Abstract

This paper intends to examine the possible relationship between demographic variables and perceptions of happiness. The demographic variables being studied are age and gender. Perceptions of happiness are measured by the Conceptions of Happiness Scale (Joshanloo, 2018) and represent one’s overall idea of happiness. A survey was distributed to adults that were recruited via social media and flyer recruitment on the campus of Lindenwood University. The survey consisted of demographic questions as well as the Conceptions of Happiness Scale (Joshanloo, 2018) for participants to complete. Initial hypotheses predicted differences in perceptions of happiness amongst different age and gender groups. However, an inadequate amount of data collected resulted in an inability to conduct a one-way analysis of variance, as planned. Descriptive analyses were conducted and found a slightly higher sum of the scale scores for women and middle-aged participants in comparison to their counterparts. The study will remain open until adequate data is collected to continue data analysis and determine whether there are different in the perceptions of happiness of people of different age and gender groups.

Recommended Citation

Farmer, Alea (2022) "Perceptions of Happiness Through the Lens of Age and Gender," Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/psych_journals/vol2/iss1/6