Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being: Comparing Societies with Respect to Gender Equality

These analyses explore the relationship between gender inequality and subjective well-being. The hypothesis was tested as to whether societal gender inequality is related to the size of gender differences in subjective well-being in various societies. Results come from comparative data sets (World Values Survey, involving 57 countries; OASIS project, involving Norway, England, Germany, Spain and Israel). The size of gender differences varied with the extent of societal gender inequality and the cultural attitudes regarding gender equality in different countries. Including individual resources like education and income in the analyses reduced the size of gender and country differences. Gender differences in subjective well-being could therefore be related to gender specific access to goal relevant resources.

[1]  M. Ferrera,et al.  The 'Southern Model' of Welfare in Social Europe , 1996 .

[2]  S. Wurm,et al.  Veränderung des subjektiven Wohlbefindens in der zweiten Lebenshälfte , 2006 .

[3]  A. Cochrane,et al.  Comparing Welfare States , 2001 .

[4]  R. Bosker Boekbespreking van "A.S. Bryk & S.W. Raudenbusch - Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods" : Sage Publications, Newbury Parki, London/New Delhi 1992 , 1995 .

[5]  Franz Rothenbacher Rezension : Jürgen Gerhards: Kulturelle Unterschiede in der Europäischen Union. Wiesbaden: VS Verl. für Sozialwiss., 2005 , 2005 .

[6]  M. Stones,et al.  Long- and short-term affective states in happiness: Age and sex comparisons , 1992 .

[7]  R. Lippa Gender, Nature, and Nurture , 2001 .

[8]  M. Pinquart,et al.  Gender differences in self-concept and psychological well-being in old age: a meta-analysis. , 2001, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[9]  K. M. Bartol,et al.  Money and subjective well-being: it's not the money, it's the motives. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[10]  Paolo Figini Inequality Measures, Equivalence Scales and Adjustment for Household Size and Composition , 1998 .

[11]  E. Diener,et al.  Subjective well-being. The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[12]  L. George,et al.  Physician- and self-ratings of health, neuroticism and subjective well-being among men and women. , 1984 .

[13]  C. Muntaner,et al.  Political and economic determinants of population health and well-being: controversies and developments. , 2004 .

[14]  Stephen P. Jenkins,et al.  Equivalence scale relativities and the extent of inequality and poverty , 1992 .

[15]  E. Diener Traits Can Be Powerful, but Are Not Enough: Lessons from Subjective Well-Being , 1996 .

[16]  A. Reid Gender and Sources of Subjective Well-Being , 2004 .

[17]  A. Wearing,et al.  Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being , 1991 .

[18]  William M. Leary,et al.  The Central Intelligence Agency , 1984 .

[19]  E. Diener,et al.  Subjective well-being. , 1984, Psychological bulletin.

[20]  G. Hawthorne,et al.  Interpreting the WHOQOL-Brèf: Preliminary Population Norms and Effect Sizes , 2006 .

[21]  P. Bentler,et al.  Significance Tests and Goodness of Fit in the Analysis of Covariance Structures , 1980 .

[22]  L. Tepperman,et al.  Toward an index of gender equality , 1990 .

[23]  Measuring Inequality: On the Correlation Between Indices , 2000 .

[24]  G. Ikenberry,et al.  Human Development Report 2002 , 2002 .

[25]  Thomas Eckes,et al.  Bad but bold: Ambivalent attitudes toward men predict gender inequality in 16 nations. , 2004, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[26]  E. Howell,et al.  Women and mental health , 1981 .

[27]  A. Kalache,et al.  Epidemiology in old age , 1996 .

[28]  A. Atkinson On the measurement of inequality , 1970 .

[29]  G. Esping‐Andersen,et al.  The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism , 1990 .

[30]  C. Gini Variabilita e Mutabilita. , 1913 .

[31]  N. Krause Stressful events and life satisfaction among elderly men and women. , 1991, Journal of gerontology.

[32]  Katherine W. Drake,et al.  EDA for HLM: Visualization when Probabilistic Inference Fails , 2005, Political Analysis.

[33]  A. Motel-Klingebiel,et al.  Welfare states do not crowd out the family: evidence for mixed responsibility from comparative analyses , 2005, Ageing and Society.

[34]  P. Hillerås,et al.  Well-Being in an Adult Swedish Population , 2005 .

[35]  J. Noia Indicators of Gender Equality for American States and Regions: An Update , 2002 .

[36]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Sex Differences in Unipolar Depression: Evidence and Theory Background on the Affective Disorders , 1987 .

[37]  H. Triandis,et al.  The Shifting Basis of Life Satisfaction Judgments Across Cultures: Emotions Versus Norms , 1998 .

[38]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Well-being : the foundations of hedonic psychology , 1999 .

[39]  D. Sugarman,et al.  Indicators of gender equality for American states and regions , 1988 .

[40]  Evaluation of Equality Policies for the Status of Women in Canada , 2000 .

[41]  James L. Arbuckle,et al.  Full Information Estimation in the Presence of Incomplete Data , 1996 .

[42]  Carol L. Gohm,et al.  Similarity of the Relations between Marital Status and Subjective Well-Being Across Cultures , 2000 .

[43]  Alexandra M. Freund,et al.  Men and women in the Berlin Aging Study , 2001 .

[44]  E. Diener,et al.  National differences in reported subjective well-being: Why do they occur? , 1995 .

[45]  M. Power,et al.  Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF Quality of Life Assessment , 1998 .

[46]  S. Wurm,et al.  Gesundheit, Hilfebedarf und Versorgung , 2006 .

[47]  J. Church Human Development Report , 2001 .

[48]  Paul B. Baltes,et al.  The Berlin aging study : aging from 70 to 100 , 1998 .

[49]  S. Saxena,et al.  The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL): development and general psychometric properties. , 1998, Social science & medicine.

[50]  K. Rothermund,et al.  Intentionality and time in human development and aging: Compensation and goal adjustment in changing developmental contexts. , 2003 .

[51]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Gender differences in well-being. , 1999 .

[52]  S. Fiske,et al.  Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[53]  A. H. Norris,et al.  Personal adjustment to aging: longitudinal prediction from neuroticism and extraversion. , 1981, Journal of gerontology.

[54]  R. Veenhoven,et al.  Livability of the welfare-state , 1995 .

[55]  Anthony B. Atkinson,et al.  The Economics of Inequality , 1988 .

[56]  Larissa L. Smith,et al.  Gender differences on negative affectivity: an IRT study of differential item functioning on the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Stress Reaction Scale. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[57]  Margie E. Lachman,et al.  The sense of control as a moderator of social class differences in health and well-being. , 1998 .

[58]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Explaining the gender difference in depressive symptoms. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[59]  P. Costa,et al.  Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: robust and surprising findings. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[60]  S. Wurm,et al.  Altwerden in Deutschland , 2006 .

[61]  J. Hox,et al.  Sufficient Sample Sizes for Multilevel Modeling , 2005 .

[62]  E. Diener,et al.  Gender differences in negative affect and well-being: the case for emotional intensity. , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[63]  Jochen Brandtstädter,et al.  The Life-Course Dynamics of Goal Pursuit and Goal Adjustment: A Two-Process Framework , 2002 .

[64]  E. Diener,et al.  Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: a nomothetic and idiographic approach. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[65]  E. Diener,et al.  Will Money Increase Subjective Well-Being? , 2002 .

[66]  J. Horn,et al.  A practical and theoretical guide to measurement invariance in aging research. , 1992, Experimental aging research.

[67]  Miguel Basáñez,et al.  Human Beliefs and Values , 2004 .

[68]  A. Feingold,et al.  Gender differences in personality: a meta-analysis. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[69]  S. Wurm,et al.  Altwerden in Deutschland : Sozialer Wandel und individuelle Entwicklung in der zweiten Lebenshälfte , 2006 .

[70]  E. Maccoby,et al.  The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart, Coming Together. Family and Public Policy Series. , 1998 .

[71]  F. Block,et al.  Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies , 2001 .

[72]  D. Shmotkin,et al.  Subjective well-being as a function of age and gender: A multivariate look for differentiated trends , 1990 .

[73]  Florence L. Denmark,et al.  Psychology of women : a handbook of issues and theories , 2008 .

[74]  A. Sen Gender Equity and the Population Problem , 2001, International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation.