Although men self-report higher scores on a variety of well-being metrics relating to physical and mental health, women often report an overall higher life satisfaction, according to a new study from Tim Lomas, a psychology research scientist with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University.
To examine differences in men’s and women’s subjective well-being, Dr. Lomas examined 31 metrics on well-being collected in the Gallup World Poll over three years (2020-2022), covering 391,656 participants in 142 countries. These 31 metrics analyzed participants’ overall life evaluation, daily emotions and experiences, and quality of life factors.
According to his statistical analysis, Dr. Lomas found men had higher scores on 21 of the 31 metrics. Men were more likely to say they experience enjoyment in their daily lives and less likely to experience negative emotions. They also had higher scores of personal safety and autonomy.
However, although they reported fewer day-to-day advantages, women scored higher on their overall life evaluation. This could be due to women reporting higher satisfaction with their social lives, suggesting that relationships with friends and relatives have a stronger impact on subjective well-being than more objective measures relating to health and safety.
Notably, these patterns differed depending on a number of demographic factors, including geographic region, age, educational attainment, and income. In some individual countries, such as Afghanistan, men scored higher on every well-being metric, while others, like Iceland, had higher scores for women in areas where the global average score favored men. Globally, as age increased, the well-being gap favoring men also increased. In contrast, increases in education and income levels had a more positive effect on women.
Dr. Lomas believes his findings demonstrate that differences in men’s and women’s subjective well-being are complex and nuanced, suggesting a need for more detailed research on the subject.