General Social Survey 2008 Cross-Section and Panel Combined

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HAPPY Taken all together, how would you say things are these days? Would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?   1) Very happy   2) Pretty happy   3) Not too happy   8) Don't know   9) No answer

Pie Chart Bar Chart Cumulative Bar Chart

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage	Z-Score
Very happy	1043	29.3%	29.3%	-1.1
Pretty happy	1981	55.7%	85%	.14
Not too happy	516	14.5%	99.5%	1.38
Don't know	10	.3%	99.7%	7.59
No answer	9	.3%	100%	8.83

Variable Comparisons

Age Church attendance Education Gender Race Region Religion Political ideology

Age (I-AGE)

	18-29 years old	30-44 years old	45-59 years old	60-74 years old	75 years and older	TOTAL
Very happy	24.1% 139	30.5% 297	27.0% 272	33.9% 225	32.1% 98	29.2% 1031
Pretty happy	58.9% 339	57.1% 556	57.5% 580	51.1% 339	49.5% 151	55.7% 1965
Not too happy	16.8% 97	12.0% 117	15.5% 156	13.9% 92	16.7% 51	14.5% 513
Don't know	0.0% 0	0.3% 3	0.0% 0	0.6% 4	0.7% 2	0.3% 9
No answer	0.2% 1	0.1% 1	0.1% 1	0.5% 3	1.0% 3	0.3% 9
TOTAL	100.0% 576	100.0% 974	100.0% 1009	100.0% 663	100.0% 305	3527

Church attendance (I-ATTEND)

	Never	Several times a year or less	1-3 times a month	Every week or nearly every week	More than once a week	TOTAL
Very happy	22.2% 164	24.3% 271	30.6% 166	36.1% 309	43.4% 129	29.3% 1039
Pretty happy	59.3% 438	58.9% 656	57.4% 311	51.7% 442	43.8% 130	55.7% 1977
Not too happy	17.3% 128	16.4% 183	11.6% 63	11.8% 101	12.8% 38	14.5% 513
Don't know	0.5% 4	0.2% 2	0.4% 2	0.2% 2	0.0% 0	0.3% 10
No answer	0.7% 5	0.2% 2	0.0% 0	0.1% 1	0.0% 0	0.2% 8
TOTAL	100.0% 739	100.0% 1114	100.0% 542	100.0% 855	100.0% 297	3547

Education (I-EDUC)

	Left high school	High school	Junior college	Bachelor	Graduate	TOTAL
Very happy	24.5% 118	28.3% 498	30.0% 91	32.6% 213	34.1% 123	29.3% 1043
Pretty happy	49.6% 239	55.9% 982	56.1% 170	59.2% 387	55.7% 201	55.6% 1979
Not too happy	25.5% 123	15.1% 265	13.5% 41	8.1% 53	9.4% 34	14.5% 516
Don't know	0.2% 1	0.3% 6	0.3% 1	0.0% 0	0.6% 2	0.3% 10
No answer	0.2% 1	0.3% 6	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.3% 1	0.3% 9
TOTAL	100.0% 482	100.0% 1757	100.0% 303	100.0% 654	100.0% 361	3557

Gender (I-GENDER)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Very happy	28.0% 440	30.3% 603	29.3% 1043
Pretty happy	56.8% 891	54.8% 1090	55.7% 1981
Not too happy	14.5% 228	14.5% 288	14.5% 516
Don't know	0.4% 6	0.2% 4	0.3% 10
No answer	0.3% 4	0.3% 5	0.3% 9
TOTAL	100.0% 1569	100.0% 1990	3559

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Black	Other	TOTAL
Very happy	30.2% 837	22.0% 108	32.6% 98	29.3% 1043
Pretty happy	56.8% 1572	51.9% 255	51.2% 154	55.7% 1981
Not too happy	12.3% 341	25.9% 127	15.9% 48	14.5% 516
Don't know	0.3% 8	0.2% 1	0.3% 1	0.3% 10
No answer	0.3% 9	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.3% 9
TOTAL	100.0% 2767	100.0% 491	100.0% 301	3559

Region (I-REGION)

	Northeast	Midwest	South	West	TOTAL
Very happy	27.8% 169	28.8% 226	32.2% 424	26.4% 224	29.3% 1043
Pretty happy	56.7% 345	56.5% 444	52.5% 692	58.9% 499	55.6% 1980
Not too happy	14.8% 90	14.1% 111	14.9% 196	14.0% 119	14.5% 516
Don't know	0.2% 1	0.4% 3	0.2% 2	0.5% 4	0.3% 10
No answer	0.5% 3	0.3% 2	0.2% 3	0.1% 1	0.3% 9
TOTAL	100.0% 608	100.0% 786	100.0% 1317	100.0% 847	3558

Religion (I-RELIGION)

	Protestant	Catholic	Jewish	None	Other (specify)	TOTAL
Very happy	32.1% 584	27.5% 231	29.0% 18	22.5% 131	31.3% 76	29.3% 1040
Pretty happy	53.6% 976	57.6% 484	54.8% 34	60.8% 354	53.1% 129	55.7% 1977
Not too happy	14.0% 254	14.3% 120	14.5% 9	16.0% 93	15.6% 38	14.5% 514
Don't know	0.2% 4	0.5% 4	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.0% 0	0.3% 9
No answer	0.1% 2	0.2% 2	1.6% 1	0.5% 3	0.0% 0	0.2% 8
TOTAL	100.0% 1820	100.0% 841	100.0% 62	100.0% 582	100.0% 243	3548

Political ideology (I-POLITICS)

	Liberal	Moderate	Conservative	TOTAL
Very happy	25.3% 243	28.4% 373	34.0% 391	29.4% 1007
Pretty happy	57.8% 555	56.0% 737	54.5% 627	56.0% 1919
Not too happy	16.2% 156	15.0% 197	11.2% 129	14.1% 482
Don't know	0.4% 4	0.3% 4	0.2% 2	0.3% 10
No answer	0.3% 3	0.3% 4	0.1% 1	0.2% 8
TOTAL	100.0% 961	100.0% 1315	100.0% 1150	3426