Women are more unhappy than men, say researchers – but emotionally more resilient

Something strange is going on in women’s happiness research. Because despite having more freedom and employment opportunities than ever before, women have higher levels of anxiety and more mental health challenges, such as depression, anger, loneliness and more restless sleep. And these results are seen across many countries and different age groups.

A recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association may hold some clues as to why. The results found that most US women are unhappy with how society treats them.

Many women are still the main caregivers for children and elderly relatives. Most also have the double burden of managing the home and family arrangements on top of paid work responsibilities. And within the workplace three in five women have experienced bullying, sexual harassment or verbal abuse.

The gender gap in wellbeing was notably documented during the pandemic, as many women took on more domestic and caregiving responsibilities on top of work. But it was also noted that although women took a bigger hit to their wellbeing they were quicker to recover, which seems to indicate thatwomen are more emotionally resilient than men.

One of the factors that may contribute towards women’s resilience is social connection. In one 2019 study, researchers found that women scored higher than men for positive relationships with others as well...

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