Statistically Happy

Imagine my surprise and delight when a Chicago Tribune article finally answered the age-old question of "What does it take to make people happy?"

According to Keirsey research, an organization that looks at how personality relates to a person's preferences, when they surveyed 3,900 people from 18 to 70 they found the following:

• Extroverts are happier than introverts.  Extroverts recharge through being in contact with people.   Introverts recharge themselves through solitary time. 

Are you the straw that mixes the drink socially, or the angst-filled poet that longs to be with your thoughts?
Me, I'm both.  I love being with people, then retreating to my world and blogging about it.  My wife definitely is an extrovert, until the next morning, when the hangover makes her an introvert. 

• People making $75,000 or more were happier than those who made $50,000 or less.  For the people surveyed, $75,00 was the tipping point.  More money did not mean more happiness, but having enough money certainly helps a lot.

So THAT"S what I was missing in my life - money! Just a few more auctions on eBay and I'll be happy!

• For relationships, people who are engaged are the happiest, whereas people who are separated but not divorced are the least happy.  Married people are somewhat happier than divorced people, but even they have average happiness. 

Of course engaged people are the happiest!  Their life is a new blank page lying before them.  Life hasn't worn them down and disillusioned them with its cruel mirage of higher expectations.  And for people who are separated but not divorced, of course they are the least happy.  They haven't gotten rid of the dead weight of a failed relationship and moved on with their life. 
I am intrigued by the fact that divorced people are almost as happy as married people.  You would hope that after the pain of divorce, you would be happier than married people.  The advice you could draw from this survey is that if you are divorced and want to be happier than your married friends, get engaged!  Hope springs eternal.  Just find someone who is outgoing, and makes over $75,000 a year.

So there you go, your road map to happiness.  Now get out there and enjoy life!  And if you aren't happy, you can't blame me!