Considering all the people you know or have ever known, which gender appears the happiest?
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Based on my personal experience, I’ve met more happier men.
I know you’re just asking for our gut feeling on this, but I’m not sure how we could even begin to evaluate this? Wrapped up in this question are the issues of:
- How do we express happiness?
– What is the appropriate expression of happiness for each gender (and socioeconomic class)?
– How do introverts and extroverts express happiness differently?
– Is happiness something people are even aware of? Are we conscious enough to have expressions of happiness that match our experience of happiness?
– What is happiness?
– Would our evaluation of who “appears happiest” simply be a reflection of our own understanding of what happiness is and how it manifests?
(just for starters)
Women appear happier to me though I know they are often carrying the burden of unhappy husbands.
Scientifically it’s men but every person is different and their decisive power determines their happiness in life to a large extent.
It seems to be a total wash. I know many men appear happy, will report that they are happy but are not.
Men. Women are never happy with anything. They may pretend to be, but they always want more.
To make a broad generalization, I think women probably think about their lives in more complex terms so men would say they are happier. Also, previously, men were given more scope to act in the world in a variety of ways and women’s lives were more prosecribed.
Men, simple things for simple minds.
What does gender have to do with it? It comes from within.
None of the above.
The gender-neutral people I’ve known seem to have a certain security in their identity that leads to a healthy sense of empowerment that I don’t see as much of in men or women.
Gay men lol.
Men, though.
@jerv Can you expand on that?
I’m of the opinion that the happiness of any sex/gender is relative to whether each has the opportunity and freedom to live the type of life they want to live, or be the person they really are.
Obviously if you’re the type of male who is not happy living up to the expectations of himself in an overly masculine culture you’re not going to be a happy camper. I could state the same thing about women too.
For the sake of answering this question though, based only on my own experiences I see many more happy women than men. Men are still held to upholding traditional gender standards in the eyes of both conservative and progressive white knight types. Women on the other hand have a bit more freedom to play around with trying different things in my part of America.
@Adirondackwannabe Well, it may just be the particular ones I’ve known. Small sample size is small. Still, people who are secure in their identity tend to be happier than those who are not, regardless of gender (or lack thereof), and those whojust don’t bother with stereotypes don’t make themselves unhappy trying to fit into a category that they don’t belong to. Does that make more sense?
@jerv Yes, nailed it. If they are secure with their ID then they are usually much more comfortable in their own skin.
I have not ever associated happiness with gender. I have met happy and unhappy people of both genders.
According to this study, married women began at an 8 out of 10, while the average baseline for married men was 7 out of 10.
In the study, the men were asked to agree with everything their wives said, regardless of agreeing or not. In just 12 days, men’s happiness score dropped to a 3 out of 10, and women’s rose to an 8.5!
Women are happiest when they can be bossy and have the last word. Personally, I believe that when we get everything we want we become demanding assholes. Apparently the men in this study agree.
@GloPro that is the most honest answer i have ever heard. You’re damn right we agree. Nothing and i mean nothing will bring a man down faster than a bitchy spouse. The converse is also true. A caring and considerate spouse will bring them up.
Men by far. Many women are catty and competitive with each other. Competitive in a mean way.
Dear god no. @GloPro check your sources better. A) it has nothing to do with gender. Even if that study exists (which it doesn’t, stay tuned), it would say nothing about women or men, or everything with bossy assholes vs oppressed. Being told to subjugate yourself to someone else in every way would tear down anyone. However, B) it doesn’t even exist. It was a parody paper, which the BMJ puts out every Christmas, but this one was picked up and spread by lots of stupid and sexist sources, like Rush Limbaugh and the Daily Mail. The source is here, and even includes the line “The study has some limitations. There was no trial registration, no ethics committee approval, no informed consent, no proper randomisation, no validated test instrument, and questionable statistical assessment.” Which should have been noticeable to anyone with half a brain reading it, but that is too much to ask of the Daily Fail.
In my experience, and from pulling certain thoughts out of the sky, I believe Men are genetically predisposed to be happier than Women. Here are some reasons and observations in no particular order: I have seen more women who can suck all the life out of a room just by walking into it. 50% of Women’s life is dedicated to the misery of maintaining their reproductive organs, thus you have a 50% chance of hitting a cycle or PMS. Women are subtle creatures and extremely territorial. often having verbal and non-verbal combat with one another above and around Men’s ability to detect. Women have to spend a LOT more time maintaining their appearance. Women have such a deficit of happiness that they have to take it from their associated Men. Women are way more competitive with each other and more deeply involved in the competition than Men generally are. All of these things may be biologically driven by the 50% mentioned above.
Did I mention my wife has to put up with this kind of stuff all the time?
If I say I didn’t disagree will you give me shelter too?
No worries. Got plenty of beer in the Man Cave.
@majorrich A study doesn’t have to be official to exist. Nor does it have to be scientifically factual, registered, ethical, or consensual. I think most of us agree it is random. I could ask my married male friends to just agree with their wives no matter what for a week and then ask how it went, and if they say my wife became a real demanding asshole then I would consider it truthful. And most likely accurate. On the flip side, if I had cocktails with their wives I would not be surprised to hear how “sweet and romantic” their husbands had been this week.
I honestly think men just shut up half of the time because it’s easier. Men, in general, and in my opinion, are easier to get along with and more agreeable even if they don’t agree, they realize there is no point in pushing the issue more easily than most women do. That agreeableness translates to more general happiness and less irritability, also in my opinion. Of course there are exceptions, but this OP is obviously a generalized question and answer. I will also say that this opinion relates to social settings, not business ones. Men are very driven to be top dog in business.
If you disagree I’ll gladly let you have the last word and prove me wrong. ~
Men, because we only need sex and food.
You mean me, not @majorrich. Anyway “A study doesn’t have to be official to exist”. It’s not even official. It was never done. It was a joke. It never happened to any extent.
And I’m not engaging any more with this topic because it’s a ridiculous question and it’s obvious it would come up with knee-jerk sexist answers. So have your opinions, I don’t care, but don’t claim ‘science’ backs you up when you’re citing a parody.
I never said it was scientific. Again, I could host my own, completely informal study and post the results. I never claimed facts or validity of the study. There are lots of bullshit studies out there, are there not?
I think both genders are equally happy.
I’m a female, and I’m happy :)
This is on the fun side anyway. and my observations are always looking for the humour in any case. Heck, I can find funny stuff in a colonoscopy.
If we started basing this world upon gender and the way a specific gender dominates the other, I think that you be the actual ‘end of the world’. We can never talk about two different sex and start making assumptions about their ecstasy level ,that’s just unsound.
@majorrich Me too! as long as I am not the one on the receiving end of that colonoscopy
My Wife says they underdosed me on anaesthetic for my last colonoscopy and I was joking through the whole procedure. Chatty Cathy was I.
Wait, wait… Did you sing “You’re my… Brown eye girl…” to the nurse?
Did you ask if everything came out alright?
Did you tell them it wasn’t as shitty as you thought it would be?
I was asking if he found my head, or my thumb, or found the sunshine that shines out of it sometimes.
Awesome. For some reason this conversation makes me want to call my ex from college.
@GloPro Did I just feel a major chill come through my soul?
I’d get the proverbial note that said my head is not located in there
From what I’ve seen, cisgender females are easily more unhappy then cisgender males (at least of my age group in college) as it seems that the females seem to be more preoccupied with the future and long term goals whilst the males seem to be taking it more on a day by day basis and more in the present so if the day went well, they’re content.
However, transgender individuals (both trans men and women) around here seem to easily be the most unhappy but with what they (unfortunately) go through in a society that finds heterosexuality as the norm, it is hardly surprising.
I think it has much more to do with personalty type and temperament not gender.
Extroverts tend to be more optimistic and carefree than introverts. Introverts tend towards more neurotic anxieties than extroverts and, of course, there is nurture within the nature.
Life events can create grief and unhappiness for anyone of any sex, but, being a student of personality typing I truly think nature trumps.
Suicides have always been most common in older men, but, with the state of this economy middle aged PEOPLE of both sexes are knocking themselves off in record numbers the past few years with the economic shit storm.
I am an extrovert and optimist by nature, but, my usual good natured, cheery, humorous self has been sorely challenged this last couple of years.
Am I happy? No. Am I perservering with a glimmer of hope? Yes.
I think men are happier because they don’t worry about stuff as much as women do.
To me, gender has never been that relevant as far as an individual’s happiness. Some men feel over-worked and stuck in a dead-end job or marriage, and some women can have all the freedom and money in the world and still find things to complain about or be angry about, such as feminists and man-haters who have said money, power, and freedom and still walk around miserable.
Honestly, the people who have had the happiest lives are the ones who come from two-parent households where both parents have four-year or more degrees and relatively wealthy. The parents love the person and they have a large extended family. The person is boosted with confidence and self-worth since day one and go out into the world thinking they’re unstoppable. Or in other words, the happiest people I’ve seen are the people with no problems.
If you’re asking in general, men seem easier to please and happier, while women seem to complain more, to me. Especially feminists with minor First World Problems and non-issues. In general and in my opinion, women seem to find way more things to complain about, while men are relatively easy to please: give us a good fulfilling job and a good woman (or partner, or whatever you’re in to) and we’re generally happy. Too bad both are pretty hard to obtain.
Wow, people speak with such confidence about this. We haven’t even determined what happiness is or how it’s measured, and people are somehow able to skip all that and assert that they know which gender is happiest.
@hominid Well, I took it to mean which group would say they are happier; so an internal definition of happiness, not an objective one. But I do think that there is no real way of even guessing which gender might be happier since it varies so much individually.
Happiness is a personal choice. I don’t believe it can be broken in to gender lines.
Happiness, I’m sad to say, to not always a “personal choice.” My father had a kind nature and a good sense of humor but as he struggled to support his family and hold down sometimes three jobs, he became sullen and had less and less friends. It wasn’t his choice.
I don’t think either gender is happier by nature. It’s the luck of the draw unless a person is prone to depression.
All I can say is that women seem to complain more than men. If that is an indicator of anything, I would guess that men are happier.
When you say which gender appears the happiest, I have to ask what do you mean by appears?
Do you mean which gender looks outwardly the happiest, i.e. they appear to be happier?
Or which gender fakes being happier better.
Or which gender is happier in my opinion?
And then I seriously must ask what you mean by gender?
I mean I have read quite a bit over the years about
gender having nothing to do with…well, gender.
But don’t get me wrong, I think it is an excellent question
and has proven thought provoking here to many jellies.
So I would say that men seem to be happier, but then don’t men have fewer neural connections in their brains and thus it would seem less to be unhappy about?
And as a man I would say I am quite happy with the way things turned out in regards to men not carrying nor birthing babies. And not having that periodic discharge monthly. And I don’t need to ruin my body with multiple children.
OK. Men are happier.
Man, I was happy before reading this thread.
On the whole, the men I know seem happier than the women but I also know more men than women who struggle with depression. So I suspect there isn’t really much difference.
Married, I think the man is happier.
Divorced, I think the woman is happier.
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