The Affects Of Egalitarianism's Effect On Human Happiness

Egalitarianism is defined as the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Throughout history many have formed opinions on the factors that are determined through birth, ultimately shaping the way privilege is understood both intrinsically and extrinsically. Many argue that this valuing of equality has effects on other inherent qualities of a person’s life—such as happiness.

An individual’s happiness is one of the many things that are unique to them, conjunctly as are the factors that make up what makes them happy. This intrinsic feeling has been studied, quantified—even simplified to an equation to help understand exactly what affects arguably one of the most important factors of life. Increasingly enough,

It is my belief that a person’s happiness is directly linked to how they understand their relationship with both society and self—which are mutually affected by egalitarianism. Using the data from the General Social Survey, a national survey that seeks to “monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes”, I will test the relationship of these two variables, as well as control for factors such as race and

Many political scientists seek to show the relationship from either a moral or psychological understanding rather than that of a statistical approach. In a recent article published in the Journal of Happiness Studies called Happiness, Morality, and Politics, this issue of egalitarianism and happiness is commented on by stating “the idea that politics should promote the happiness of the population is rather common in the community of happiness researchers. This political view is sometimes based on the happiness principle, the fundamental ethical view that we have a strong moral reason to do what we can to maximize the happiness and minimize the suffering in the world.” The article wanted to link the duties of the government to happiness among citizens. In this regard, understanding how politics intersects with more inherent qualities of life is a fundamental necessity rather than just mindless