socioeconomic ladder enjoy life more than those lower down? Can money buy happiness? As a consequence of racism and relative poverty, are black Americans less contented on average than white Americans? Because men still hold the reins of power, are men happier than women? Myers and Diener 1995, indicated that the answers to these questions is surprisingly no. These authors pointed out that people have remarkable ability to adapt, both to bad fortune and to good, so that one’s life circumstances, unless they are very bad indeed, do not seem to have lasting effects on one’s mood.Yet some people do seem to be happier on average than other people are. Although people adapt surprisingly quickly to both good news and bad, the set point around which happiness varies from time to time apparently differs from one person to another. MethodSubjectsThirty five adults participated in this study to determine whether the levels of happiness of women is higher than men and whether race plays a role in the degree of happiness. The subjects were selected by choice of the experimenter in the Colonial Bel Air Mall.QuestionnaireA questionnaire was used to collect data on the levels of happiness. Each subject answer question about how happy they were. Some questions were worded in a positive way toward happiness and others were worded negatively. The questionnaire consisted of fifth teen question which were measured on a five point scale, disagree, slightly disagree, neutral, slightly agree, agree. Positive worded question were given maximum points if answered positive 5 (agree) and minimum points were given if the question was answered negatively 1 (disagree). Positive worded question emphases on the subjects outlook on life, is the subject happy with their career choice, do the subject feel healthy and do the subject engages in fun activities. They also focus on do the subject have a happy past or do the subject love him/herself. ...
