gender and happiness

[novapsyche]

Blue Is the New Black

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans' mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.

Before the '70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well-being. Now there's a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives.

As Arianna Huffington points out in a blog post headlined "The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling": "It doesn't matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk."

(The one exception is black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men.)

I'm interested as to the factors that make black women the outlier. I wonder who, if anyone, is conducting in-depth sociological research . . . .

Edit: The Huffington Post article is much better than the one I've featured here. I don't agree with this author's implied attitude toward gender roles or her unsupported claims about inherent differences.