Minor Thoughts from me to you

The findings of a recent Gallup poll suggest that of all political persuasions, Republicans feel most mentally healthy - and it's not even close.

Reports Gallup's site:

"Fifty-eight percent of Republicans report having excellent mental health, compared to 43% of independents and 38% of Democrats. This relationship between party identification and reports of excellent mental health persists even within categories of income, age, gender, church attendance, and education."

Now, the blog Daily Kos correctly notes the obvious reason why the poll hardly settles the issue.

"Notice anything missing? Like, say, pointing out that this was SELF REPORTED mental health? And this poll is really not so much a poll about mental health than a poll about people's PERCEPTIONS of their mental health?"

The blog goes a little far, however, in its vitriolic attempt to fully rebut the results.

"[Gee,] why would anyone doubt that someone who considers themselves a Republican wouldn't be completely honest and forthcoming with a complete stranger on the phone about a personal matter that has no small amount of social stigma attached to it?... If we have learned nothing[sic]... it is that Republicans are well adjusted, honest folks who are in no way invested in maintaining the illusion of complete normalcy to a judgmental and unforgiving society that they helped bring about and still maintain."

Since the names of the participants in these studies aren't revealed, fear of embarrassment can hardly be much of a factor. Plus, Gallup itself does play fair by mentioning that, "In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls."

It also cannot be said that to learn how separate demographics perceive their own mental health is not in itself enlightening. A group's belief in its own mental health likely, at the very least, indicates a lower shared stress level.

None of this is to suggest that Republicans are more mentally healthy in general than Democrats (I know far too many Republicans, many of them just as angry and bitter as any Democrat), only to remind that the poll should not be cavalierly dismissed as partisan. Such a trend likely means something - but possibly nothing more than that Republicans generally possess a less stress-inducing world view ("Planet Earth will be just fine."), whether right or wrong, which translates into more assurance and attendant better mental health. At this point, who can say?

All that out of the way, your Minor Thoughts correspondents would like to point out that the inclusion of other independents within our bracket is doubtlessly throwing off our score.