Previous research has examined age-related trends in happiness. People in middle ages were found to be less happy, and those at older ages more happy.

But were there differences in feelings of happiness between men and women?

Researchers from the United Kingdom compared data from two separate surveys. They made various assumptions in order to compare the data, for example, by recognizing that aspirations (defined as the desire for achievement) for material satisfaction would be different for a person born in 1925 and raised in an economically depressed era than for those born in 1965 and raised in an affluent period.

Aspirations, along with attainments (how well you meet your own goals), play an important role in shaping a person’s well-being. Early in adult life, women are more likely than men to fulfill their material goods and family life aspirations; their satisfaction in these domains is correspondingly higher, and so is their overall happiness.

Material goods aspirations refer here to desires for a number of big-ticket consumer goods, such as a home, car, travel abroad, and vacation home.

In later life, these differences turn around. Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their financial situation and family life, and are the happier of the two sexes by midlife (approximately age 48 and on).

An important factor underlying the turnaround in fulfillment of aspirations for material goods and family life is probably the shift over the course of the life cycle in the relative proportion of women and men in marital and nonmarital unions.

The authors suggested that gender patterns of overall happiness correlate to patterns in two significant aspects of life satisfaction: family and finances. After age 34, men are more likely to be married than women. Men also become more satisfied with their financial situations over time, as reflected in their increased spending power.

According to co-author Anke Plagnol, PhD, in later life it is “men [who] come closer to fulfilling their aspirations, are more satisfied with their family lives and financial situations, and are the happier of the two.”