is a daily special at Island Soul Caribbean Cuisine (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) A visit to Island Soul will put a smile on your face thanks to its friendly servers and a menu that plays like a greatest hits of the Caribbean. When happiness means more than money (The Kansas City Star) Midcareer job changers may be the nation's best hope to fill an estimated 1.5 million teaching vacancies expected in the next 10 years.But $50,000 a year may be the magic number to entice most of them to the profession. The science of happiness (Los Angeles Times) Being happy has always seemed like a good idea. But now science, with research to back it up, can finally show us how to get there. True or false: Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (> required at line 14, column 29) in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/scholarlyarticles.org/happiness/magpierss/rss_fetch.inc on line 238 Site: Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/.hellodolly/jsteiner64/scholarlyarticles.org/happiness/inc/rss.php on line 26 |
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