One of the most interesting results in that body of research suggests that one of the worst decisions you can make is to give yourself a longer commute for a bigger house (i.e., to move out to the far suburbs or something like that). Along the lines with the bit Eric quotes about the car vs. vacation, apparently you get used to the bigger house fairly quickly. But the unpleasantness of the commute just returns and returns....

Y'know, considering what the comparative power statuses of the two parties were when that ABC survey was done -- August 2-9, 2004 -- one might well wonder what the results would be if such a poll were conducted today...

"Nor can it tell us whether being a Republican makes one happy, or if happy people tend to become Republicans." Or, of course, whether there is a third factor that is primarily responsible, which is at least somewhat connected to both. (E.g., high income; attending church regularly; living where it's sunny....)

Y'know, considering what the comparative power statuses of the two parties were when that ABC survey was done -- August 2-9, 2004 -- one might well wonder what the results would be if such a poll were conducted today...

So...you're suggesting that whether one's favored political party is in power has some bearing on how satisfied one is with their sex life?

It would be unsurprising if sexual satisfaction is somewhat sensitive to other affective factors, such as stress level, general perceived quality of life, and so on. Indeed, it would be more surprising if one's sex life wasn't influenced by such things.

Of all the important questions it doesn't answer, it doesn't - and can't - tell us whether being happy is a good in itself.

Mutatis mutandis, that applies to political affiliation and sex.

Heh.