Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018)
Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (1973–2018) and logistic regression t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-04-01
|
| Series: | SSM: Population Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827319304227 |
| _version_ | 1828878883981623296 |
|---|---|
| author | Terrence D. Hill Benjamin Dowd-Arrow Andrew P. Davis Amy M. Burdette |
| author_facet | Terrence D. Hill Benjamin Dowd-Arrow Andrew P. Davis Amy M. Burdette |
| author_sort | Terrence D. Hill |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (1973–2018) and logistic regression to model self-rated happiness as a function of gun ownership (n = 37,960). In bivariate and partially adjusted models, we observed that the odds of being very happy were higher for respondents who reported having a gun in their home. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, household income, financial satisfaction, financial change, number of children, religious attendance, political affiliation, urban residence, region of interview, and survey year. In our fully adjusted model, gun ownership was unrelated to happiness. The original association between gun ownership and happiness was entirely confounded by marital status. In other words, gun owners only appeared happier because they are more likely to be married, which increases happiness. In the first study of gun ownership and happiness, we found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar levels of happiness. This general pattern was consistent across nearly three decades of national surveys, a wide range of subgroups, and different measures of happiness. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of happiness. They also indirectly challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how guns contribute to feelings of safety, power, and pleasure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:16:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c1bcd1656f8b4fc8837293fda4413a5c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-8273 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:16:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Population Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-c1bcd1656f8b4fc8837293fda4413a5c2022-12-21T23:52:50ZengElsevierSSM: Population Health2352-82732020-04-0110Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018)Terrence D. Hill0Benjamin Dowd-Arrow1Andrew P. Davis2Amy M. Burdette3The University of Arizona, School of Sociology, Social Sciences Building, Room 427, 1145 E. South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA; Corresponding author.Florida State University, Department of Sociology, 526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USANorth Carolina State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 334 1911 Building, Campus Box 8107, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USAFlorida State University, Department of Sociology, 526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USAAlthough there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (1973–2018) and logistic regression to model self-rated happiness as a function of gun ownership (n = 37,960). In bivariate and partially adjusted models, we observed that the odds of being very happy were higher for respondents who reported having a gun in their home. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, household income, financial satisfaction, financial change, number of children, religious attendance, political affiliation, urban residence, region of interview, and survey year. In our fully adjusted model, gun ownership was unrelated to happiness. The original association between gun ownership and happiness was entirely confounded by marital status. In other words, gun owners only appeared happier because they are more likely to be married, which increases happiness. In the first study of gun ownership and happiness, we found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar levels of happiness. This general pattern was consistent across nearly three decades of national surveys, a wide range of subgroups, and different measures of happiness. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of happiness. They also indirectly challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how guns contribute to feelings of safety, power, and pleasure.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827319304227GunsHappinessMental healthWell-beingMarriage |
| spellingShingle | Terrence D. Hill Benjamin Dowd-Arrow Andrew P. Davis Amy M. Burdette Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) SSM: Population Health Guns Happiness Mental health Well-being Marriage |
| title | Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) |
| title_full | Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) |
| title_fullStr | Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) |
| title_short | Happiness is a warm gun? Gun ownership and happiness in the United States (1973–2018) |
| title_sort | happiness is a warm gun gun ownership and happiness in the united states 1973 2018 |
| topic | Guns Happiness Mental health Well-being Marriage |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827319304227 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT terrencedhill happinessisawarmgungunownershipandhappinessintheunitedstates19732018 AT benjamindowdarrow happinessisawarmgungunownershipandhappinessintheunitedstates19732018 AT andrewpdavis happinessisawarmgungunownershipandhappinessintheunitedstates19732018 AT amymburdette happinessisawarmgungunownershipandhappinessintheunitedstates19732018 |