By Candy Lashkari
Professor Jacqueline Scott led the study which compiled the views of more than 10,000 people over a time frame of five years at Cambridge University. The study which appears in a new book, Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century found that most people were linking their happiness with that of people close to them.
“Most policy-making on happiness has focused on improving conditions for individuals. Our research suggests that more should be done to support the actions of both men and women in caring for others, because that will have benefits for everybody's quality of life." said Jacqueline Scott.
The study also found that men were more likely to associate finance with well being with 38% men considering it important to happiness as compared 33 % women. On the other hand 57% women considered health more important as compared to 50% men. The role of the family in happiness was considered important by 49% women as compared to 38% men.
However closer study of the responses found that the respondents were merely linking their happiness to that of the people closest to them in very gender specific ways. For instance as men saw themselves as the bread winners of the family they were happy if the finances were in order. While with women who tend to consider themselves the care takers of the family the health of children and elders affected their happiness more.
Dr Anke Plagnol, one of the report's co-authors, said: ''Men and women both seem to be linking their ideas about well-being to the lives of others, perhaps to a greater extent than we might have expected. That is something policy-makers should be taking into consideration, by ensuring that provision is made to enable both men and women to spend reasonable amounts of time with their families.''