Residents of Sunshine States Happiest

They never stop reminding you, do they? Those friends and family that live in the South, Southwest and West, they just want to make sure the rest of you bear in mind how much nicer it is living in year-round sunshine. Of course, the rest of you have your reasons for not being there--some would say your rationalizations--for why life is just as good wherever else you are. You're quick to point out that life in those places of wintry snow and cold can be fuller, richer for the distinct seasonal changes and their experiential diversity. You can even be a little smug about it, if not entirely convinced or convincing.

But now I too have to make my confession. We have been spending more of each year in Florida, and less in Rhode Island--and liking Florida more and more. Oh, You still can't beat RI in the summer and early fall. But the rest of the time? I have to be honest, it's Florida the other 7-8 months a year. I'm just saying...

And now comes new research that throws more light onto the whole issue of regions, climate and personal happiness. And guess what? It appears that those sunnier states and regions really are the places where people are happiest. Sorry to carry this news to all my old friends living in the Northeast, but "Sunshine states are the happiest, study shows," An Associated Press article reported on msnbc.com (12.17.09) provides a review of the research and implications:

Associated Press:

WASHINGTON - People in sunny, outdoorsy states — Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida — say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why.

A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine. The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools.

The happiness ratings were based on a survey of 1.3 million people across the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It used data collected over four years that included a question asking people how satisfied they are with their lives. Economists Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., compared the happiness ranking with studies that rated states on a variety of criteria ranging from availability of public land to commuting time to local taxes.

Rounding out the happy five were Tennessee and Arizona. At the other end of the scale, last in happiness — is New York state.

Probably not surprisingly, their report in Friday's edition of the journal Science found the happiest people tend to live in the states that do well in quality-of-life studies. Yet Oswald says "this is the first objective validation of 'happiness' data," which is something he says economists have been reluctant to use in the past.

He said he has been asked if the researchers expected that states like New York and California, which ranked 46th, would do so badly in the happiness ranking. "I am only a little surprised," he said. "Many people think these states would be marvelous places to live in. The problem is that if too many individuals think that way, they move into those states, and the resulting congestion and house prices make it a non-fulfilling prophecy."

Besides being interesting, the state-by-state pattern has scientific value, Oswald explained. "We wanted to study whether people's feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality — of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etceteras — in their own state. And they do match."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34469042/ns/health-behavior/