Adorno T. W.

Altemeyer B.

Diener E.

Krueger A.

Onraet E.

Raudenbush S. W.

Snijders T.

Tomkins S. S.

 In the present study, we investigated the much debated “happiness gap” between conservatives and liberals, approaching the issue from a multilevel person × context perspective. More specifically, we investigated whether this relationship depends on country-level threat. We used individual-level data for right-wing attitudes and psychological well-being from 94 large, representative samples collected worldwide (total N = 137,890) and objective indicators of country-level threat as the contextual variable. Our results suggest that, especially in countries characterized by high levels of threat, individuals with right-wing attitudes experienced greater well-being than individuals with left-wing attitudes. In countries with a low level of threat, this relationship was considerably weaker or even absent. Our findings corroborate the view that right-wing attitudes may serve a self-protective function, helping individuals to manage and cope with threat. </jats:p

Emma Onraet

Jasper Van Assche

Arne Roets

Tessa Haesevoets

Alain Van Hiel

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Social Psychological and Personality Science

The Happiness Gap Between Conservatives and Liberals Depends on Country-Level Threat

The Happiness Gap Between Conservatives and Liberals Depends on Country-Level Threat

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