What’s the happiest day of the year? Hint: It’s coming up!
According to data from Gallup, the happiest day in 2013 was Thanksgiving Day: 70% of Americans felt a lot of happiness and enjoyment with little stress or worry that day.
It’s not surprising that happiness levels typically increase on Fridays and through the weekend and then decrease during the workweek, with many of the happiest days of the year being holidays.
Just under half of Americans (48.4%) felt happy—defined as feeling a lot of enjoyment without much stress or worry—on any given day in 2013, down slightly from 49.1% who felt happy on a typical day in 2011.
On the flip side, as many as 11% of Americans felt a great deal of stress or worry, without much happiness or enjoyment, on a typical day in 2013.
Stress levels are affected by personal events, as well as national news. Gallup found that the most stressful day of 2013 was Monday, June 3, which was not only a Monday, but also coincided with the beginning of the WikiLeaks trial. High stress levels were also reported on February 21, 2013 and February 28, 2013, during impending U.S. government sequestration.
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