Comments on: Introspection, Retrospection, & the 2008 Election http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/introspection-retrospection-the-2008-election/ Sun, 19 May 2013 21:30:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: nascardaughter http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/introspection-retrospection-the-2008-election/#comment-13814 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:44:57 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/?p=3956#comment-13814 If you are interested in how happiness level might be “influenced” by election results, maybe you should also ask respondents what their happiness level was before the election.

Let’s say I’m “somewhat happy” now. The possible influence of the election on my happiness looks different if I was “very happy” before the election v. if I was “very unhappy” before.

]]> By: nara http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/introspection-retrospection-the-2008-election/#comment-13781 Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:22:53 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/?p=3956#comment-13781 Are you kidding me? I mean, perhaps I’m “misremembering” the past 8 years. But for those of us who keep up with what is going on, you bet there’s been a major change. Katrina, particularly, and the horrible way it was handled (is being handled) by the Bush Administration, sent me into a spiraling depression that lasted for over a year. I have feel tainted and complicit in torture, in detaining people without charges in inhumane conditions, in the slow erosion of our civil rights, in the foolish war that has internationally shamed us in front of the world, and in the decline of our economy. I didn’t vote for him, but I’m still American, and I’ve been tarred with the brush of everything he does, and largely helpless to stop it. My anxiety has skyrocketed and my trust in government and other people has eroded.

I’m still happier than I was eight years ago, but that’s because I’ve gotten married, had a kid, gone back to school and made my career really happen for myself, and stayed active politically, doing what I CAN do. The part of my happiness that is related to larger national and world affairs was devastated by the last eight years. If McCain wins this election, I will NEVER believe that it was not through voter fraud and intimidation, and I’m not sure what I would do in a world where I believe our democratic process itself is a sham. I hope I never have to find out.

As I’ve said before in the comments to this blog, I think the “spot checking” of happiness (“How happy are you right now?”) rather than trusting to people’s statements about their overall happiness has some major flaws, and yields inaccurate results. This may be another instance of that.

]]>