Americans are an unhappy bunch.

Studies that assess happiness on the job, happiness at home, community well-being, physical health and emotional health all paint a portrait of Americans as dissatisfied, often depressed, going through life with unmet expectations and perhaps unrealistic goals for themselves, their workplaces and their families.

For example, the most recent Gallup-Healthways study, which assessed American well-being state-by-state in 2013 via a well-being index system, revealed that Americans were no happier last year than in 2008 or in preceding years in which Gallup-Healthways undertook the index. Other research has also concluded that success at work and other areas of life doesn't translate into a happy person.