One of our favorite economic indicators is the Mood Index from the Gallup organization. Interestingly, many times economic downturn increases happiness for unknown reasons. Like this month with the S&P at a 12-year low we see the Mood Index ticking up 10%.
Harvard studies point out that:
The expanding field of happiness research has shown that we tend to overestimate the long-term impact of negative events. Negative events do affect us, but generally not as much as we expect-or for as long. (Dan Gilbert, research psychologist, Harvard)
Families with higher income and fewer children tend to be happier according to Gallup data.