1….. Do people, when asked, tell the truth about whether or not they 

 are happy? Isn’t it peculiar to tell a complete stranger that you are 

 miserable? Possibly. Nevertheless, people who fill in questionnaires 

 without giving their names show the same sort of results as those in 

 open interview. It might also be suggested that people do not know 

 whether they are happy or not. But, if you believe that most people are 

 aware of their own emotional state and express it honestly when asked, 

 the research makes some fascinating discoveries.

 2…... class, wealth, social position, intelligence and race are all poor 

 indicators, although poverty is a good indicator of unhappiness . Women 

 are slightly happier than men, and older people rather more satisfied – 

 though less joyful - than younger people. But most people are – or claim 

 to be - happy. This is, surprisingly, the same for everyone. "Whatever 

 situation people are in, whether they are prisoners or lottery winners, 

 roughly the same level of happiness on average can be found.” Most 

 people score six or seven on a scale of one to ten.

 3…..35 per cent of married men and 41.5 per cent of married women claim 

 to be very happy, whereas the figures for single men and women are 18.5 

 and 25.5 per cent. However, having children is not the source of 

 happiness many believe it to be.

 4…… They reach their lowest point in the teenage years and only return 

 to previous levels when the children leave home. This is rather strange, 

 since people keep on having kids despite the clear evidence that having 

 children makes you less happy . One possible explanation is that there 

 are things that people consider more valuable than happiness, like a 

 feeling of being worthwhile. Or maybe bad marriages stick together 

 because of children.