Money, Age and Happiness: Association of Wellbeing with Socio-Demographic Variables

Abstract

We examine the relationship between happiness and socio-demographic variables (age, sex, socioeconomic status, educational level) with a Latin American sample and its association with wellbeing given the controversial empirical evidence of their relationship. We surveyed a total of 520 people (300 women and 220 men)between the ages of 18 and 29with an average of 21.26 years and a standard deviation of 2.47 to answer the subjective happiness scale. The happiness variable was categorized, and the subjects were reorganized in happy and non-happy groups. From the use of main componentanalysis and logistic regressions, the main results show that the variables that best characterize the levels of happiness are age and socioeconomic status. Specifically, the results indicate that higher age within the sample predicts lower levels of happiness. On the other side, at a higher socioeconomic level, people are happier. In addition, there are no differences between genders.