Are Republicans really happier than Democrats?

Trying to answer one of the most pressing questions of 2025

Hillary Clinton supporters watching election results come in on Nov. 9, 2016. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

If you spent any time on the internet in 2025, you probably came across someone asking some version of the question: “Are Republicans really happier than Democrats?”

Whether in mainstream media, academia, or on Substack, it seemed like everyone wanted to know why conservatives appeared to report better mental health than liberals.

One potential answer, hypothesized by Derek Thompson, is that this is more a function of how emotions are expressed, rather than a true imbalance in happiness. In essence, both sides experience similar levels of negative emotions, but conservatives are more likely to “externalize,” bonding with others over conspiracy theories and anger, while liberals are more likely to “internalize,” retreating into their own shells. That’s why a Tufts study Thompson discussed found that conservatives had a slightly worse mood than liberals did, despite having much better mental health.

That seemed like a plausible explanation. But it’s not foolproof. After all, older surveys measuring “happiness,” rather than “mood” or “mental health,” have also found conservatives with an advantage.

But ultimately, despite the level of discourse on the subject, there just isn’t a ton of polling that looks at this question in detail. So, of course, we decided to conduct our own.

Last week, we looked at whether men are really lonelier than women. This week, we’re breaking down the supposed happiness gap between conservatives and liberals.