T'ain't my postulation, Dorothy P. Repeated studies evidently show that.

My question in my mind was: If you are given life in prison without possibility of parole are you happier than if you were sentenced to 40 years, say, with time off for good behavior?

That doesn't sound right.

On the other hand, you took the question in a different direction. So far as I can see, neither the reported result nor my citation of it apply to "Abusive presidents, eroded rights, abusive spouses......" That would denote defeatism and that's not at all what the studies are talking about.