Napier and Jost (2008) noted that conservatives are generally happier than liberals, and that this is mediated by differences in rationalization of inequality. Using national data col- lected between 1974 and 2004, they assessed increases in income inequality during that time period. They then looked at the difference in happiness between liberals and conservatives as a function of increasing inequality over time. How should they analyze these data? (Liberals always reported less happiness than conservatives, and their decrease in hap- piness as a function of changes in income equality was far steeper than similar decreases for conservatives.)