PERSONAL ECONOMIC HARDSHIP, HAPPINESS, AND POLITICAL SATISFACTION: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS Christopher J. Anderson Maxwell School Syracuse University Silvia M. Mendes School of Economics and Management Universidade do Minho Abstract On the basis of cross-national survey data collected in 12 European democracies, we argue and demonstrate empirically that people who have experienced economic hardship are less satisfied with their lives and the performance of the political system. Moreover, we show that different kinds of economic hardship (financial and job-related difficulties) have separable effects on people s levels of happiness and political satisfaction. Finally, we hypothesize and show that economic distress that is personally experienced has a greater impact on life satisfaction than on satisfaction with the political system. Conversely, evaluations of the national economy affect political satisfaction more strongly than attitudes about one s life. Acknowledgments: This research was supported by NSF grant SBR-9818525 to Chris Anderson. The data used in the study come from ICPSR Study No. 6518. The original collector of the data, ICPSR, ZA and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for uses of this collection or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses. We are grateful to seminar participants at Harvard University and the University of Montréal, in particular Jim Alt, André Blais, Peter Hall, Torben Iversen, and Richard Nadeau for their helpful comments on earlier ideas and drafts. Thanks also to Kathleen O Connor and Leonard Ray for their thoughtful suggestions. Address all correspondence to: Christopher J. Anderson Center on Democratic Performance (CDP) Department of Political Science Binghamton University, SUNY Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA (607) 777-2462 [voice] -2675 [fax] canders@binghamton.edu [e-mail]