Just one more happiness post, and I’ll quit for now. This map comes from the study mentioned two posts below, “Unhappy Cities,” by Edward L. Glaeser, Joshua D. Gottlieb, and Oren Ziv, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. When viewed as a geographic phenomenon, happiness appears to be associated with the Southeastern and Inter-Mountain states. Glaeser et al examine a variety of economic and demographic variables to explain the differences and find some weak correlations but don’t come up with any compelling conclusions. One variable the authors did rule out was income inequality — it doesn’t explain life satisfaction at all. I wonder if the geographic differences are cultural. Could there be a link between happiness and friendliness? — JAB