STUDY OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND HAPPINESS

Here's an interesting study that comes from, of all places, MTV Thinkmtv - Research.

The study says that the young people today put a great deal of emphasis on faith and family with regard to happiness, and that the younger, sexually active youth were generally reporting lower levels of happiness than their counter parts. Overall, young people are happy and optimistic about the future.

Parents are seen as an overwhelmingly positive influence in the lives of most young people. Remarkably, nearly half of respondents mention at least one of their parents as a hero. When asked "What one thing in life makes you most happy?" 46 percent of respondents say spending time with friends, family and loved ones.

[snip]

Religion and spirituality are an integral part of happiness for most American young people. 44 percent say that religion and spirituality are either a very important or the single most important thing in their lives, with more than one in ten reporting the latter. And those for whom religion and spirituality play a bigger role in life tend to be happier. 80 percent of those who say spirituality is the most important thing in life say they are happy with life in general, compared with 60 percent of those who say that spirituality is not an important part of life at all.

The complete report is available here in pdf format.