Political Questions Lower Self-Reports of Wellbeing

In a study of how the Great Recession affected self-reported wellbeing (finding: badly), researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research discovered that the placement in surveys of political questions before questions about feelings of wellbeing greatly reduced reports of wellbeing--much more so than actual financial difficulties occurring at the time.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, The Financial Crisis and Well-Being, Working Paper 17128, $5