Last year a massive study on the happiness of high school seniors was published. The study looked at 86,138 high school seniors from 2005-2018. It found that unhappiness was on the rise among these students:

Some other trends do appear. Men are happier than women, conservatives are happier than liberals, and ideology matters more than gender. Remember, we’re not looking at the same people as they’re aging. We’re looking at groups of 12th graders over time. The gap between conservatives and liberals has widened. That’s mainly because 12th grade female liberals are become unhappier faster than others at that age.

This isn’t a one-off thing among high schoolers. There’s been a happiness gap between conservatives and liberals across all age groups and over many decades. The General Social Survey (GSS) has been conducted in America every year or two since 1972. Republicans have always been happier than Democrats. Regardless of which party was in power.

Potential Causes

Arthur Brooks broke this down a few years ago. He has since written more about it. Family and religion matter a lot. Most conservatives are married; most liberals aren’t.

We know that marriage correlates with happiness, health, wealth, and longevity. Religion leads to a greater sense of meaning and place, both of which foster happiness. Conservatives are more likely than liberals to practice a religion. Meaning they’re more likely to attend church, mosque, or synagogue regularly.

Maybe you’re wondering, “Yeah, but which way does the causal arrow point? Maybe married and religious people are more likely to be conservative.” Actually, conservatism seems to make people more likely to get married and to stay married. As New York Times journalist David Leonhardt put it, it’s possible that “the more respect and even reverence for the idea of marriage in conservative communities affects people’s behavior and attitudes toward their marriages.” Similarly, political scientist Ryan Burge has shown that whether you attend church a lot, a little, or never, liberals are about twice as likely to have had a mental health diagnosis.

How might liberals explain the disparity? One idea they’ve offered is that conservatives are better able to rationalize inequality. Conservatives have more faith in the free market system. They’re more likely to say that hard work pays off, even for those in challenging circumstances. They attribute unequal outcomes in life mainly to differing levels of talent, skill, and personal choices. By this logic, liberals aren’t as happy because they’re more likely to attribute unequal outcomes to societal or systemic injustices.

A Conflict of Visions

Years ago, economist Thomas Sowell wrote a book called A Conflict of Visions, depicting two visions of man: one constrained and one unconstrained. The latter might sound more hopeful, but not so fast.

The constrained view says we live in a fallen and non-perfectible world. Humans, in general, are selfish. Your best bet is to recognize this “constraint” and adopt systems to account for it.

Consider capitalism done well, for example. You serve customers, doing or providing things they want. In turn, they pay you, giving you what you want. You’re channeling man’s natural selfishness for societal good. When the Pilgrims landed in 1620, they first established a system of communal property. That works in families, but not in large groups. After three years of practically starving, they ditched it, allowing for private property instead. That saved them.

The unconstrained vision sees humanity as naturally good and society as perfectible. We just need to turn the right public policy knobs. President Lyndon Johnson once sought to cure and prevent poverty, and build a “Great Society” on the banks of the Mekong River. Sounds great, but you can see why this might set you up for disappointment.

On a personal level, it helps to have a biblical view of a fallen world and a sinful humanity. If you anticipate setbacks, limitations, even injustices, it primes you for resilience. If you make the most of opportunities, seek improvement over time, and don’t expect heaven until you get there, you’re more likely to be happy.

Did you notice the recent exchange between Senator Tim Scott and the ladies on The View?

Yesterday’s exception is today’s rule.

The concept of America is we will become a more perfect union. pic.twitter.com/6sAj424vgy

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) June 5, 2023

Who do you think seemed happier there? Scott has experienced racism, but he has made the most of an America that is better today than it was one or two generations ago. It doesn’t mean you stop seeking societal improvement. It means you don’t wait for a better tomorrow (about which you have limited control) to start doing what only you can do today.

In a similar vein, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” If you love the idea of a perfect spouse, church, or coworker, you’re likely to resent your actual spouse, church, or coworker. They aren’t perfect. Nobody is or will be this side of heaven.

Taylor Swift

The popular singer Taylor Swift delivered the 2022 graduation speech at New York University. This stood out:

I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go. I have some good news: It’s totally up to you. I also have some terrifying news: It’s totally up to you.

“It’s totally up to you” resonates with many young adults today. But it truly is a terrifying message. It does not promote happiness. Not being anchored in an objective view of reality is anxiety-inducing. If each of us must define reality for himself, then there is no ultimate Truth, no supreme, over-arching Reality. Life is a random mixture of pleasure and pain, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Conservative or not, Christians reject what Carl Trueman called expressive individualism — the idea that the self can bend even physical reality into its image. We embrace the stability that comes from knowing we’ve been created by God and for God, with freedom, responsibilities, and opportunities, but also with limitations and boundaries which we’re to recognize for our own good. We’re to conform ourselves with how God made the world. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Alex Chediak (Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley) is a professor and the author of Thriving at College (Tyndale House, 2011), a roadmap for how students can best navigate the challenges of their college years. His latest book is Beating the College Debt Trap. Learn more about him at www.alexchediak.com or follow him on Twitter (@chediak).