'Woke' people exhibit higher levels of unhappiness, anxiety, and depression.

A team of researchers in Finland conducted a study to measure the degree of a person's commitment to the progressive principles of wokism, discovering some unexpected trends in the Finnish population. Among them, they found an inverse relationship between adherence to leftist ideals and levels of happiness.

The study results, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, suggest that other Western countries might experience similar patterns among their citizens with closer ties to leftist ideas.

Oskari Lahtinen, lead researcher at the INVEST Research Center at the University of Turku and author of the study, noted that the "woke" discourse has gained ground in Finland's public debate.

"This discussion largely lacked concrete data, so I considered it valuable to investigate the prevalence of these attitudes," he explained, adding: "Before this study, there was no reliable and valid method to measure the extent of these stances in different populations, so I decided to develop one."

As part of his work, Lahtinen conducted a comprehensive literature review on feminism, critical race theory, queer theory, and other academic currents characteristic of the left, according to PsyPost.

The initial phase of the study involved 851 adults, mostly employees of the University of Turku. After adjusting the original scale, the research expanded to a more representative national sample, composed of 5000 people, recruited through Helsingin Sanomat, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Finland.

"The gender difference was undoubtedly the aspect that surprised me the most," Lahtinen commented to PsyPost when analyzing the attitudes of Finns. "While three out of five women perceive 'woke' ideas positively, only one out of seven men shares that view," he explained.

This pattern was particularly notable among women working in fields like social sciences, education, and humanities. In contrast, those employed in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics showed a greater tendency to question progressive and leftist ideologies.

One of the study's most striking findings was the relationship between mental health and the acceptance of these ideas. Specifically, the researchers detected a high incidence of anxiety and depression among those who supported the statement: "If white people, on average, have higher incomes than black people, it's a consequence of racism." Additionally, in broader terms, it was also observed that individuals with an affinity for the political left reported lower levels of psychological well-being.

"The studies were quite solid, with a sample of over 5000 people and good psychometric properties," he explained. "Even so, the scale must be validated in North American populations to better understand how these attitudes are expressed in that context. I invite my colleagues in the United States to analyze the prevalence of these stances in their own country," Lahtinen concluded.