Gender differences in the predictors of life satisfaction across 150 nations

This study used multi-level modeling to explore gender differences in the predictors of life satisfaction in a sample of 952,739 individuals from 150 countries. A wide set of demographic, social, and psychological predictors (N = 31) were examined. The results revealed a large degree of similarity in the predictors of life satisfaction across gender. However, nontrivial gender differences also emerged. With some exceptions, the results generally suggest that socio-political, employment-related, and education-related variables are more important in determining life satisfaction in men, whereas variables related to marital status and interpersonal relationships are more important in women.