Women and happiness

Nicola Matteucci and Sabrina Vieira Lima

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: We survey the Happiness and Economics field to systematize the explanations of the happiness gender gap, whose puzzling evidence stands out both synchronically and diachronically. Further, this analysis is completed by an interdisciplinary review of competing perspectives, mostly from psychology and medical sciences. Beside disciplinary specificities and differences, results and explanations also reveal some intriguing commonalities. Psychology and medical sciences (also assisted by cutting edge medical technologies) lead in the static (time-invariant) explanation of happiness and its gender gap, while economic works are better equipped to detect external factors and the role of time-varying objective life conditions. In particular, the Happiness and Economics field has provided original evidence on the country and time variant nature of the happiness gender gap. Finally, different disciplines uncovered the common stylized fact that women are increasingly worse off during their life, by aging, with respect to men: its full explanation still remains at the center of the research agenda.

Keywords: Happiness; Subjective Well-Being; Psycological Well-Being; Gender gap; Determinants; Interdisciplinary review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 D10 I31 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-hme and nep-hpe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Chapter: Women and happiness (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:60875

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