1. HAPPINESS: IDENTIFYING
WHAT AFFECTS HOW WE FEEL
Mariah R. Bates

2. WHY RESEARCH ABOUT
HAPPINESS?
• It is established that socioeconomic position (SEP), whether indexed by wealth, income, or education, is
associated with racial categorization in the United States. (Mezuk, 2010)
• It is expected that blacks would experience higher rates of psychiatric disorders, particularly conditions
associated with exposure to stress, such as major depression, given the evidence linking social disadvantage to
poor physical health (Mezuk, 2010)
• questions:
1. what affects a person’s happiness, and
2. In what ways can this could help improve how they feel.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW
• Compared with whites, blacks report similar or, in some cases, lower rates of lifetime
mental disorders, even after accounting for the effects of SEP (19–21), despite evidence
that blacks report higher levels of psychological distress (22).
• The primary finding of our study is that PHB moderate the positive association between
life stress and risk of depression for blacks but not for whites.
• researchers have sought explanations for why blacks experience lower levels of mental
disorders than whites do, despite greater social disadvantage.
• Future research should focus on identifying the interaction between negative and positive
coping behaviors and the development and persistence of disparities in mental and
physical health. (Mezuk, 2010)

4. LITERATURE REVIEW CONT’D
• There has not been a great deal of research on racial differences in mental illness and the research that is available
has been mixed.
• In comparison to whites, African Americans are exposed to additional stressors based on their racial identity, even
when matched on the basis of: education, income, and occupation.
• This perspective asserts that because African Americans are at a disadvantage when compared to whites with
similar educational and employment histories, they experience additional psychological stressors which may lead to
higher levels of mental disorder.
• the higher rate of mental disorder found among African Americans may simply be the result of the lower SES
position of African Americans.
• most research that finds a significant racial difference in rates of mental illness also finds that adequately
controlling for SES causes the race effect to disappear .

5. METHODS!
• The primary focus on how reading affects levels of happiness.
• Mental health, income, degree, sex, and race
• Secondary data from the General Social Survey
• Correlation
• Linear regression

6. HAPPINESS AND BIBLIOTHERAPY
CORRELATE!

7. METHODS!

8. DOES RACE REALLY AFFECT OUR
HAPPINESS?
• For every one unit
decrease a person of
color has, there is an
8.9% decrease in their
general happiness,
controlling for all other
variables. It is however
significant on all alpha
levels
Model one results

9. DOES RACE REALLY AFFECT OUR
HAPPINESS?
• For every one unit decrease
a person of color has, there
is a 8.7% decrease in their
general happiness, and a
2.3% increase for days of
poor mental health past 30
days. Controlling for all
other variables. It is
significant at on all alpha
level.
Model Two Analysis

10. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
• Mental health issues have always had a stigma attached to it. Today, stigma is used to denote a mark of shame or
discredit. There are some well-known and readily apparent stigmas; amonth the ones that Goffman mentions are
disabilities and deformities. People with such apparent stigmas are discredited by those that Goffman calls
“normal.“ stigmas can exist and are an issue is that identities belong to and represent society‘s values and beliefs.
(Allan, 2014)
• Blacks are defined as a viable market group, one with disposable income and market-specific products. These
changes have benefited the black experience in America, however the development of black economic markets
has also had significant negative affects. (Allan, 2014)
• Cultural ramifications of markets and commodification are not only are present in other groups also, however it
is particularly distructive for blacks. Black upward mobility and the presence os the black middle class concern
only a small sliver of the pie. (Allan, 2014)

11. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
CONT’D
• Most of the black citizens of the United States still suffer under white oppression. (Allan, 2014)
• There is a historical and cultural heritage, no matter how much the immediacy of market saturation and pleasure
tries to deny it –much of the history of the United states was built on the oppression of blacks over the 188 years
from 1776-1964. (Allan, 2014)
• Black experience is painfully oppressive. (Allan, 2014)

12. CONCLUSION
• The purpose of this research was to analyze different variables: Gender, race, mental
health, reading, degree, and income, to see how significant the variables impact
people’s happiness.
• The results said otherwise… gender, degree, and reading were not statistically significant
in affecting a persons happiness.
• The one important finding from this research is that bibliotherapy is not good
enough alone as something that could help people. Race, mental health, and income
affects happiness on different levels.
• Institutional discrimination along with mental health play a huge role in a person of
colors happiness, however it was not a variable.
• Other issues that could contribute to how they perceive their happiness are:
socioeconomic status, income, unemployment, health and being homeless.
• The significance of being able to identify issues that affects happiness is crucial, and
to some extent should always comes first. Reading is important, however being able
to find the source of people’s central issues is more beneficial in order to potentially
make bibliotherapy an additional positive tool for a person’s happiness.

13. MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
• Is health a factor in a person of colors happiness?
• Age affect happiness? The older you get, the more senile you get
• Being a single parent?
• A college student?
• Institutional mental health and racial discrimination?