The Conversation
Is it possible to be satisfied with life and at the same time experience stress, anxiety or sadness? The data shows that yes, and that this apparent contradiction appears differently in men and women.
In a recent study on Spanish society published in International Journal of Sociologywe analyze the so-called “gender paradox of happiness”: women are more satisfied than men with their lives, but they also more frequently feel negative emotions such as stress, sadness or anxiety.
To study this phenomenon we use the National Survey of Satisfaction with Life in Spaincarried out on 1,801 adults. We analyzed their responses both about how they valued their life in general and the emotions they experienced in their daily lives, with the aim of better understanding what factors can explain these differences between women and men.
Two ways to ask about happiness
When a survey asks “how satisfied are you with your life in general?”, the person is being asked to think about their life as a whole. To answer, you can take into account things such as health, family, studies, work, your goals, your financial situation or the objectives you have achieved. It’s like making a general assessment of how your life is going. Another thing is to be asked how you felt at a specific moment. For example, if yesterday you were sad, nervous, tired, stressed or in a good mood.
And therein lies the key to the paradox: if we only ask one of the two questions, we will only see a part of reality.
Factors that influence happiness, in general terms
Health and an optimistic attitude are important for both men and women to feel satisfied. In general, people who believe they are in good health tend to value their lives better, but it is also important to have free time and be able to enjoy it.
Economic insecurity also has a significant impact on negative emotions. The survey results show how people who have had to cut back on expenses due to financial difficulties tend to experience more negative emotions.
What our analysis shows
As we noted at the beginning, our analysis of the survey shows that, in Spain, women feel more satisfied with their lives than men, even when aspects such as health, money, family situation or availability of free time are not in optimal conditions. This result confirms one of the parts of the gender paradox of happiness. The second is that, on a day-to-day basis, women feel more negative emotions (stress, anxiety, sadness, fatigue) than men.
An explanation for this dichotomy between general satisfaction and particular discomfort may lie in the double charge that women suffer: work outside the home and care at home. On the other hand, when responsibilities are distributed in a balanced way, daily pressure decreases, it is easier to combine work with family life and the feeling of well-being increases.
Different origins (of happiness)
On the other hand, the things that make women and men feel good are not always the same. For many women, non-material issues weigh more, such as family, friendships, feeling supported or seeing their children well.
On the other hand, men can be more influenced by work and money. For them, well-being is usually more related to having a job, economic stability and a good employment situation. This also has to do with a society that, for a long time, has associated the male role with work and the ability to provide economic security for the family.
How to reduce the difference in well-being between women and men?
Happiness does not depend only on having a positive attitude towards life or being optimistic. It also influences how your daily life is organized, how much time you have for yourself, whether you have a stable job, whether you make ends meet well, whether public services are efficient or how responsibilities are shared at home.
Understanding this issue can help better guide public welfare policies. Promoting conciliation and a more balanced distribution of family tasks can reduce the pressure that many women endure.
At the same time, strengthening support networks – family, friends and community – can contribute to improving people’s emotional well-being and quality of life.
The clearest conclusion is that talking about happiness requires looking beyond declared satisfaction. It is not enough to ask who says they are most happy with their life. You also have to ask yourself who arrives most tired at the end of the day, who has their own time, who feels accompanied and who assumes most of the care of their loved ones.
