Americans Are Becoming Less Satisfied With Their Lives

Americans are reporting record low levels of satisfaction with their lives, a new Gallup study revealed.

Just under half, 47 percent, of Americans said they were "very satisfied" with their personal lives, the new Gallup report found. This marked only the third time in more than two decades that less than half of Americans reported high satisfaction with their lives.

The number moved down by 3 percent since last year and is only one point higher than the 2011 record low of life satisfaction.

Specifically, for this year, 31 percent of Americans said they were somewhat satisfied, and 11 percent and 9 percent said they were somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied respectively.

In previous times of low American personal satisfaction, the ratings coincided with economic uncertainty. Just 46 percent said they were personally satisfied in 2011, just years after the 2007-09 recession derailed many families' financial standings, similar to the 47 percent rating in 2008.

"The ongoing economic challenges, exacerbated by recent global events, have certainly influenced individuals' perceptions of their overall well-being," Keisha Blair, an economist and the founder of the Institute on Holistic Wealth, told Newsweek. "The strain on financial stability and job security contributes to a sense of dissatisfaction among many Americans."

A shift toward "hustle culture" may also be at fault for the climbing rates of lower self-rated satisfaction, according to WholeStoresTherapy.com licensed marriage and family therapist Ashera DeRosa.

"Many Americans are facing economic hardship and have fallen into hustle culture," DeRosa told Newsweek. "Even those that are not struggling often feel the pressure to monetize their hobbies in some way, shape, or form. The end result of this is a lack of real social connections and a heightened emphasis on productivity."

While humans generally crave downtime and community, many places lack spaces for residents to connect without the pressure of monetizing what they do, DeRosa added.

Samantha Nusom, a Pennsylvania-based therapist at NusolaceTherapy.com, said Americans have largely been driven to overwork, burning themselves out in the process and leading to feelings of exhaustion and disconnection.

"The rising economy may be draining for many as they try to keep up with the cost of living while perhaps maintaining the same income," Nusom told Newsweek. "We run on a system that encourages Americans to overwork. Yet even some of what we desire, like a new house, may seem out of our reach because of the high prices. How do we save when we have to keep paying and playing catch-up with bills?"

At the end of the day, Americans' low life satisfaction may come down to a fundamental American value, according to Karen Cunningham, a licensed marriage and family therapist.

"Toxic individuality is deeply embedded in American culture," Cunningham told Newsweek. "We are taught from a very young age that being productive is rewarded, and not doing something is lazy, so many people are unable to sit quietly without feeling guilty."

The average for American satisfaction levels has been 84 percent since Gallup first started asking the question in 1979. The satisfaction hit a record high of 90 percent in January 2020, months before the pandemic hit and the economy collapsed.

"When Americans are unable to afford the basics such as food, housing, and healthcare, their stress levels naturally increase," Carla Marie Manly, a California psychologist, told Newsweek. "As many Americans are knee-deep in debt, they feel the burden of financial distress on a daily basis."

Of course, not everyone is equally as unhappy with their lives.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, life satisfaction was rated highest among upper-income Americans. Married and religious adults also had a higher rate of self-perceived satisfaction.

Education, political ideology and age could also play a role in how satisfied you were this year, since college graduates, Democrats and those aged 55 and above also were at similar levels of satisfied as last year.

The increased conversation around mental health may also be triggering more Americans to be honest about their state of happiness or life satisfaction, too.

After the pandemic saw people socially isolated and uncertain about their financial futures, anxiety and depression surged by a whopping 25 percent, according to the World Health Organization.

And despite the increased awareness around mental health, many Americans are up against long waiting lists and high prices to get the mental health services they're looking for.

"If too much time passes, it may cause that individual to feel discouraged," Nusom said.

The downward spiral of Americans' satisfaction levels compared to the all-time average of 84 percent also coincides with the nation's hyper fixation with social media, which can often lead to comparisons with others' highlight reels and a sense of not feeling enough, psychologists say.

"Everyone sees the wonderful, curated lives of their peers, friends, family, neighbors and feel worse about themselves," Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University, told Newsweek. "Of course, people only post themselves at their very and often filtered best but people don't quite feel that when they are viewing the lives of others."

Seemingly impossible to meet beauty standards on social media, in addition to a constant doom scrolling of worldly news, can lead many Americans to feel dissatisfied as well.

"Social media can be a trigger for many people, especially when it comes to self-esteem and body image issues," Nusom said. "We also have tried to fit in the societal standards of beauty, which that in of itself can cause a lot of emotional and mental stress. We also try to make sure we are aware of the news and what is going on in the country and our world, but this can create a feeling of helplessness when we realize a lot of what goes on around us is not within our control."

Brandon Santan, a Tennessee-based therapist at Thrivepoint, said people also often hide behind screens and say and do hateful things they'd never do in real life. Due to this, people start to fixate on the negative interactions and self-censor themselves in the process.

"The number one item that keeps coming up is fear," Santan told Newsweek. "People are afraid today of so much potential for negative exposure and unpleasant interactions with others. We are all so much more connected in the era of social media but never have we, as a society, felt more disconnected and isolated."

Is There a Pathway to a Happier You?

So how do Americans mitigate their lower satisfaction levels?

According to DeRosa, work life balance is a key factor in addition to taking an intentional break from the hustle culture that defines many Americans' senses of self-worth.

"People need to have the ability to take a break from the hustle," DeRosa said. "Shorter work weeks, more vacation time, and the ability to have hobbies and activities in a space away from their home should not only be accessible for the elite but for everyone."

To some psychologists, the low satisfaction levels are not necessarily something that need to be fixed in isolation but instead a reflection of the larger state of the world.

"This doesn't surprise me at all," Plante said. "The world is a mess in so many ways and for so many reasons. I often tell my students that 'if you're not depressed then you are not paying attention.'"