A study by Emil O. W. Kirkegaard, investigating the connection between political views and mental health found a clear pattern linking different political ideologies to varying rates of mental illness and happiness.

The findings indicate a spectrum of mental health outcomes across the political landscape, based on the study's comprehensive analysis, especially a meta-analysis comparing groups to "moderates," the order from best to worst in terms of mental health outcomes is as follows:

1. Extreme Conservatives:

This group showed the most favourable mental health, with a 24% lower rate of mental illness compared to moderates.

2. Conservatives:

Individuals identifying as conservative also experienced better mental health, with rates 17% lower than moderates.

3. Moderates:

This group serves as the baseline, with average rates of mental illness.

4. Slightly Conservatives:

This group was a slight exception to the conservative trend, showing a marginally increased rate of mental illness, 6% higher than moderates.

5. Liberals:

Individuals identifying as liberal had an increased rate of mental illness, specifically 29% higher than moderates.

6. Slightly Liberals:

This group also showed higher rates of mental illness, 32% above moderates.

7. Extreme Liberals:

This group consistently showed the worst mental health outcomes, with a substantially elevated risk of mental illness, reported as 150% higher than moderates.

The study indicates that moving from the extreme right (extremely conservative) towards the extreme left (extremely liberal) of the political spectrum is associated with a gradual increase in reported mental illness.

Furthermore, when examining happiness levels, which were used as an inverse indicator of mental illness, the study found that more conservative groups generally reported higher levels of happiness.

This reinforces the pattern observed with mental illness, suggesting a consistent link between conservative ideology and better self-reported well-being.

The study also highlighted that this relationship between mental health, happiness, and political ideology has been consistently present in the data since the 1970s and continued into the 2010s. While the study notes that the overall relationship between political ideology and mental health is weak when considering the entire population, it becomes notably significant for individuals at the extreme ends of the political spectrum.