Relevance of gender roles in life satisfaction in adult people

• We examine the relevance of gender roles in women’s and men’s life satisfaction.
• Men’s life satisfaction is associated with instrumental and expressive traits.
• Women’s life satisfaction is associated with instrumental and expressive traits.
• Masculinity is associated with life satisfaction in men with low self-esteem.
• Femininity is associated with life satisfaction in women with high social support.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relevance of self-identification in traditional gender roles of masculinity and femininity in women’s and men’s life satisfaction. Participants consisted of 1233 women and 1233 men from the Spanish general population aged between 20 and 60 years. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that although in both genders the most important predictors of life satisfaction were self-esteem and social support, both masculinity and femininity were associated with higher life satisfaction in women and men. Besides, in the prediction of life satisfaction, femininity interacted with social support in women, and masculinity with self-esteem in men, and it was found that the association between femininity and life satisfaction only occurred in women with high social support, and self-esteem was associated with life satisfaction only in men with low masculinity. These results provide information concerning the significance of adherence to gender roles in life satisfaction.