Researchers from the Catholic University of Australia found that gender equality may increase the subjective well-being of boys, but not girls. The research was published in the journal Bulletin of Personality and Social Psychology.
One of the key components of mental health is subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is generally defined as a combination of life satisfaction, the presence of positive emotions and the absence of negative emotions. Roughly speaking, a person’s high subjective well-being indicates that they are happy.
The scientists analyzed data from a survey of 900,000 young people about their satisfaction with their lives. The results showed that boys, on average, were more satisfied with their lives than girls and were less likely to experience negative emotions. In addition, the difference in life satisfaction between boys and girls was greater in countries with greater gender equality.
In the future, the team plans to conduct a similar study, but with a more representative sample that will include adults.