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Correlational findings

Study Easterlin (2002a): study US 1972

Public
50+ aged, USA, followed 26 years 1972-1998
Survey name
US-GSS
Sample
Respondents
N = 9432
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face

Correlate

Authors's Label
Gender
Our Classification
Distribution
N= male=4155,  female= 5277
Related specification variables
Operationalization
1 male
0 female

Observed Relation with Happiness

Happiness Measure Statistics Elaboration / Remarks O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa DM = Males:         M = 2.25  SD = 0.66
Females:       M = 2.21  SD = 0.67
- difference      +0.04      -0.01 O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa Beta = -.05 p < .01 Beta controled for:
- world status
- marital status
- self perceived health
- household income

Ordered probit analysis yields similar results O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa DMa = + Males happier in the generations born before 1930 O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa DMa = + Male excess of happiness increased among widowed

No clear time trend in specifications with
- income
- self rated health
- retirement O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa DMa = + At older ages men are consistently happier than women;
at younger ages, the opposite is true; and the magnitude of the shift approaches 0.2 on a 1-3 scale.
The turnaround in the differential occurs as cohorts age from their fifties to their sixties