Photo: xtheowlWe keep reading that someone has done the maths and found the third Monday in January to be the most depressing day of the calendar year.
So which day is the happiest?
According to Gallup, the happiest day of 2008 was … Nov. 27, with 67 percent of Americans reporting that they had “a lot of happiness/enjoyment without a lot of stress/worry” on that day.
Gallup’s mood index tends to peak during weekends and trough during the week.
By the numbers, the national mood spikes on holidays (Christmas was a close second to Thanksgiving last year, with Easter and the Fourth of July trailing).
That makes sense — Freakonomics readers know that human contact is the most addictive thing around, and holidays are when most of us get our biggest fix.
One day that didn’t show any unusual movement in the national mood: election day, Nov. 4. So much for the idea that voting makes you happier.
So how about that supposedly joyless third day in January? By Gallup’s numbers, it wasn’t so bad after all. Actually, Jan. 21 was a full 13 points happier than the gloomiest day of 2008 — Dec. 11, the day new jobless claims jumped to a 26-year high.
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I suspect that although the average happiness on Nov. 4 didn’t increase, the variance and standard deviation both skyrocketed.
1/19 is my birthday, and it’s also a holiday this year, and it’s also a day before a historic inauguration. I think it’ll be a happy day for me.
The only day worse than Jan 19 will be Jan 20.
Sounds like the Youre Okay – I am not so Okay principle.
The day after the Mumbai attacks – Americans felt happier because they felt safer that all this blood shed was happening at the other end of the planet.
Makes sense?
A
When there’s peace on earth, good will towards everyman, woman and child.
Hence, when the idea that it can’t happen in my back yard is grasped and the real idea behind due dilegence is grasped.