Feminine values and happy life-expectancy in nations

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 803 - 813
• Main Authors: Arrindell, W.A, Veenhoven, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 05.10.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Affluence; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-national; Crossnational studies; Economic affluence; Feminine values; Freedom; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Happiness; Happy life-expectancy; Life satisfaction; Masculinity-Femininity; Measures; Miscellaneous; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Subjective well-being (SWB); Feminine values; Subjective well-being (SWB); Happy life-expectancy; Economic affluence; Freedom; Cross-national; Human; Crosscultural study; Countries; Feminity; Value; Economic aspect; Expectation; Psychological well being
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00193-3

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.