Cross-national studies suggest that people are happier in feminine nations that are also economically affluent. The first objective of the present study was to replicate this finding with a quality of life index which is more comprehensive than the usual measures of subjective well-being. This comprehensive indicator termed Happy Life-Expectancy (HLE) combines subjective happiness with objective longevity. As predicted, in the richer countries, HLE was higher in feminine nations (r=-0.51, n=14, P<0.05, one-tailed), whereas in the poorer nations HLE did not correlate with national masculinity-femininity (r=-0.27, n=13, NS). A second objective was to examine the mechanisms behind the significant relationship in the richer countries. Contrary to expectation, the findings could not be explained by national differences in private freedom.

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doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00193-3, hdl.handle.net/1765/62591
Personality and Individual Differences
Department of Sociology

Arrindell, W. A., & Veenhoven, R. (2002). Feminine values and happy life-expectancy in nations. Personality and Individual Differences, 33(5), 803–813. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00193-3