If it wasn't for religion

[Angrboda]

The idea that religious belief works to compensate for stressors and allow one to be happier than one would be without it seems to make psychodynamic sense, on the theory that the mind is populated by forces counter-balancing one another to result in some overall level. Unfortunately this view neglects such things as the hedonic treadmill, evidence showing we don't have realistic appraisals of the environment, and so forth, all of which lean in the direction of establishing that the mind seeks a comfortable and functional level, independent of the specifics of the external environment (stressors) and internal environment (beliefs and attitudes). So, while the idea that religious belief provides compensation for stressors that otherwise go uncompensated without it seems to be false. Prostitutes in India tend to be just as happy as rich people in Brooklyn, and all other factors being equal, those who lack those religious beliefs are just as happy as those who have them. The tricky part is the all things being equal part, as minority stress and stress coming from comparisons between one's self and others may make things not as equal. Whether that ultimately changes overall happiness is not entirely clear. It may not.