Nigerians are happier than Germans, those in Ghana are happier than Italians, and the swarming populations of India rate higher on the scale than those in Israel, Hungary, or Russia. The Gallup organization takes the happiness poll of Americans on an almost monthly basis, with very little change reported. Satisfied respondents have very gradually increased from 76 percent in 1979 to 86 percent in 1998. A lot apparently depends on how the question is put, who is asking it, and who is answering. A major survey in the late 1970s, which elicited more than 100,000 replies from readers of Psychology Today and Good Housekeeping , indicated little or no relationship.
More recent studies come to diametrically opposite conclusions.
A 1988 National Opinion Research Center study found a very direct connection between religious faith and the maintenance of joy among people who had experienced divorce, unemployment, or loss of a loved one. Meanwhile, researchers find less and less correlation between acquired wealth and happiness. According to one study, the Forbes 100 richest people plus a group of recent lottery winners are only a tiny fraction happier than the average American.