Essay on Gender & Happiness: Family & Job Satisfaction Impact Adult Well-Being

Work and family are among the two most important parts of adult life. The level of satisfaction with these two aspects of an adult's life goes a long way to determine the overall happiness of an adult. In his research, Nordenmark (2018) hypothesized that the level of happiness based on family and job satisfaction is dependent on gender. The study had three objectives. The first one was to find out if satisfaction with family or job satisfaction is more important for happiness. The second one is to find out whether satisfaction with family life more critical among women and job satisfaction more critical among men for the level of happiness (Nordenmark, 2018). The third one is to find out whether gender differences regarding the importance of family and job satisfaction for happiness are more prominent in a conservative gender regime than in an egalitarian gender regime. In his research, he found out that family satisfaction is more important for both genders as compared to job satisfaction. He also found out that the level of satisfaction for family life is less important to males in regions with conservative gender regimes.

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The research used data from the international social survey program 2012, which was drawn from individuals from 22 countries. The data set is made up of between 1000-2000 individuals. The dependent variable happiness was measured using a series of questions. They used gender ideology index to measure gender attitudes withing each gender regime. The analysis is structured in three parts. The first one analyses the relationship between happiness and independent variables, job satisfaction, and family satisfaction. The second one examines the relationship between those variables among men and women living in different regimes (Nordenmark, 2018). The last category concentrates on the multivariate relationship that exists between happiness, and independent variables, gender, governments, family satisfaction, education, age, marital status, and age.

The results found a weaker correlation between job satisfaction and happiness as compared to family satisfaction and happiness. The results were accurate for both men and women and held for various gender regimes. The assumptions made in the research is that the other factors such as labour market status, children in the household, violence, work-life balance, and health status have little impact on the level of happiness. Therefore, they did not include them in the research.

The sample size was large enough to include people from all walks of life but mainly restricted to countries in Europe except for the USA, Australia, and Canada. As a result, the results are exemplary of the western cultures. Since the researchers used an already existing data, he did not need to adhere to any ethical principles of conducting psychological research. There was also no need for protecting the participants as he used already existing data.

The author did not state any limitations in the research. However, the study has limitations such as not considering other factors such as violence, the number of children, and health status in the overall happiness of the individual. Also, the data used is from a 2012 study and may not be up to date with the most recent realities, such as prevailing economic conditions. According to Nordenmark (2018), future research should take the direction of analyzing how the levels of satisfaction in family and working life relate to happiness in varying settings and with the control of other independent variables such as labour market status that is not included in the research. The study results are essential in highlighting the critical aspects of a person's life and how they contribute to their overall wellbeing. They can help psychologists and psychiatrists in devising better treatment models for their patients.

References

Nordenmark, M. (2018). The importance of job and family satisfaction for happiness among women and men in different gender regimes. Societies, 8(1), 1.family