The start of the work week is typically associated with blue feelings, but the weekend could actually be worse for our moods. The following chart comes from Alpaslan Akay and Peter Martinsson, who looked at how Germans rated themselves on an 11-point scale of feelings of well-being, broken down by day of the week:
Akay and Martinsson conclude:
Our results suggest that overall subjective well-being is largely influenced by the day of the week it is reported. We find that Sunday is the bluest day in Germany; i.e. this is the day that individuals on average report the lowest level of subjective well-being. Saturday and Friday are the other two days that individuals report lower subjective well-being. Hence, weekends result in lower subjective well-being than weekdays... A separate analysis based on different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of individuals reveals that there are different weekly patterns of subjective well-being, where the most pronounced effect is found among married and middle-aged people.
I wanted to see if there was something similar going on in the U.S., so I pulled data from the 2008 wave of the General Social Survey. This chart shows the percentage of people who said they were "Very Happy" or "Pretty Happy" in response to the question "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days--would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?"
I didn't control for any demographic factors, so the pattern could be driven by things like marital status, employment, health, etc. Still, it looks like it might be time for the Bangles to get back in the studio for a remix.
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COMMENTS (4)
In my experience, "Blowjob Day" is almost always the best day, followed by, in order, "Call In Sick Then Read New Yorker Cartoons Day," "Continuous Snacking Day," "Spend Several Hours At Work Farting Around Online Day," "Take A Nap And Then Another Nap Day," and the unfortunate "Catch Up On Most Urgent, Oft-Procrastinated Tasks Day." "Deal With Annoying Itch Day" brings up the rear, so to speak.
In my experience, "Blowjob Day" is almost always the best day, followed by, in order, "Call In Sick Then Read New Yorker Cartoons Day," "Continuous Snacking Day," "Spend Several Hours At Work Farting Around Online Day," "Take A Nap And Then Another Nap Day," and the unfortunate "Catch Up On Most Urgent, Oft-Procrastinated Tasks Day." "Deal With Annoying Itch Day" brings up the rear, so to speak.
Despite the welter of humbug and complaints over the last couple of decades about lack of sleep, absence of family time, and the like, most people prefer to be at work where they are not terrorized by spouses, children, family pets, chores, or emotional demands.
Add to that the traditional Puritan tendency to see free time as merely an inviting empty space into which the Devil comes roaring on his temptation-powered motorcycle, selling indolence and easeful delight, and yes you now have the basic requirements for a nation that is bowed but not beaten in its struggle to get the anarchy of the weekend finally under control.
Despite the welter of humbug and complaints over the last couple of decades about lack of sleep, absence of family time, and the like, most people prefer to be at work where they are not terrorized by spouses, children, family pets, chores, or emotional demands.
Add to that the traditional Puritan tendency to see free time as merely an inviting empty space into which the Devil comes roaring on his temptation-powered motorcycle, selling indolence and easeful delight, and yes you now have the basic requirements for a nation that is bowed but not beaten in its struggle to get the anarchy of the weekend finally under control.
why not just make 10 happier and make that the top?
these go to 11
why not just make 10 happier and make that the top?
these go to 11
yard, try as I might, I simply can't find blowjob day on my Calendar.
maxblum, you know, they did a study with two knobs having the exact same decibel levels, but one with a dial that went to 11 and the other only to 10, and everyone claimed to perceive the dial with 11 to be louder, so in fact Spinal Tap was right, 11 is louder!
yard, try as I might, I simply can't find blowjob day on my Calendar.
maxblum, you know, they did a study with two knobs having the exact same decibel levels, but one with a dial that went to 11 and the other only to 10, and everyone claimed to perceive the dial with 11 to be louder, so in fact Spinal Tap was right, 11 is louder!