Yes lots of other possibilities, I'm well aware of those. I wanted to emphasize it that the simple truth is, that when people say they are happy, you should take it as evidence they generally are happy or at least not suffering. I did this because if this isn't pointed out people will avoid updating as much as they should using the possibility of different explanations as a rationalization.
Be honest, do you think you would feel the need to invoke or investigate those alternative possibilities to explain away greater self-reported happiness in nations with lower GINI coefficents? We apply different standards of discourse for different institutions without having good reason to do so.
Politics is motivated cognition all the way down my friend.
when people say they are happy
This depends not just on your definition of "happiness", but also on your definition of "say" :) How many pre-Victorian narratives by women/queers are you able to name at all without digging into Google? Only Jane Austen... and Mary Shelley's mom... and 1-2 others, I bet.
So, a lot of women might have, without having to worry their pretty little heads, "said" that they are happy through the testimony of their kind and caring husbands. Much like the Soviet people reported their happiness and con...
Related to: Voting is like donating thousands of dollars to charity, Does My Vote Matter?
And voting adds legitimacy to it.
Thank you.
#annoyedbymotivatedcognition