By SARAH STEWART
The dollar keeps diving, petrol prices keep rising - and Kiwis keep smiling, a survey shows.
The September survey of 500 New Zealand adults by the Association of Market Research Organisations found people were generally happy with their lives.
Association chairwoman Roz Calder said the group carried out the survey because it felt business confidence was being over-analysed and the feelings of the public were being ignored.
Researchers were surprised to find that, on average, people rated their job satisfaction at 75 per cent and the rest of their lives even higher at 80 per cent. Just 11 per cent gave their lives less than 5 out of 10.
"Perhaps there is a tendency New Zealand suffers from to get bogged down - here we are at the bottom of the world ... but when you get down to the fundamentals, people are happy," Ms Calder said.
"Probably, life in general is more to do with the people around you and the relationships you have."
But Massey University professor of economics Srikanta Chatterjee said the state of the economy played a big part in people's lives.
Job security was a large part of their happiness and as unemployment rates dropped people would be more optimistic, he said.
Ms Calder said well over 300 of the people surveyed were in paid employment.
"It's an interesting finding that it doesn't matter so much what that job is, but actually having a job, and the purpose and routine, is satisfying."
The survey found that women, self-employed people and those over 55 were slightly happier in their work.
Ms Calder said women and the elderly were typically more optimistic in surveys. Men were harder to please.
The random telephone survey, of New Zealanders over 18 years old, had a margin of error of 4 per cent.
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