Be mindful of a self-reported gap

Abstract

Political Psychology Happiness is a notoriously hard to pin down quantity possibly best described by the phrase, “I know it when I see it.” Self-reported ratings of happiness are generally higher for political conservatives in the United States than for those with more liberal leanings. Wojcik et al. examined three data sets based on behavioral measures, such as tweets and smiles. Despite self-reported claims to the contrary, liberals exhibited more happiness than their more conservative counterparts. For instance, as judged from their photographs on a business-oriented social network, more employees of the New York Times smiled genuinely than did those of the Wall Street Journal . Science , this issue p. [1243][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1260817