GENDER SPECIFICITIES IN PERCEPTIONS OF HAPPINESS ACROSS AGE GROUPS

Abstract

Purpose. The article addresses the topical problem of gender – specific perceptions of happiness. The paper aims to study gender differences in the notion of happiness across age groups.
 Materials and Methods. The study involved the use of a questionnaire to assess the significance of the characteristics of the concept of “happiness” with the help of a modified Likert scale. The scale included the characteristics of the concept of “happiness” that relate to the following levels: physiological, socio-psychological, personality-psychological, and spiritual (transcendental). The empirical base of the study consisted of 300 participants: 143 men and 157 women. The sampling was broken into these age groups: 18-24, 25-34, and 35-44.
 Results. The description of the concept of “happiness” in a gender and age-specific dimension is provided. Gender differences and similarities in the semantic meaning of the phenomenon of happiness typical of the respondents across age groups are traced. The findings show that at different ages both men and woman tend to change major sources of happiness. In women’s groups, regardless of age, one can observe semantic similarities between happiness and family relationships, family well-being: in fact, the older the person, the more meaningful this factor is. Unlike women, men associate happiness with attributes of success: social recognition and career. For men, happiness is tied up with self-realization and the search for individual meanings.
 Conclusion. The results of the study can be used in psychological counselling, psychotherapy, trainings in addressing family relationship issues, personal difficulties linked to low life satisfaction.