Happiest States are Wealthy and Tolerant --no shit, Sherlock.

[raccoon]

By Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer
posted: 10 November 2009 08:09 am ET

Though you might not be able to run away from your problems, moving to another state could be good for the soul. New research suggests U.S. states with wealthier, better educated and more tolerant residents are also happier on average.

The reasoning is that wealthy states can provide infrastructure and so it's easier for residents to get their needs met. In addition, states with a greater proportion of artists and gays would also be places where residents can freely express themselves.

On average, well-being was highest in the Mountain states and West Coast states, followed by the Eastern Seaboard and then the Midwest and Southern states.

Rentfrow and his colleagues came to their conclusions by analyzing data collected from more than 350,000 individuals who were interviewed between Jan. 2 and Dec. 30, 2008 as part of the Gallup Organization's Well-Being Index. The index includes six types of well-being: overall evaluation of their lives, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (such as whether a person smokes or exercises), and job satisfaction.

Here are the top 10 states and their average well-being scores (out of a possible 100 points):

• Utah: 69.2
• Hawaii: 68.2
• Wyoming: 68
• Colorado: 67.3
• Minnesota: 67.3
• Maryland: 67.1
• Washington: 67.1
• Massachusetts: 67
• California: 67
• Arizona: 66.8


http://www.livescience.com/culture/091110-happy-states.html

[hobbit709]

1. Living in at least 3 of those would make me unhappy.

[cali]

2. ridiculous faux science

not to mention that the spread is very small. And since when is Utah considered a tolerant state?

[hobbit709]

3. They're tolerant of other Mormons-that's about as far as it goes.

[raccoon]

5. Did you read the article? nt

[cali]

6. I did.

[Kalyke]

4. Other than Maryland, I really wouldn't want to live in any of those

states.

Utah's the reddest of the red, Hawaii - I'm just not into living on a sinking volcano, Wyoming - ugh, home of Dick Cheney, Colorado - too cold, ditto on Minnesota and Massachusetts, Washington's too rainy, California's too broke and Arizona's too dusty.

Who am I fooling? I'd rather live in another country if I didn't live here in Tennessee (I only like it here because of friends and family and four distinct seasons).

[pnwmom]

7. And Utah, the happiest, must be the most tolerant. Who would have guessed? n/t