Happiness in modern society: Why intelligence and ethnic composition matter

• Main Authors: KANAZAWA, Satoshi, LI, Norman P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Evolutionary legacy hypothesis; Evolutionary psychology; Life satisfaction; Mismatch hypothesis; Positive psychology; Savanna Principle; Applied Behavior Analysis; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1816; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3073/viewcontent/HappinessModernSociety_2015_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Recent developments in evolutionary psychology suggest that living among others of the same ethnicity might make individuals happier and further that such an effect of the ethnic composition on life satisfaction may be stronger among less intelligent individuals. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health showed that White Americans had significantly greater life satisfaction than all other ethnic groups in the US and this was largely due to the fact that they were the majority ethnic group; minority Americans who lived in counties where they were the numerical majority had just as much life satisfaction as White Americans did. Further, the association between ethnic composition and life satisfaction was significantly stronger among less intelligent individuals. The results suggest two important factors underlying life satisfaction and highlight the utility of integrating happiness research and evolutionary psychology.