Another No-Brainer From Researchers

SERIOUSLY, DOES THIS SURPRISE YOU?

I often wonder about researchers in terms of how they select the topic to study. "Is there water on the moon?" sounds like a great study...until you have to crash a rocket worth millions (if not billions) into the darn thing just to find out. Of course, there was no real way to poll people, either, I guess. It's just that polls and surveys and research often comes to conclusions that make us stop and wonder how WE can get money to come up with results that are basically common knowledge...like this one
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was comprised based on information from a wide group of people who were asked to gauge their happiness. The only difference between the groups was that one group smoked and one did not. The findings? As you can see, non-smokers are happier! More on that in a bit.
The opinion poll was based on 10 different self-reported facts, among them frequency of smiling/laughing. learning or doing something interesting, and experiencing sadness or worry. The groups were compared in several different income categories as well, and in each one, smokers were less happy.
In addition, smokers were more likely to have been diagnosed with depression at one time, and they were less likely to have access to basic necessities like food, shelter and medical care. This trend was especially noted in low-income groups.
Ya think?
Smokers spend up to six bucks for one pack of cigarettes (it might be more or less where you live). Even at one pack a day, that's, uh, $42 per week or $168 per month or, well, that's enough math for me. It's darned expensive is all I know. If folks are low-income already and spending that kind of money on smoking, it's no wonder they have nothing for other things like dinner at the Golden Corral. This would make ANYONE unhappy.
Of course, the more well-to-do have other issues, I suspect. They probably are not allowed to smoke in the five-star restaurants that took a month to get reservations. Hacking up phlegm is probably viewed distastefully a the club, and it certainly messes up the mane on the polo pony and the seats in the Lambo. Then, of course, the upper crust smokers are probably not inhaling Salems, either, but something foreign to show off their good taste. Though, you WILL note that the difference between happy and not happy is greatest among low-income people.
This might mean that smoking is their ONLY enjoyment...or they smoke because they know it will hasten the inevitable and hope for something better later!
There you have it once again. The unintended proof from the research that having money can make you less miserable than being poor.
And who didn't know that?