Life Satisfaction

Majorities of Americans foresee widening income gaps, tougher financial times for older Americans and intensifying political divisions.

Conrad Hackett, associate director for research and senior demographer, discusses why we studied the relationship between religion and happiness, health and civic engagement.

In many countries, actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as very happy.

While the share of Americans who say they are lonely all or most of the time is small, the share rises significantly for some groups.

Partisan differences are modest among Americans who mention family, career, money or friends as aspects that make their lives meaningful.

Four topics are universally associated with higher levels of life satisfaction: a person’s good health, romantic partner, friends and career.

Hispanics are more likely than the general U.S. public to believe in the American dream – that hard work will pay off and that each generation is better off than the one prior.

At the same time, the contours of connectivity are shifting: One-in-five Americans (20%) are now ‘smartphone only’ internet users at home.

If you live in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America or the United States, you are more likely than people in other regions of the world to say you’re having a particularly good day. For the past several years, Pew Research Center’s annual Global Attitudes Survey has started with the following question: “How would you describe your […]

People in Vietnam, India and South Korea are generally positive about life today in their countries compared with 50 years ago. But in many places, like Latin America, peoples' outlooks are more negative.