Conservative women are happier than liberal women, professor argues

A recent report by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University (BYU) and Deseret News found that conservative women tend to be happier than liberal women. 

The finding comes from the 2022 American Family Survey, which “documents shifting challenges for families in the United States,” according to its executive summary. 

“As part of our analysis this year, we also explored how self-identified ideology and partisanship interact to shape public opinion about contemporary issues,” the executive summary continues. 

Brad Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia and senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, wrote further analysis on the survey’s results. 

[RELATED: POLL: 1 in 5 Idaho students feel ‘shamed or bullied’ for their views]

“It turns out [conservative women] enjoy a 15 percentage-point advantage over liberal women in being ‘completely satisfied’ with their lives,” he wrote for the American Enterprise Institute. “31 percent of conservative women in this age group are completely satisfied with their lives, versus 16 percent of liberal women.”

Wilcox attributes the difference to conservative women’s greater likelihood of marrying and feeling “happy with their family life.” 

“In other words, it seems that the happiest women in America today are those least likely to be following the profoundly self-centered and anti-family catechism of our ruling class,” Wilcox argued. 

Wilcox told Campus Reform that the “striking” thing about the survey results is the fact that “the happiness gap is very large between conservative and liberal women.”

He explained the gap and conservative women’s happiness with family life: “I suspect this is in part because conservative women are more focused on family life and in part because conservative women are more religious.”

“In other words, cultural differences between the two groups of women are key to explaining ideological gaps in life satisfaction, family life, and marital status,” Wilcox  concluded. 

[RELATED: POLL: 37% of Democrats in college refuse to be friends with a GOP voter]

Campus Reform spoke with conservative female students for their take on the survey results. 

Kenzie Cueno, a student at the University of West Florida, agreed with Wilcox’s analysis.

“I think we’re just happier overall,” Cueno said. “We’re not constantly complaining.” 

Cueno continued, “Liberal women seem to always be complaining about something being taken away from them. The victim card is their favorite thing to pull.” 

She listed examples of topics that she says liberal women complain about, including abortion and gun control. 

Lili Orozco, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, argued that conservative women are “raised in stronger and tougher households.”

“I would say too many [liberal women] have embraced the false narrative that the path to happiness runs counter to marriage and family life, not towards it,” Orozco told Campus Reform. 

Campus Reform reached out to the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy and the Deseret News for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

Follow @thelogandubil on Twitter.