Conservatives Happier Than Liberals

A Live Science article says we're happier anyway. But who didn't know that? I'm not sure about the reasoning though:

To justify economic inequalities, a person could support the idea of meritocracy, in which people supposedly move up their economic status in society based on hard work and good performance. In that way, one's social class attainment, whether upper, middle or lower, would be perceived as totally fair and justified.

If your beliefs don't justify gaps in status, you could be left frustrated and disheartened, according to the researchers, Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University. They conducted a U.S.-centric survey and a more internationally focused one to arrive at the findings.

"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

The "idea of meritocracy"? Meritocracy isn't an idea, it's how things are. If you and I both work on our lawns but I work harder, smarter, and longer, what is unexpected about me having nicer grass? It's just the way the world works.

And if neither of us do much yard work, and we both end up with weeds, (a more likely scenario, really) am I happier because I know why I've got weeds? I suppose so. But I'm at a loss to understand how anyone could look at their weedfull lawn and not know why it's in that condition.